Women in 3D Printing and Cyant Present #3DTalk on 3D Printing and Design

If you’ve been following our Spotlight on Women series, we hope you’re enjoying reading the stories of the many influential women in the 3D printing industry. We’re certainly enjoying sharing those stories, and we have many more still to come. Last week, we interviewed Nora Touré, Business Development Director at Sculpteo and founder of Women in 3D Printing, an organization dedicated to supporting and promoting women working in the 3D printing field. One of the organization’s initiatives is #3DTalk, a series of events led by panels of women in 3D printing.

The first #3DTalk event was held in San Francisco in September 2016, and it has grown quickly into a series held in three separate locations. #3DTalk was developed and launched in partnership with Cyant, a woman-owned and -led company focused on bringing together technology and the arts to create learning tools. Cyant’s goal is to empower, support and connect a community of what they call “cyantists,” and while cyantists include people of all ages, genders and backgrounds, the company is especially committed to reaching women and girls.

While the first #3DTalk event was focused more generally on 3D modeling and 3D scanning, the topics have evolved into more application-driven themes, such as 3D printing in healthcare or education, for example. The next event will be held in less than two weeks. Taking place in New York City on May 18, this particular #3DTalk will be centered on 3D Printing and Design, and registration is still open if you’d like to attend. Tickets are only $15 in advance and $20 same day, and if you can’t make it to New York, you can still register to watch the live stream, which is free.

The two-and-a-half hour event will run from 6:00 to 8:30 PM EDT, with the panel itself followed by a networking session. It will be moderated by Touré and Cyant founder and CEO Barbara Hanna. Panelists include:

• Virginia Estrada, an artist and designer who began as a painter and sculptor and is now working with 3D printing as a tool
• Darlene Farris-LaBar, an environmental artist who uses 3D printing to draw attention to issues such as climate change and biodiversity. Her work includes a large collection of 3D printed flowers and plants, many of them threatened native species.
• Selin Olmsted, an eyewear designer who formerly worked for Warby Parker and now designs independently

Attendees will learn and participate in conversations about how 3D printing is creating new opportunities in the design field by offering greater design freedom, new materials and production methods. Topics will include environmental impact, research, business and more.

Barbara Hanna

“#3DTalk events provide access to personal insights and experiences thanks to our panels, and are a opportunity to network and meet great contacts in an approachable setting,” Hanna tells 3DPrint.com. “3DTalk is also an interesting model as a collaboration between Nora/Wi3DP and myself/Cyant, both bringing complementary backgrounds and intersecting objectives to the table. As a result, we have been able to create a great format and a rich forum for discussion and connections between people and themes while featuring women in the industry.”

The upcoming #3DTalk is being co-hosted by Inside 3D Printing and Samsung Next, and 3DPrint.com is proud to be a media sponsor. If you can’t make it to this one, there are several others coming up soon. On June 22, #3DTalk will be in Paris for a panel on 3D printing and the Internet of Things, and in September there will be an event focused on 3D printing and fashion, followed later in the fall by one dedicated to 3D printing and robotics. Details for those two events will be announced soon.

#3DTalk panels, while women-led, are open to everyone, regardless of gender, age or experience level. If you’d like to join, sponsor, host or otherwise help organize an event, you can contact #3DTalk through their website. If you’re interested in attending the upcoming panel in New York, you can register here. Discuss in the #3DTalk forum at 3DPB.com.