Help me build an international 3D printing community. Come here weekly to check out the latest trends, stats, and samples in 3D printing. Comments are welcome!

1. This Week in 3D Printing
Week of 10/19/2015

2. This Week’s Contents
! In the News
! Research Insight of the Week
! 3D Prints of the Week

3. In the News
Summary and Analysis of Headlines around 3D Printing

4. Nike Granted Patent for 3D Printed Shoe Tech
The United States Patent and Trademark Office has granted Nike a major patent for technology
associated with 3D printing shoes. Filed back in September 2012, the patent states that it is for
“automated stroble printing” The strobel is one way a shoe can be “lasted,” where the shoes
upper is affixed to its middle. Nike’s patent calls for a machine to scan the design into a
computer, and based on the data, print sewing guidelines on the strobel. According to experts,
the 3D printing technology patented by Nike wouldn’t fundamentally change how the company
makes shoes, but would merely update and modernize the process of making shoes, and reduce
human labor for Nike. The announcement comes shortly after Nike COO, Erick Spunk, informed
attendants at GeekWire Summit 2015 that consumers would one day be able to print a shoe
design file from Nike and 3D print the shoes themselves.
Source(s): digitaltrends.com
New 3D House Printer Produces 1,000 square feet a Day
Russian engineer Nikita Chen-yun-ta recently unveiled the Apis Cor 3D printer, a 3D printer capable of
building an entire multi-story home in a single day. In crafting the Apis Cor, Chen-yun-ta sought to avoid
the cumbersome bulk of pervious 3D printers that were designed to construct houses and buildings,
seeking to develop a machine that was rugged and capable of being setup on almost any surface. Once
a truck is moved onto the job site, the printer is ready to go within 30 minutes. Over the course of a 24 hour
period, the Apis Cor is able to build a multi-story home with up to 630 square feet of living space by printing
layer-after-layer of material. According to the designer, this method saves resources, limits waste, reduces
labor costs, and consumes less energy than traditional building design.
Source(s): inhabitat.com

5. Caterpillar the Latest International Company to Utilize 3D Printing
The manufacturing sector is abuzz with news that Caterpillar, Inc., the worlds leading manufacture of mining
and construction equipment, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives, and natural gas and
diesel engines, has adopted 3D printing technology to carry out a variety of traditional work. An example of
the usefulness of additive manufacturing can be found at the Caterpillar transmission assembly plant in
Dyersburg, Tennessee, where a faulty assembly line procedure had people believing thousands of dollars
would be lost as the problem was fixed. Caterpillar’s 3D printing team was called in and was able to 3D print
a “temporary plastic tool and got it to the facility overnight, saving the line from going down. ” The company
acknowledges the convenience and cost-effectiveness of on-site 3D printing capabilities, and is currently
working on a way manufacturing sites can print parts when they need one to keep production going.
Source(s): 3DPrint.com
Apple and US Military Team Up to Build Flexible Hybrid Electronics
The Pentagon recently announced plans to work with Apple, Boeing, Harvard and 160
other organizations within a newly announced Flexible Hybrid Electronic Institute.
According to a defense official, the aim is to use high-end printing technologies to “create
stretchable electronics that could be embedded with sensors and worn by soldiers.” The
primary technology here is 3D printing, which the military sees as improving as a break-
neck pace. The capacity that is currently missing, according to many, is the ability to print
complex microelectronics using different materials. Hopefully, through this ongoing
partnership between the United States military and a variety of corporate and non-profit
institutions, this issues can be resolved.
Source(s): ComputerWorld.com

6. Startup Perfects 3D Printing Your Own Jewelry
Trove is a New York-based startup founded in the fall of 2014 that publicly launched on October 8th, 2015,
created by a product manager for social video game company Zynga, Brian Park. For Park, he saw jewelry
as one particularly industry poised to change thanks to advances in 3D printing and computer-aided
design technologies. Introducing a digital workflow to the creations means that people can design their
own jewelry before producing it, and with the help of 3D printing, inexpensive plastic prototypes can be
create for sizing and fit before actually creating metal jewelry. With Trove, customers can choose from a
catalog of 30 base designs, and begin customizing rings, bracelets, or necklaces from their Internet
Browsers, and Trove will use in-house Formlabs desktop 3D printer to create initial prototypes of base jewelry
designs so that the company knows the designs are printable to begin with. From there, after approving
the customer’s design, Trove ships a plastic prototype for the customer to try on, and upon approval, the
jewelry can be printed in gold, silver, bronze or brass.
Source(s): fortune.com
Lawyers Using 3D Printing In Court Cases
Lawyers around the country have begun using 3D printing in many phases of litigation. Nicole Black, an
AboveTheLaw contributor, has published a recent series that followed two lawyers, Marc Lamber and James
Goodnow, at one of the oldest and largest law firms in Arizona, Fennemore Craig, to understand how attorneys can
incorporate 3D printing into legal cases. The firm bought their first 3D printer two years ago, and found it applicable to
a wide variety of cases, and useful for all stages of litigation. Primarily, they work with experts to use the 3D printers to
develop models that showcase to the other side of a case, whether that be an insurance adjuster or lawyer, where
the main question in the case could have been easily resolved before causing their client harm. While the two
concede that the use of 3D printers and design specialist are a heavy upfront cost, they have found that it saves
many times that amount in costly litigation by encouraging settlements at the onset. They also say that using the 3D
printer forces them to think about their case on a different level, allowing for a better understanding of the issues at
hand.
Source(s): AboveTheLaw.com

