3D Printing News Briefs: October 10, 2017

We’re starting with the kick-off of a popular 3D printing challenge in today’s 3D Printing News Briefs, then moving on to a new 3D printer, a 3D printing handbook, a little bioprinting news and some new facilities, and ending with some 3D printing business news. Stratasys has opened its 2018 Extreme Redesign Challenge, while Skriware has released its newest 3D printer and a 3D printing handbook has been published by a German lawyer. The International Stem Cell Corporation has developed 3D bioprinting technology for liver tissue, and Manchester has its first open access biotech lab. Nano Dimension has opened a nanoparticle ink facility, the site of a moon settlement prototype will be in Hawaii, and finally, Arcam has resolved a preferential rights issue.

Stratasys 2018 Extreme Redesign Challenge

Just a few months ago, Stratasys announced the winners of its 13th annual Extreme Redesign Challenge, and the 2018 edition of the challenge just kicked off today.

“Are you a design or engineering student who has a unique idea and an interest in 3D printing? Do you have an innovative solution that will surely impact the world for the greater good that needs a venue for discovery? Our 14th annual Extreme Redesign challenge kicks off today. It’s our annual contest for students who have thoughtfully created form designs that bring purposeful solutions to life. Of all the entries submitted, we will choose 10 designs in each of the awards categories to focus our final selection on.”

STL files that are submitted to the GrabCAD challenge platform will be judged on aesthetics, design creativity, mechanical design, and product usefulness. You can submit entries through February 26, 2018; the finalists will be announced in April, and the winners will be announced in May. Students from anywhere in the world can submit entries for the contest in Engineering (secondary, post-secondary, NCATC education) and Art, Jewelry & Architecture. First place winners in each category will receive $2,500 and the use of a 3D printer for their school for one year. Check out the video produced by Grayson Galisky, who won last year in the Engineering: Secondary Education category:

Skriware Releases New 3D Printer

At the Gitex Technology Week 2017 in Dubai this week, Polish-Swedish startup Skriware introduced its latest device – the Skriware 2, the successor to its first 3D printer model funded on Kickstarter. The intuitive, plug and play printer is a callback to the startup’s first printer, but features a double extruder, a larger workspace, and a full-color touch screen with a 7″ user-friendly interface, which gives users access to the startup’s online 3D libraries without needing any additional software. The Skriware 2 will retail for $1,800, with a pre-order price of $1,599.

“Skriware 2 makes 3D printing process easier and more intuitive than ever, giving our customers revolutionary user experience,” said Karol Górnowicz, the CEO of Skriware. “It is a new member of Skriware ecosystem which allows users to freely cross the boundaries of their imagination and, among others, create customized 3D printed robots, learn programming, and discover the art of design.”

German 3D Printing Handbook Published

A new 3D printing handbook, called “3D Printing: Recht, Wirtschaft und Technik des industriellen 3D-Drucks” (Law, Business & Technology of Industrial 3D Printing in English), was just published and is now available for purchase on Amazon. The book was written in German, with a comprehensive English abstract for each chapter, by a team of over 30 co-contributors, including Dr. Andreas Leupold, a lawyer and founding member of the supervisory council of the Mobility goes Additive industry network. Dr. Leupold also edited the book, which is about the business, law, and technology of 3D printing and “intended for CEOs, entrepreneurs, divisional directors and managers, in-house counsels and legal departments, lawyers and business economists and all readers who want to deal with or explore the different facets of industrial 3D printing.”

“It features industry leaders such as Terry Wohlers of Wohlers Associates and Peter Sander of Airbus Industries as well as renowned legal experts such as the former presiding judge of the Federal German Supreme Court and business and 3D printing experts from companies such as voestalpine, Linde AG, Allianz, Deutsche Bahn (German Railway), Fraunhofer Institute and Bundeswehr Research Institute for Materials, Fuels and Lubricants (WIWeB),” Dr. Leupold told 3DPrint.com. “This book covers a wide range of topics from additive manufacturing processes and materials to business models, quality management and legal aspects.”

3D Bioprinting Technology for Liver Tissue

California-based clinical stage biotechnology company International Stem Cell Corporation (ISCO), which develops novel therapies and biomedical products based in stem cells, announced that it has made a major advancement in the 3D bioprinting of liver tissue, which will be targeted towards treating liver diseases. The ISCO R&D team created a 3D bioprinter, which uses proprietary liver progenitor cells (LPC) that can be derived from any kind of pluripotent stem cells, like human embryonic, through ISCO’s scalable and efficient differentiation method. Once the LPC are used to produce 3D liver-like structures, they should be able to offer a treatment for liver diseases once they’ve been transplanted into a damaged or diseased liver.

