Lifeboat Foundation

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — Future American Soldiers will be better protected in combat by stronger and lighter body armor thanks to innovative work at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory. Materials science engineers are using nature as the inspiration for breakthroughs in additive manufacturing.

“My project is to design a system that can 3D print armor ceramics that will allow production of parts with graded structures similar to an abalone structure in nature that will improve the ceramic armor’s toughness and survivability with lower weight,” said Joshua Pelz, a materials science and engineering doctoral candidate at the University of California San Diego. He spent this summer working with Army scientists at ARL’s Rodman Materials Science Laboratory at APG to design and build a unique 3D printer.

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Highly specialized cartilage is characteristically avascular and non-neural in composition with low cell numbers in an aliphatic environment. Despite its apparent simplicity, bioengineering regenerative hyaline cartilage in a form effective for implantation remains challenging in musculoskeletal tissue engineering. Existing surgical techniques including autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) and matrix-induced autologous chondrocyte implantation (MACI) are considered superior to self-repair induction techniques. However, both MACI and ACI are complex, multistage procedures that require a double operation; first for surgical excision of native cartilage, followed by expansion of adult chondrocytes in vitro prior to implantation by a second operation.

Regenerating robust articular hyaline-like cartilage is a key priority in musculoskeletal tissue engineering to prevent cost-intensive degenerative osteoarthritis that limits the quality of life in global healthcare. Integrating mesenchymal stem cells and 3D printing technologies has shown significant promise in bone tissue engineering– although the key challenge remains in transferring the bench-based technology to the operating room for real-time applications. To tackle this, a team of Australian orthopedic surgeons and bioengineers collaboratively proposed an in situ additive manufacturing technique for effective cartilage regeneration. The handheld engineered extrusion device known as the BioPen offers an advanced, co-axial extrusion strategy to deposit cells embedded in a hydrogel material within a surgical setting.

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Using a mix of techniques in 3D printing and rapid prototyping, a team of researchers in Canada have successfully replaced about 70 percent of a dachshund name Patches’ skull that had to be removed while excising a tumor. It’s a technique that could some day save human lives as well.

Engineers have invented a new kind of 3D printer that can print electronic tattoos directly on your skin. Here’s how we’ll use it.

WASP, the Italian manufacturer behind DeltaWASP 3D printers, has unveiled a new construction system which will be used to print sustainable houses in a village.

The Crane WASP, also referred to as the “the infinity 3D printer” is designed to accelerate the development of the technological village of Shamballa, a WASP project to develop 3D printed eco-friendly houses. The company states.

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The German start-up company ELiSE creates the DNA of a technical part. Based on the DNA, automated design processes are used to find the best solution which considers all predefined constraints and which is produced by additive manufacturing. Meet ELiSE at ESA’s Start-ups Zone powered by ESA space solutions at IAC 2018.

Many congrats to @Enrico Dini 🔝🍾🎉🎉🎉🥇Enrico reached that outcome after an eclectic professional path: a graduate of Civil Engineering at Pisa University, Enrico has spent his entire career in automation and robotics. In 2004, Enrico envisioned the endless potential of the use of additive manufacturing techniques at architectural scale as a means to affordably reach architectural beauty. Since then, Enrico has dedicated his entire professional career in the pursuit of his passion to 3D print beautiful architecture.

At the Digital Concrete 2018 Conference, several awards will be presented. Award categories include: Best Proceedings Paper, Best Presentation, and Best Poster. Each category will have an award encompassing all entries, and one for students only. The awards will be given at the conference closing on Wednesday, 12 September, before lunch.

In addition, two Pioneering Achievement Awards will be given to two pioneers in the field of digital fabrication with concrete, Prof. Behrokh Khoshnevis and Enrico Dini. Information for the two awardees is seen below.

Just a few years after launching its Multi Jet Fusion 3D printer, HP is ready to get into the world of 3D metal printing with Metal Jet, a new commercial platform. (Did you expect it to be called anything else?) While the consumer buzz around 3D printing seems to be cooling off, it’s still a useful technology for large scale manufacturing — especially when it comes to metallic components. The usual benefits of 3D printing still apply: It can be both significantly faster and cheaper than traditional methods.

A team of robot arms on mobile bases can 3D print large structures quickly.