EuroMold Set For November

The definitive conference for 3D printing seems to be Euromold, a large manufacturing conference held in Frankfurt, Germany each November. It's called the "World Fair for Moldmaking and Tooling, Design and Application Development". Yes, it's the big one. 

 

Euromold has existed for years providing information on manufacturing, but within the over 1000 exhibitors are found many 3D printing companies. In recent years the amount of 3D printing exhibits has dramatically increased due to the explosion of interest in the technology and now Euromold is the place where many major 3D printing announcements take place. 

 

At this writing there are 18 3D printing and 29 3D scanning vendors listed, including both large and small players. Software providers will also be present. 

 

A word of caution, however: Euromold's web site is quite confusing and often it's difficult to find desired information. 

 

If you can, please make the trip to Frankfurt for this huge conference. We'll be there. 

 

Via Euromold

Nick Ervnick's Sculptures

Belgian sculptor Nick Ervnick has been working with Materialise to print several of his works for exhibition. 

 

One of his sculptures is featured in Tongeren, Belgium's town centre, right in front of the Gallo-Romeins Museum, "one of the most important archaeological museums in Europe". 

 

That's not all. Ervnick's works are being shown in the museum until 6 January 2013 in an exhibition entitled, "The 9th Month". If you happen to be near Tongeren (around 90Km east of Brussels), why not drop in and check out these amazing 3D sculptures? 

 

Via Materialise (Hat tip to Vanessa)

Neri Oxman Exhibition Video

Oh, you DIDN'T manage to get to Paris to view Neri Oxman's astonishing display of multicolor 3D prints at Centre Pompidou? We managed to do so and reported it here.  

 

But just in case you didn't see it, there is a very interesting video of the event produced by Objet, the sponsors of the exhibition. Their equipment was used with some unusual materials to produce these amazing objects. 

 

Via YouTube

Master's Degree in Direct Manufacturing Offered

We've learned that the Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) and ELISAVA School of Design and Engineering of Barcelona now offer a Master's Degree in Direct Manufacturing and New Materials for product design. 

 

The new spanish-language program begins this October, when study in "New Materials" begins. This is followed by study in "New Production Processes" in March, leading to the degree completion by July. 

 

According to the description:

 

The current trend/situation, however, is to define the industrial use (new product) and then to select, and optimise the possible treatments the material should undergo, or even to design and develop the most suitable material for that use. The design process of new products starts with the design of the material and the production process. Consequently, knowledge of Additive Layer Manufacturing (ALM) technology as a way of producing final-use products is of interest to cross over the limits of conventional industry and convert ideas and concepts into three-dimensional forms for later printing. New materials, new relations with nature, Additive Layer Manufacturing, and computer-aided design give rise to innovative and revolutionary production. 

 

Via DM+mat and ELISAVA (PDF) (Hat tip to Xavier)

The 3DPrintShow In London

In London this October is the 3DPrintShow, three days of exhibitions and shows all about 3D printing. 

 

Taking place from October 19th through the 21st, this event includes exhibits from all the major 3D print vendors and services, including MakerBot, 3D Systems, EOS, Objet, Shapeways, i.Materialise, Tinkercad, Anarkik3D, Uformia and many others. They'll be showing off their printers, scanners, services, software and prints. Several notable 3D print artists will exhibit their work at this event. 

 

Categories being shown include Consumer Products, Transportation, Art & Design, Medical & Dental, Home, Fashion, Architecture, Archaeology, Music and even Space Travel. The show will even include a full size 3D scanner by Europac that can capture a whole-body image - and you'll be able to try it out yourself. 

 

If you happen to be in London in October, we'd recommend you buy your tickets to this event very soon. 

 

Via 3DPrintShow

Fashion and Jewelry 3D Printing Workshop

Interested in fashion or jewelry design? Want to do it with 3D printing technology? If so, you may want to attend one of the workshops taking place at ELISAVA, School of Design and Engineering of Barcelona.

 

There are two five-day workshops scheduled, one from 23-27 July and a second edition from 10-14 September of this year. The morning-only workshops cost €600 per person (discounts for alumni available). 

 

The purpose of the workshop is to provide professional designers an introduction to alternative methods of production through direct digital manufacturing, specifically involving 3D printing and laser cutting. Students will obtain the knowledge necessary to manage future fashion and jewelry projects using these new technologies. 

 

Via DM+mat (Hat tip to Xavier)

Fabberworld

Are you in need of supplies for your 3D printer? Do you live in Switzerland? If you answered yes to both questions, you'll be pleased to learn that there is now a 3D printing supplies operation located in Switzerland: Fabberworld.

 

Fabberworld sells a selection of 3mm plastic filament, bearings, motors and even kapton tape. While we didn't see 1.75mm filament available, we presume they'll be offering it soon. 

 

Pricing is in Euros - and of course - Swiss Francs. 

 

Via Fabberworld

A Visit With IPF

While in London recently we had a rather long lunch meeting with Gary Miller of IPF, a.k.a. Industrial Plastic Fabrications, a growing 3D print service based in the UK just outside of London. Also in attendance was Claire Russell-Jones, a publicist often providing service to Objet, manufacturers of commercial 3D printers.

  

Miller's operation uses 3D printers from Objet and EnvisionTEC, as well as other non-3DP rapid prototyping equipment and was excited to show us many amazing sample prints he had brought along in a large case. At first we wondered if a 3D printer was in the large case, but it was merely enough samples to completely cover the entire six-person table. 

 

Miller explained how his 3D print service business has gradually grown over the years and how he's had to add capacity to his service to meet demand. It's quite fascinating to hear tales of highly unusual client requests that would inevitably land on a 3D print service's doorstep. No, we're not going to provide any details here. 

 

Many of the samples we were shown included items produced using Objet's PolyJet technology that permits two different materials to be mixed together. The samples had mixes of hard and soft material, such as a panel with soft push buttons printed in a single operation. Another sample print was a replica of London's sorta-spherical City Hall building, which you can see here held up by Russell-Jones. Oh, she's holding the real one in her other hand, too. 

 

Via IPF