Recycling 3D Printing Materials: 4 Possible Solutions
When will more eco-friendly and sustainable materials be available for use in 3D printers? Something like hemp plastic or other biodegradable materials? What are the technical limitations and who is working on them? Read on to find answers to these and more questions about ABS recycling, PLA recycling, and new materials that are on their way. Below we outline, very broadly, four mayor developments in recycling and 3D printing. These developments are: recycling existing 3D printing materials, using materials that are already recycled as 3D printing materials, using bioplastics, and recycling on location. (more…)
3D Printing Gold: It’s Possible
It seems like only yesterday that we were the first 3D printing service in the world to launch 3D printing in titanium. But we wanted to remind you that we have another cool 3D printing material in our portfolio: gold. 3D printing gold is an exciting new opportunity for 3D designers and jewelry makers – scroll down to learn more about it!
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Leaving
I’m saddened to announce that I’m leaving i.materialise. I had a wonderful time at Materialise and I’ll really miss the great and fun team here. I loved working at a place where you were surrounded by such expertise in 3D printing. I also loved walking around and seeing entire car bumpers, bobsleds and prostheses emerge from the many 3D printers here. The knowledge and skill that the staff here use to finish these things still amazes me.
I can only hope that in my time here I’ve been able to transfer some of my knowledge and skills to the people here. I do believe that if we look at the i.materialise website now we have been able to build a solid foundation for continued and future growth. I also know that the guys have a lot of fun surprises and new things in store for you in the coming months! I want to thank you, the community, for all your efforts in helping us improve the site and all the fantastic designs that you have had made with us. It has been truly inspir
3D Printing versus Mass Production Part V Wish Fulfillment
This is the last part of a five part series on 3D Printing versus Mass Production. This is a part of a series of posts on 3D printing versus Mass Production. The other parts are: The Power of Unique, Manufacturing Complexity and Marketing Promise, Everything you own Sucks and More Beautiful Landfill.
3D printing is a wish fulfillment technology
At its most abstract 3D printing is a wish fulfillment technology, a Santa industry and all of us are its elves. But, in order for 3D printing to be able to equal the manufacturing capability of mass produced cameras would take many years and might never be possible. Better to hack and work with those technologies to use them as Lego blocks to build what you need, right now. Better to be the parasite on the cancer that is mass production. Instead of a Santa that would truly let anyone make anything all the time at home with their own tools and printers it would be a selective Santa. For those who take their time and investigate it can make
Winner announced of i.materialise Machine Man Human Augmentation Challenge
The i.materialise Machine Man Human Augmentation Challenge was inspired by Sci Fi author Max Barry’s book Machine Man. Max, together with other judges, Fab@Home founder and Cornell bio-robotics professor Hod Lipson and 3D printed prosthetic designer Scott Summit have evaluated the submitted designs. They were looking for a design and concept that augmented the human body using 3D printing. They wanted people to imagine a future where human elective implants would be accessible. We wanted a design and a 3D print that would inspire people to be able to imagine such a world. This is the most difficult and ambitious Challenge we”ve ever done and we’re glad that we are able to now announce the winners.
In third place is the iNose by Miel Wellens
According to the judges:
“In this concept, a titanium, subsurface implant lives on the bridge of the nose, allowing eyewear to attach without the need for earpieces. Presumably, the implanted part would be created based on the unique m
3D printing vs Mass Production: Part IV More beautiful landfill
This is a part of a series of posts on 3D printing versus Mass Production.The other parts are: The Power of Unique, Manufacturing Complexity and Marketing Promise, Everything you own Sucks and Wish Fulfillment.
IV. More Beautiful Landfill
Mass Production will bring us a world where our landfill is ever more beautiful. We will just keep throwing away prettier, newer & more complex things at ever accelerating rates. We will in fact be hoovering the world’s resources into a self defeating search for happiness through consumption. As marketing and disposable income spread around the world many more people will want and be able to buy mass manufactured goods. The current negative impact on our environment is already noticeable but is only being created by a small segment of the world”s population.
If we look at OECD statistics we can see the Domestic Material Consumption of the OECD countries (under Environment Material Resources). This is the sum total of all materials extrac
Winners of the 3D printed jewlery contest
We”ve evaluated all the designs and chosen the winners of the 3D printed jewlery contest. We were very impressed with the quality and creativity of the works and it was tough work evaluating them, but here are the winners.
In 3rd place is Unellenu with Chain Necklace.
In second place is Dario Scapitta Design with Stone.
In first place is Nexus Chocker by Igor Knezevic.
Each of these designers wins a 3D print of their piece as well as a place in the .MGX Shop. Igor also wins a personal workshop by Elvis Pompilio. In addition to the top 3 we have selected other designs that will also become a part of the Summer 2011 .MGX Jewel Collection. We hope that this serves to not only be a good commercial opportunity for the winning designers but also a great step in their carreers. Thank you so much for all your entries!
Wavelet bracelet & Guilloche Necklace bij Igor Knezevic
Diamond inside by Cunicode
Star Grafitti pendant & Chandelier earrings by Unellenu
i.materialise 3D printed jewelry workshop by Karen Wuytens
In September we will be organizing a workshop in contemporary 3D printed jewelry design at the .MGX flagship store in the Sablon area in Brussels. The 3 day workshop by Karen Wuytens will take place on the 8th, 9th and 16th of September. Participation is free of charge, but limited to ten participants.
Karen is a jewelry designer and PhD-researcher at MAD-Hasselt, who uses 3D printing in her designs. For this she works closely with us here at i.materialise. Karen will share her experience in 3D printed jewelry and take you through the creation of a 3D printed jewelry piece. Karen would like to, “let designers taste the spatial possibilities of this innovative new technology as well as the acompanying production and design process.” Noted hat designer Elvis Pompilio will also attend and help give you some insight into his work. Fabien Franzen will also be there in order to give you guidance of the 3D modeling aspects of the workshop. The attending designers will also be given
3D printing vs mass production: Part III Everything you own sucks…
This is the third installment of a series of blog posts on 3D printing vs mass production. The other parts are: The Power of Unique, Manufacturing Complexity and Marketing Promise and Wish Fulfillment.
Everything you own sucks…
There has been a widening credibility gap between the promises marketing makes and what is actually being delivered for years now. And even though some marketeers struggle with the underpinnings of their industry they also need to keep telling us lies. They can not admit that they”ve been lying to us for so long. They can not just come out and say, “buying a new toothpaste will never make you happy.” Also they”ve been obscuring an even darker deeper secret. That secret is that Mass Production is by design unable to give us the “best of anything.” Mass production can provide us with wonderfully complex things and cheap things but it can not give you the best shoe, camera or shirt. Mass production is bound to making millions or thousands of t
Columbia GSAPP 3D printed designs Watercolor
Alistair Gill and Veronika Schmid held a Saturated Models seminar at Columbia’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. During the seminar the Master’s students explored 3D printing and created 3D printed objects. i.materialise made the resulting 3D prints. This is the second interview with a team of participating architecture students. The first one is here.
1. Who are you? We are Kasey Josephs and Kurt Rodrigo both originally from the Western United States, hailing from Arizona and California, respectively. We are recent graduates of Columbia University”s Master of Advanced Architectural Design program and are passionate about architecture, music, and cake.Â
2. What is Watercolor? Watercolor as a medium blends color to blur the boundary between hues and tones. The Watercolor Wall is a prototype for a wall paneling system that uses this similar technique to create dynamic space around the wall. The relationship between the user and the wal
