3D Printing News Briefs, September 26, 2020: Nanoscribe, Azul 3D, Arburg

In today’s 3D Printing News Briefs, we’re talking about a new material, a little business, and an industry event. Nanoscribe has introduced a new photoresin with special properties for microoptical elements, and Azul 3D is welcoming two new members to its Board of Directors. Finally, Arburg Technology Days has been postponed until 2021.

Nanoscribe’s New IP-n162 Photoresin for 3D Printing

Compound lens system with two refractive elements printed with Nanoscribe’s IP-n162 photoresin. The novel printing material has a high refractive index of 1.62, which expands the opportunities in creating innovative miniaturized optical systems. Printed by Nanoscribe, optical design: Simon Thiele, TTI GmbH TGU Printoptics, Stuttgart.

In order to meet the demand for advanced optical designs, Nanoscribe has launched a new 3D printing material that has special properties for high refractive index microoptics. The novel IP-n162 photoresin was designed specifically for Two-Photon Polymerization (2PP) additive manufacturing, and has a high refractive index of 1.62 at a 589 nm wavelength, combined with a high dispersion that corresponds to a low Abbe number (approximate measure of the material’s dispersion) of 25. It also features a low absorption in the infrared region, and can help Nanoscribe expand opportunities to make highly accurate miniature optical systems and elements, like prisms, microlenses, and complex freeform optics, using its 3D microfabrication. Other applications for Nanoscribe’s new IP-n162 photoresin include compound refractive optical systems, photonic packaging, infrared microoptics, and quantum technology.

“The currently commercially available resins are too similar in their refractive indices, which limits innovations in microoptical systems,” stated Matthias Kraus, a scientific researcher at the University of Applied Sciences in Jena, who has pilot-tested IP-n162 in novel optical applications. “IP-n162 has promising optical properties to develop a useful achromatic system required, for example for display devices, ultra-sensitive detectors and medical applications.”

Azul 3D Welcomes Two Investors to Board of Directors

Illinois startup Azul 3D, which commercialized its ultra-quick, large-format, proprietary High Area Rapid Printing (HARP) technology this summer, announced that 3D printing veteran John Hartner, the CEO of metal AM leader ExOne, and investor Louis A. Simpson, the former Chief Investment Officer for GEICO, have been added to its board of directors. The two clearly have major support for the company’s mission: in August, both Hartner and Simpson were also listed as investors in the company’s $12.5M seed funding round, which also included investors Joe Allison, the former CEO of Stratasys Direct Manufacturing; former 3D Systems chairperson Wally Loewenbaum; and Hugh Evans, former senior vice president of corporate development for 3D Systems.

“This is the first polymer additive manufacturing platform that has the scale, speed and material palette to truly move 3D printing into scale production. It opens up countless new applications that are impossible with traditional technologies,” said Hartner. “I’m excited to advise a talented team to leverage this breakthrough technology for production customers around the world.”

Arburg Technology Days Postponed Until 2021

Nobody had even heard of corona in 2019: around 30 exhibits and applications in the Customer Center gave visitors to the Technology Days an overview of the depth and breadth of Arburg’s portfolio of machines and processes. (Image courtesy of Arburg)

Since 1999, German family-owned company Arburg, one of the top manufacturers of plastic processing machines, has hosted more than 93,000 invited guests from around 50 countries at its annual Technology Days event, which it calls a “unique and firmly established event in the international world of plastics.” But in 2020, this will sadly not be the case: Arburg Technologys Days is just the latest industry event casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to avoid exposing its employees and thousands of event attendees to the coronavirus, Arburg has made the decision to cancel the four-day event for 2020, and come back strong in the summer, when the COVID crisis will (hopefully) be under control, and cold and flu season is over.

Arbrug’s Managing Partner Juliane Hehl,, who is responsible for the company’s marketing department, said, “Welcoming around 6,000 visitors every year, the Technology Days are a hallmark that Arburg is famous for all over the world.

“In these uncertain times, we are determined not to put safety and security at risk. By making the decision to move the event to June at this early stage, we are proactively demonstrating our commitment to the responsibility we owe to our customers, partners, and employees.”

Arburg Technology Days, with its over 50 exhibits, expert presentations, network opportunities, and site tours, will now be held from June 9-12, 2021 at the company’s massive Lossburg headquarters.