How about that storm this week? Stella (it still makes me laugh that we’re naming winter storms now) messed things up for quite a few people around the eastern part of the United States a few days ago. The worst part for me was the hour (okay, more like 10 minutes, but it felt like an hour) it took me to get all the snow off my car so I could go to the store on Wednesday, and our editor-in-chief was nearly stranded at the Cleveland airport en route to HP’s Oregon lab, but a lot of other people had it worse. Inside 3D Printing New York took quite a hit, with several sessions and events being rescheduled or canceled altogether due to the inclement weather.
3DPrint.com made it to the conference, and we’ll have more details about it for you next week. Unfortunately, the shuffled schedule meant that we weren’t able to make it in person to the Frontier Tech Showdown startup competition, which is disappointing because startup competitions are always exciting to watch – some of the biggest companies in tech had their beginnings at Inside 3D Printing events. Hopefully we’ll make it to the next one, though!
This year’s event, like past ones, brought eight promising startups in the fields of 3D printing, robotics and virtual reality in front of an audience of judges to present for five minutes, with the chance of winning a $15,000 uncapped SAFE investment from Asimov Ventures. The last competition had an unprecedented two winners, with Obsess VR and ILLUSIO Imaging sharing the top honors at Inside 3D Printing San Diego in December. In New York, things returned to normal as one winner was crowned: Quebec’s Nanogrande.
“The different projects presented showed incredible potential, it was not an easy win,” said Juan Schneider, CEO of Nanogrande. “I would like to congratulate all the contestants and [wish] them great success. The world needs their innovative ideas!”
Juan Schneider (R) is congratulated by Tyler Benster of Asimov Ventures.
The competition’s judges certainly believed that the world needs Nanogrande’s innovative ideas – and they really are innovative. Nanogrande is the first company to 3D print at the molecular scale, with its NG-1, NG-100 and NG-1000 3D printers capable of producing objects as thin as a single nanometer. The company has been around since 2014, and was founded with the intention of bringing additive manufacturing and nanotechnology together. In addition to its nanometric 3D printers, Nanogrande also produces coating tools, manufacturing processes and nanometric functional surfaces.
Nanogrande’s 3D printers can print with metal, ceramics, polymers, fibers, and even organic material. Recently, the company began a collaborative research and development project, along with other Canadian organizations, aimed at refining its metal 3D printing protocols.
“This contest will give us an invaluable visibility,” continued Schneider. “We had the possibility to show our technology and business development to leaders in the domain of additive printing, and they have recognized our potential. We have already started seeing new business opportunities for Nanogrande.”
Nanogrande’s NG-100 3D printer
The next Inside 3D Printing Conference & Expo will take place in Melbourne, Australia from May 9 to 12. Further details about the agenda will be announced soon. Discuss in the Nanogrande forum at 3DPB.com.
