As you head into the weekend, we’re bringing you all of the latest business, materials, and software news in today’s 3D Printing News Briefs. Xaar announced a new executive, Wipro 3D was awarded an important quality certification, and Stratasys and Polymaker both have new partnerships. German RepRap is expanding its materials portfolio, while CERN has chosen to use Simufact Additive for its upcoming additive manufacturing workshop. Finally, Formlabs is taking its popular Roadshow on the road to San Francisco.
Xaar Introduces New Chief Customer Officer
Industrial inkjet technology provider Xaar, which manufactures piezoelectric drop-on-demand industrial printheads, announced this week that it has appointed Stephen McLintock as its new Chief Customer Officer. McLintock, who has deep knowledge of the printing industry, has plenty of commercial and general management experience, holding multiple commercial roles, such as Vice President and General Manager Global Strategic Accounts from 1996 through 2015 for Danaher/Videojet Technologies in Dubai, North America, and the UK. Most recently, McLintock served as the Divisional Managing Director for IMI plc, where he was responsible for three global divisions with £350 million P&L. He has also run commercial teams around the world, and has, as Xaar puts it, “a passion for emerging markets and operational excellence.”
“We are delighted that Steve has chosen to join Xaar in this pivotal role for our business,” said Doug Edwards, the CEO of Xaar. “His commercial experience across industrial and print sectors will be invaluable as we focus on delivering the products, technologies and services that our customers require and ensure we progress toward our vision of generating annual revenues of £220m by 2020.”
Wipro 3D Receives Important Quality Certification
Wipro 3D, an additive manufacturing leader in India, was just awarded the AS9100:2016/AS9100D Quality Certification by the International Aerospace Quality Group (IAQG), making it one of the only 3D printing companies in the world, and the first in India, to receive this certification. AS9100:2016, which is basically equivalent to the EN 9100:2016 and JISQ9100:2016 qualifications, recognizes the quality management system and organizational processes followed by the company.
“We are delighted with this important step in the direction of growing Wipro 3D into a global business. From our 12000 square feet Additive technology and manufacturing center we offer a range of services right from Additive Consulting, Additive Engineering & Reverse Engineering, Series Manufacturing to R&D to our clients with a strong focus on business impact,” said Ajay Parikh, the Vice President and Business Head of Wipro 3D. “Wipro 3D has India’s foremost fully integrated Metal Additive Manufacturing facility with Design, Manufacturing, Post-processing & R&D all under one roof. We also intend to extend this center to provide Additive Engineering and R&D support to our upcoming global operations.”
Stratasys Partners with Aachen Center for Additive Manufacturing
3D printing leader Stratasys has announced a five-year cooperative agreement with the Aachen Center for Additive Manufacturing (ACAM), which is part of the RWTH Aachen Campus in Germany. As part of the agreement, Stratasys will be installing one of its Fortus 450mc 3D printers at ACAM, which uses the company’s FDM technology as part of its hands-on technical training courses. The Fortus 450mc will be used to provide services and training.
“With this collaboration, we are raising awareness and providing educational content focused on high-quality plastics to future generations of engineers and manufacturers. Especially in countries like Germany, where manufacturing and production continue to focus on metals, the collaboration provides an opportunity to understand the benefits of thermoplastics for production and to familiarize students with the technology early on,” said Matthias Gukelberger, the Vice President and Head of Services at Stratasys EMEA.
“Acam enjoys an excellent reputation because it combines the experiences of world-class institutes and research centers on the RWTH Aachen campus. The institution is a natural partner because we both work to promote awareness and use of additive manufacturing and training opportunities.”
Micro Center Carrying Polymaker Filaments
Top computer device and consumer electronics retailer Micro Center has announced that it is partnering with Polymaker to bring its advanced 3D printing materials into three of its stores. Polymaker, headquartered in Shanghai with global offices in the Netherlands, Japan, and the US, is dedicated to developing functional new materials for the 3D printing industry, and this is its first partnership with an actual brick and mortar store. Micro Center will be adding some of Polymaker’s advanced materials to its shelves – specifically PolyMide CoPA (Nylon Filament with Warp-Free Technology) and PC-Max (Polycarbonate Filament with Nano-reinforced impact resistance).
“Trialing initially in three stores (Fairfax, Dallas and Columbus) we are expecting to roll out to all 25 Micro Center stores across the USA later this year,” Luke Taylor, Polymaker’s Marketing Manager, told 3DPrint.com.
German RepRap Adds to Materials Portfolio
Micro Center isn’t the only one offering Polymaker’s polycarbonate 3D printing material – German RepRap, which develops and produces 3D printers based on RepRap technology, is expanding its materials portfolio with PC-Max thermoplastic material. The material is good for demanding applications, due to its high achievable values of hardness, stiffness, and strength, along with excellent mechanical properties. The material has a high melting point, and dimensional stability, at over 100°C, and an impact resistance that’s 250 times that of other materials.
PC-Max is resistant to ethanol and diluted acids, as well as many greases and oils, and can be used to 3D print robust parts with high fractural toughness for mechanically demanding applications. It also has good properties when used as an insulator against electric current. PC-Max is currently available in black, 1.75 mm diameter spools through German RepRap and its certified sales partners. One 750 gram spool costs about €66, including 19% VAT and shipping costs.
CERN Using Simufact Additive
The Mechanical and Materials group at the non-profit European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) has decided to use Simufact Additive software to simulate the SLM process for predicting parts deformation in High Energy Physics applications in its Additive Manufacturing Workshop. The powerful Simufact Additive software solution for metal 3D printing users was introduced back in 2016, and allows for ‘first time right’ optimization of laser powder bed fusion processes. Since its market launch, Simufact has built a large user base for the software, with over 60 customers around the world, and will now help CERN simulate the SLM process for applications like superconducting magnets and Radio-Frequency (RF) components for its workshop participants.
Romain Gérard, an additive manufacturing engineer at CERN, said, “Predicting deformation is key to achieve first-time-right accurate parts, especially for parts made with expensive materials such as niobium developed for Superconducting RF application.”
Formlabs Taking Roadshow to San Francisco
Who doesn’t enjoy a good road trip? Formlabs certainly does, and its Roadshow, a popular panel and networking event that sold out in both New York City and Los Angeles, is heading back to California soon. From 6 – 9:30 PM on June 6th and 7th, the San Francisco Roadshow will host two events for the city’s product design and manufacturing community, focusing on leveraging 3D printing in mass customization, prototyping, and production.
The event will be held at Microsoft, and speakers include representatives from Amazon Custom, Google, Flextronics, Ideo, UC San Francisco, and others; past participants have include Autodesk, Harvard, America Makes, SOLIDWORKS, TechCrunch, and Blizzard Entertainment. Tickets are only $5, and Formlabs is offering 3DPrint.com readers one complimentary ticket when they enter the code 3DPRINT during registration.
To learn more, check out the video from the last Formlabs Roadshow event below:
Discuss these stories, and other 3D printing topics, at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts in the comments below.
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