3d printing

Our weekly news roundup. Everything that is happening in manufacturing, both here and overseas.

Globally-renowned lasers expert Milan Brandt believes there’s great potential for Australian companies who want to explore 3D printing, but they’d better act fast. He spoke to Brent Balinski.

Australia’s titanium wealth holds great potential. Additive manufacturing might play a part in creating more value from ore in the future.

​Defence contractor BAE Systems has said that on-board 3D printers may one day be capable of creating unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or drones).

This year’s Endeavour Awards champion in the Most Innovative Company category has just introduced its 3D printing business. Brent Balinski spoke to CEO Herbert Hermens about the launch.

German RepRap has introduced a new 3D printer designed for professional users in the design and engineering fields as well as serious hobby users.

Kibaran Resources has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with 3D Group to investigate the use of graphite and graphene in 3D Printing.

New lightweight materials can withstand a load of at least 160,000 times their own weight.

Terry Wohlers, President and founder of the consultancy Wohlers Associates, has been tracking the growth of the additive manufacturing industry since the 1980s. Brent Balinski spoke to Wohlers, ahead of the expert’s visit here, about some of the major recent trends.

​A Senate inquiry initiated by the Greens and supported by the opposition would examine current gun laws.

A US study of manufacturing businesses has concluded that 3D printing is expected to shake up the production process, and would continue to shift from prototyping to end-use parts.

3D Systems founder ​Chuck Hull has expressed surprise at the growth in medical uses for the technology.

​Dutch-based 3D Hubs has reached what it claims to be a “critical mass”, ​announcing that it had reached 5,000 sites in over 80 countries.

​A man in Toulouse, France, has invented a 3D printer that can print in metal, with goals of refining the device through open collaboration.

​Chuck Hull, the founder of 3D Systems and the inventor of stereolithography, has been inducted into the USA’s National Inventors Hall of Fame.

3DP makes refractory metals affordable and require little to no machining which makes them much lighter.

​A Queensland Palmer United Party MP introduced a private member’s bill to his state’s parliament last night on 3D printed guns.

​By the end of this month, 3D Printing Studios will have three stores open dedicated to the technology, with plans to open up to 30 within two years.

​Two Australian universities and two European universities will offer a world-first master’s degree course in biofabrication.

When National Manufacturing Week begins this week, it will feature, for the first time, an additive manufacturing product zone.