“I’m excited to announce that we have developed a new efficient technology to produce 3D liver tissue, which may be able to replace damaged tissue to restore liver functions,” said Russell Kern, PhD, the Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of ISCO. “Additionally, the developed liver tissue potentially can be used not only in liver treatment, but also in drug discovery as a model for drug screening, which opens up a potential multi-billion market for ISCO. We have already developed a master cell bank of the liver progenitor cells and, we are proceeding to test safety and efficacy of the cells in various models of liver diseases like liver cirrhosis and fibrosis.”

First Open-Access Biotech Lab Opens in Manchester

BiOspace is Manchester’s first open-access biotech lab.

For the first time, Manchester is getting an open-access biotech lab, BiOspace, which is based at Manchester Science Park. The space was conceived of in order to offer early-stage biotech and medtech companies unrestricted, pay-as-you-go access to equipment, bench space, facilities, and specialized training from experienced PhD scientists. The BiOspace lab is a new joint venture between Manchester Science Partnerships (MSP) and Protein Technologies, a leading biotech firm.

Dr. Farid Khan, BiOspace Founder and the chair of Protein Technologies, said, “By providing pay-as-you-go access to multi-million pound equipment, and the expertise to accompany it, we’re removing barriers to bright, individual scientists developing tomorrow’s breakthrough treatments.”

“Manchester has Europe’s largest student population, and ready access to grant funding through the Greater Manchester and Cheshire Life Sciences Fund and GM Academic Health Science Network, and the Business Growth Hub. The city region has a healthy mix of novel ideas, and the financial support to see them realised. BiOspace offers the ideal environment for interdisciplinary collaboration, with experts in biology, 3D printing, electronics and software development co-working in one facility.”

Nano Dimension Opens Nanoparticle Ink Facility

Today, Nano Dimension announced the opening of its new, dedicated nanoparticle ink production facility, located at the company’s Israeli headquarters. The 8,600-square-foot facility will allow scientists at the company to efficiently produce advanced, commercial-scale batches of dielectric and nanoparticle conductive inks, which have unique sintering and curing properties and are essential for manufacturing 3D PCBs, in order to meet future needs of its DragonFly 2020 Pro 3D printer customers.

“We have made significant progress over the past several months to design and engineer an innovative continuous manufacturing process to enable us to increase production of our nano particle inks and compatible dielectric materials. This extremely complicated process has been installed at our ink production facility, and it will allow us to efficiently scale-up and maintain our ability to supply customers with advanced materials, produced at our technologically sophisticated and cost-efficiently operated production facility, while keeping the trade secrets of the unique production processes,” said Amit Dror, CEO of Nano Dimension.

Moon Settlement Prototype in Hawaii

International MoonBase Summit, October 2017

For many years, the possibility of a 3D printed moon base has been discussed in the 3D printing world. Earlier this month, the International MoonBase Summit (IMS) was held on Hawai’i Island, and academics, government leaders, student representatives, and global industry leaders met to discuss setting up the world’s first permanent human settlement on the moon. At the event, Apollo 11 astronaut and IMS keynote speaker Buzz Aldrin encouraged the attendees to develop the International MoonBase so it could eventually be used as a gateway to Mars. The first step in making this vision a reality is building a prototype of a permanently settled MoonBase.

Hawai’i-based entrepreneur and IMS organizer Henk Rogers said, “Because of its geography, geology and culture, Hawai‘i is the perfect place to build a MoonBase prototype. We will build a MoonBase on our moon within the next decade.”

“MoonBase Mahina Lani (Moon Heaven) is the key to long-term sustainable life on our fragile blue planet.”

Currently, a 3D model of the International MoonBase is being developed, so the public will be able to get a “high-fidelity look” at how the base prototype will be laid out.

Arcam Resolves Preferential Rights Issue

Metal additive manufacturing solutions provider Arcam AB has resolved a preferential rights issue of about MSEK 986. In proportion to their holdings, the company’s shareholders will have preemptive rights to subscribe for new ordinary shares. The company’s Board of Directors resolved the issue this summer, to make sure that Arcam is able to safely carry out its full growth plan. If the issue is fully subscribed, Arcam will receive that approximate amount before transaction costs are deducted; in terms of the Rights Issue, the subscription price per ordinary share is SEK 240. The record date to participate in the Rights Issue is next Thursday, October 19th. To learn more about the Rights Issue, visit Arcam’s website.

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