7. Barnes & Nobel Showcase 3D Printing at Nationwide In-Store Maker Faires
The nation’s largest retail bookseller, Barnes and Nobel, will host the first retail Mini Maker Faire in
coordination with Make:Magazine from November 6-8th
. During this time, customers will be able to enjoy
weekend time at Barnes and Nobel immersed in a variety of activities and workshops, and watch
presentations regarding 3D printing and peripheral technologies. The roster of options for Barnes & Nobel
customers is quite varied, ranging from learning about programming and coding, to hands on 3D
printing. The plan is to have three separate workspaces: the Make Workspace, where leading products
will be on display and allowed for interactive use; the Make & Collaborate workspace, where kids can
form and create their own working circuit boards among several other options; and the Meet the
Makers, which will host presentations from a variety of 3D makers around the United States.
Source(s): 3DPrint.com
Building a Steel Bridge with 3D Printing
Dutch research and development company MX3D plans to take a new 3D printing technique to the heart of
Amsterdam by printing an ornate metal bridge over a downtown canal. About three years ago, designer Joris
Laarman and his team developed a 3D printing method called MX3D Resin, with the extrusion technology and fast
curing resin able to form 3D object on any surface, independently of its inclination and smoothness, and without any
additional support structures. From there the team designed a multiple axis 3D printing tool known as MX3D Metal,
which combines an industrial robot with a welding machine and software developed to drive the combination. The
MX3D robot can print with metals, such as steel, stainless steel, aluminum, bronze, or copper without the need for
support structures. The firm has teamed up with various sponsors and partners, such as Autodesk and Dutch
engineering company Heijmans, to build a bridge in the fall of 2017. Robotics company ABB will provide two robots,
along with welding tooling provided by Air Liquide which will head up metal made of a new steel composite
developed at the University of Delft, heated to 1,500C before welding the structure. The robots will then create their
own rail-supports as they gradually 3D print across the canal.
Source(s): PDDnet.com

8. Company Achieves 2 Micro SLA 3D Printing
Cyrpus 3D printer brand, ilios3D, has released a prosumer oriented 3D printer capable of printing
objects as fine as 2 microns in resolution, practically unheard of in professional SLA machines.
Ilios3D has designed the ilios Ray SLA 3d Printer to offer high resolution, substantial build volume,
and according to the manufacturer, great versatility. The versatility comes from the ability to print
a variety of objects in a multitude of size, but the ability to print at such a small resolution may help
push the dimensions of 3D printing on a grand scale. And the incredible detail isn’t even the most
interesting aspect, but the fact that the system is able to implement variable resolution per layer,
so that detail can be increased for more complex layers in a single print.
Source(s): 3DPrintingindustry.com
Keeping Your Mouth Bacteria Free with 3D Printed Teeth
A team of scientist at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, led by Andreas Herrmann,
have developed an antimicrobial plastic, allowing them to 3D print teeth that kill bacteria. To
achieve this feat, the team embedded antimicrobial quaternary ammonium salts inside existing
dental resin polymers. The salts are positively charged and disrupt the negatively charged
bacterial membranes, causing them to burst and die. They put the mix into a 3D printer, used
ultraviolet light to harden the mix and printed out a range of dental objects from replacement
teeth to orthodontic braces. The material was found to kill over 99 percent of bacteria. The next
step is to ensure that the plastics are strong enough for use as teeth, but if initial testing continues
to show success, it won’t be long before the product is available on the market.
Source(s): NewScientists.com

9. Research Insight of the Week
Quantifying the 3D Printing Landscape

10. It’s estimated that there exists one 3D Printer in
New York City on any given city block. In
October 2015, the city saw a Month over
Month growth in 3D Printer purchases of 4.3%.
During the same time Paris witnessed a MoM
growth of 13.4 %.
Source: 3DHubs, 2015

11. 3D Prints of the Week
Showcasing some of the most interesting applications of 3D
Printing, from the amusing to the artistic to the innovative

12. Just In Time: 3D Printed Halloween Costumes
! As Halloween quickly approaches, 3D
printing offers a host of options to find
the perfect costume.
! Websites like MyMiniFactory and
Thingiverse offer thousands of free print
ideas for anyone with a 3D Printer.
! One such example is the iconic Jason
Voorhees mask, shown to the left,
which was uploaded to MyMiniFactory
by Alan Stanford. It’s made of four
printable parts, and perfect for anyone
wanting a bit of authenticity this
season.

13. Artists Used 3D Printing to Capture the Human
Body and Soul
! Duong Le Thai, an orthopedic surgeon and
sculptor originally from Vietnam, will showcase a
series of artwork at this years 3D Printshow in
Paris.
! Le Thai sculptured forms are inspired by the
human body, but seek to capture more than
just the physical form. He seeks to meld the
body and spirit seamlessly, and this particular
series, entitled the Ghost Series, uses nature as a
connection between his work and the human
physic.
! Most importantly, Le Thai uses 3D printing to
make his sculptures, allowing for complex, and
highly precise pieces with incredible detail.