3D Printing: The Stories We Didn’t Cover This Week — December 12

This week’s news includes new investments, contracts, and acquisitions on the business side of 3D printing technology. Some serious money (€700,000) is now flowing toward Germany-based 3D printing company trinckle after completing a recent round of financing. Another 3D printing and technology company, SabioAdvantec LLC, has registered to become a federal government contractor and is looking for contracts under $250,000. Graphene 3D has acquired Graphene Laboratories to corner the global graphene market in a now-finalized acquisition that will have a ripple effect in many Fortune 500 companies. In 3D design and art news, Japan-based Rinkak has introduced a new finishing service, showcasing possibilities through the Olympus OPC Hack & Make project. Also, veteran digital artist Corinne Whitaker has released the fifth volume of her digital art book series, If We are Erased, which is now available on Amazon.

Germany’s trinckle Raises € 700,000 from New Investors

Let’s kick things off this week by talking about the big bucks flowing to new technology companies. trinckle 3D, a Germany-based 3D printing software company, has just completed a round of financing netting €700,000. After this round of financing, KfW Bankengruppe and redpartners gmbh are now new investors in trinckle, and trinckle plans to use this cash infusion to expand the SaaS area and market the trinckle Product Customizer. Co-founder and managing director of trinckle Florian Reichle further explains the company’s plans:

“Our flagship product, known as the 3D Product Customizer, makes good on one of the biggest promises of 3D printing: personalised products for everyone. Thanks to the customizer, customers can individually configure or design static products without any special expertise. With our 3D printing technology, customers can also manufacture individualised products cost-efficiently.”

The money comes from KfW and redpartners’ ERP start-up fund, which is a big financial backer of technology start-up companies focusing on “research and product development as well as the launch of new products, processes or services.” Since 2004, this fund has invested almost €720 million in new technology companies — including the 3D printing technology variety.

3D Printing Focused SabioAdvantec Now Seeking Federal Government Contracts

The US Federal Contractor Registration has helped a new 3D printing technology company get registered for small government contracts — especially in the area of 3D printed prosthetic and medical devices. SabioAdvantec, LLC was established last year with a focus on having a women- and minority-owned small business conducting product development through advanced technological research. Currently, the company is pursuing contracts under $250,000 to develop customized “computer software, custom electronics, embedded control systems, prototype robotic systems, systems for remote and local sensor monitoring and imaging, and applications in 3D printing.” More specifically, it seeks contracts in the development of 3D printed, patient-specific prosthetic and medical-related devices.

SabioAdvantec’s President and Co-founder John C. Cheeseborough III has a background in physics and experimental engineering at NASA. Jonathan Scheidt, Vice President of Cohen’s Children’s Medical Center, North Shore/LIJ Health System, summarizes here his utmost confidence in Cheeseborough’s ability to lead the company in this new direction:

“John Cheeseborough brings his diverse skill set to all his projects seamlessly integrating mechanical design, hardware and software development. From highly complex linear accelerator designs to optical small instruments he has proven he can deliver the right product at the right time,” said Scheidt. “He is customer centric and has been successful in academia, industry and small business. His work ethic is impeccable and he can always be counted to go above and beyond.”

Together, the team at SabioAdvantec has over forty years of experience, establishing its broad range of technological expertise that will now benefit the Federal Government contract arena as well.

Graphene Laboratories Inc. Acquired by Graphene 3D in Big Graphene Deal

There’s been a lot of news from Graphene 3D Lab lately. Graphene 3D recently announced it has acquired Graphene Laboratories, a company that supplies graphene and other advanced materials to the likes of Fortune 500 companies such as Apple, GE, Samsung, Xerox, IBM, and NASA and to top research universities like Harvard University and Stanford University. Graphene Laboratories also runs the Graphene Supermarket, which supplies these products to customers all over the world. This is clearly big news for Big Graphene, as two companies become one, with Graphene 3D operating Graphene Laboratories as a wholly-owned subsidiary.

Also, in the latest Graphene 3D news: Co-CEO Elena Polyakova attended the 5th Annual Graphite to Graphene Conference in London, December 8-9, 2015. Polyakova presented on recent graphene developments at this conference, which is the largest international gathering that focuses on the natural and synthetic graphite and graphene industries.

Japan’s Rinkak Showcases “Digital CMF Product” with the Olympus Air Camera

An experimental new finishing service for the acceleration of 3D printed product development has been announced by Japan-based Rinkak, in partnership with the Olympus Air camera’s OPC Hack & Make Project and its partner for CMF (color, material, and finishing), FEEL GOOD CREATION. The service uses CMF for Acrylic and Nylon 3D printed parts, which also includes 8 different kinds of fine finishing designs. Rinkak explains that this is a visual and tactile finishing technique that improves upon the former practice of merely adding just a single color onto a 3D printed object. Take, for example, the way the Olympus Air camera has been finished in this project (see photo). This is Rinkak’s description of the finish:

“Given the camera grip parts for example, they are finished by metallic painting and aging process that give the impression of steampunk style; also, flocking finishing provides soft skin touch like moquette fabric, color painting with ordinary looks, and special resin creates an elastic touch.”

Prototyping products with customized finishes such as surface texturizing and coloring in micro-lots (from 1 item per order) on demand is what Rinkak is showcasing here. The Rinkak platform aims to add custom coloring, material, and finishing to small 3D printed orders, speeding up the prototyping process and ultimately 3D printed product development.

CAD Artist Corinne Whitaker Releases Book Available on Amazon

When I first started researching 3D printing artists for a series of articles I did last year, Corinne Whitaker’s work was the first that I bumped into. Of course, this should not come as a surprise considering she is a digital imaging veteran. Her website, Digital Giraffe, boasts over 34 years of digital imaging. There she shares her paintings and blobs, sculptures, and writings. Her writing projects have a new addition, in fact. The series, If We Are Erased: A Catalog of Imaginary Creatures, Volumes I-V, are all available on Amazon. The latest Volume V features her digitally designed evolutionary creatures that seek to tell the Origin of the New Species tale. What happens to humans after we’ve become extinct?

Whitaker’s whimsical designs initially mask much more serious questions. In fact, through her digital art, which consists of powerfully rendered 3D models, or “blobs,” that serve as the basis for her sculptures and paintings, she tackles nothing less than the big questions about life and its very purpose. The “Why of We” is one way to describe her If We Are Erased project. And with each volume costing $30, this may be just the perfect gift for those all-ages digital designers, philosophers of technology, or other artists in your life!

And that’s all of this week’s 3D printing news!  Which of these stories were your favorite?  Let us know in the 3D Printing Stories We Missed forum thread on 3DPB.com.