3D Printing News Briefs: April 17, 2020

Starting today’s 3D Printing News Briefs off with some good news, an Irish engineering student wins big in the annual Stratasys Extreme Redesign Challenge. Launcher has reached an agreement with NASA to test its 3D printed engines at the Stennis Space Center, and PTC has launched its Creo 7.0 software release. Finally, ACEO has announced the dates for its next silicone 3D printing webinars.

Extreme Redesign 3D Printing Challenge Winner

Fahy’s winning 3D printed design is a Hoberman sphere that opens and closes in the shape of a globe, revealing a heart at its center.

Daniel Fahy, an Irish PhD student at the University of Oxford, won first place in the Art, Jewelry and Architecture category of the 2020 Extreme Redesign Challenge, hosted by GrabCAD and Stratasys. Interestingly enough, he won in the same category back in 2017, and used his past 3D printing experience and engineering expertise to build a Hoberman Sphere in a few weeks from scratch. Fahy won a $2,000 scholarship, a printout of his design, and a free Stratasys 3D printer for his university, which has been installed in the Department of Engineering Science Oxford Thermofluids Institute.

“Daniel’s winning design perfectly exemplifies the level of creative innovation we receive globally each year as part of our Extreme Redesign Challenge. 15 years on from the inception of the competition and students still continue to amaze us with their ability to push the boundaries of design and creativity with 3D printing,” Gina Scala, the Director of Marketing, Global Education, for Stratasys said. “The bar was particularly high this year, with our panel impressed with so many diverse designs – making the winners this time round truly deserving having shown exceptional levels of creative design.”

Students from around the world in secondary to tertiary education are invited to make, or redesign, an existing piece of jewelry, art, or architecture for the challenge. A jury evaluates the designs based on their mechanical soundness, creativity, and if they can actually be produced.

Launcher Testing 3D Printed Rocket Engines at Stennis Space Center

A rendering of Launcher’s test stand (foreground) at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.

New York-based small launch vehicle startup Launcher announced that it has signed a long-term Space Act Agreement with the NASA Stennis Space Center in Mississippi to test its 3D printed liquid rocket engines at the facility’s E-1 test stand. This summer, it will test-fire its 22,000-lbf thrust Launcher E-2 engine at the site as part of the startup’s $1.5 million US Air Force Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II contract. Even though Stennis is currently at Stage 4 of NASA’s pandemic response framework, Launcher has been able to continue operations during the COVID-19 crisis, as it’s considered an essential business.

“We had always assumed that Stennis was out of our expense range for now. We basically found a mode of operation and a deal that made sense for us at our current size,” said Launcher’s CEO Max Haot.

Testing at Stennis allows Launcher to avoid environmental issues, like noise, and to access high-pressure nitrogen needed for engine tests. The startup continues to work on the test stand structures it will need, and hopes to start combustion chamber tests this summer.

PTC Launches Creo 7.0 Release

Generative design

This week, PTC officially launched the next generation of its CAD software with the release of Creo 7.0. Artificial intelligence and simulation is now readily available for designers thanks to the new capabilities, which were added to help with the common use cases of CAD consumers. Some of these features include enhanced additive manufacturing capabilities, the incorporation of Frustum’s generative design technology, fluid flow analysis in Creo Simulation Live, and multibody design tools, which make part design easier to manage and modify and help users complete design tasks more efficiently.

“Creo 7.0 is one of our most innovation-rich releases yet, allowing customers to leverage Frustum’s amazing generative design technology and an enhanced Ansys-powered Creo Simulation Live with real-time fluid-flow analysis. Creo 7.0 makes emerging technology a part of our customers’ everyday design workflows, helping to transform their digital product development processes,” said Brian Thompson, Divisional Vice President and General Manager, CAD, for PTC.

ACEO Announces Dates for Next Silicone Webinar

Earlier this month, ACEO announced that it would be presenting a series of webinars about silicone 3D printing to stay connected with its customers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The first session, “ACEO Basics,” was well-received, and the company has announced the dates for its next webinar, with the topic of “Real Silicones.”

Presented in English, the webinar will discuss injection molded LSR vs. 3D printed silicone, multimaterial performance, isotropic behavior, and more. It will be held on two dates: Thursday, April 23, from 9-9:30 CET, and Tuesday, April 28, from 4-4:30 CET. Register for the first one here, with the password aiMnZPj@322, and register for the second here, with the password r7dXMRTC*33. A modern browser (i.e. not Internet Explorer) is recommended to watch the webinars. Future topics will include “Design Freedom” and “ACEO Use Cases.”

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