3D Printing News Briefs, January 16, 2021: In-Vision, Evolve Additive Solutions, ASTM International, Arris & Skydio

We’re almost all business in 3D Printing News Briefs today, with lots of new board members and new employees to talk about. First up, In-Vision has welcomed a new management team, and Evolve has not one, but two new members on its Board of Directors. Moving on, the ASTM International Center of Excellence has some new advisory board members. Finally, moving away from business, the Skydio X2 has won an important award, which validates the Arris technology used to create the UAV’s airframe.

In-Vision Welcomes New Management

New Management of In-Vision: Florian Zangerl (CEO) and Christof Hieger (CTO)
Credit: In-Vision/Thomas Topf

Austrian tech company In-Vision Digital Imaging Optics GmbH (In-Vision) develops and manufactures high-precision optical systems for industrial applications, and recently released its powerful HELIOS light engine for DLP 3D printing. Now the company, which is based in Guntramsdorf near Vienna, and Boston, Massachusetts in the US, is starting the new year with a new management team at the helm. Florian Zangerl, who was previously the managing director of specialist media house WEKA Industrie Medien, has been appointed as In-Vision’s CEO, and will oversee market and sales, human resources, commercial management, and administration. Christof Hieger, who has worked with the company since 2017 and served as the head of In-Vision’s research and development for the last few years, is now the company’s CTO. The new management team’s goal is to continue growing In-Vision’s market footprint in 3D printing, as well as other industrial applications.

“With our optics and light engines, we offer a perfect technological basis for our customers,” Zangerl said. “We will grow further in terms of volumes, geographies and areas of application.”

“There are still many fields of application for a perfect combination of DLP and precision optics,” said Hieger. “Although DLP technology has already facilitated many groundbreaking technological changes, we are only at the beginning of what this technology can do.”

Evolve Appoints Two Executives to Board of Directors

L-R: Andreas Saar of Siemens, Volker Hammes of BASF

Stratasys spinoff Evolve Additive Solutions, which developed the speedy Selective Thermoplastic Electrophotographic Process (STEP) technology, announced that it has appointed two industry executives to its Board of Directors, which brings the total number to seven. The first is Andreas Saar, the Vice President of Manufacturing Engineering Solutions at Siemens Digital Industries Software, who has spent nearly forty years working in the manufacturing industry. Saar, who inaugurated and led the AM program at Siemens Digital Industries Software, will support Evolve in its aim to deliver high-quality performance with his knowledge of a production-integrated, industrial AM approach. Evolve also announced that it has appointed Volker Hammes, Managing Director of BASF New Business GmbH, Ludwigshafen/Rhein Vice President & Head of Business Build-up, to its BOD. A long-time member of the BASF team, Hammes is the Chairman of subsidiary BASF 3D Printing Solutions GmbH, and is responsible for the company’s business build-up of material solutions, such as those used for 3D printing.

“I am honored to join the board of directors for Evolve as a strong believer in the Evolve’s approach to additive part production. Evolve’s Selective Thermoplastic Electrophotographic Process (STEP) automation potential and integration into industrial production environments are real game changers for the industry on its way to large volume additive production,” said Saar. “This technology is a unique response to the industry demand for reliable, repeatable production of thermoplastic end-user parts.”

“With over 30 years of experience in the industrial use of materials I wish to contribute to introducing the STEP technology of Evolve into the manufacturing world of tomorrow. Therefore, I will dominantly take the perspective of a potential user both from an application and an economics point of view,” Hammes said.

ASTM International’s AM CoE Names New Advisory Board Members

Six advisors have been announced as new additions to the advisory board of ASTM International’s Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence (AM CoE). These new advisors are representatives from ASTM’s main stakeholder groups, namely industry, government, and academia. The additions to the AM CoE advisory board include Dr. David Bond, the vice president of engineering (design) at Civil Airframes, as well as a fellow of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers and Royal Aeronautical Society, and freeman of the Worshipful Company of Engineers; senior vice president of applied technology at EOS North America Dr. Greg Hayes, who’s also a strategic technology development consultant; and Dr. Lewis Mullen, a chief engineer and the divisional additive lead in the joint replacement division at Stryker. Also named to the advisory board are Dr. Markus Seibold is the vice president of additive manufacturing for Siemens Power & Gas; Dr. Venkat Vedula, executive director, additive manufacturing at Raytheon Technologies, where he leads the Additive Manufacturing Process Capability Center (AMPCC); and finally Dr. Jennifer Wolk, a Navy materials engineer who researches advancing AM materials and processes to support naval applications.

“The advisory board plays a pivotal role in the AM CoE, providing vision and strategic direction to ensure it remains current with existing and future drivers of the additive manufacturing industry. We look forward to insight provided by these industry experts as the AM CoE continues to advance additive manufacturing through our unique approaches to standardization,” said Dr. Mohsen Seifi, ASTM International’s director of global additive manufacturing programs.

Skydio X2 Made with Arris Technology Wins CES Award

California manufacturing company Arris Composites recently received a significant investment for its composite production Additive Molding technology, and mentioned that it would be using this method to produce critical structural parts for Skydio drones with carbon fiber, starting with the airframe for the new autonomous Skydio X2 drone solution, which uses an AI-driven system to expertly fly and collect critical data from the air. Arris’s technology builds complex shapes with changing material compositions using 3D-aligned continuous fiber composites, which allowed Skydio to consolidate a 17-part assembly down to a single, multifunctional carbon fiber structure. Additive Molding also provides the Skydio X2 with increased speed and range, as carbon fiber is as stiff and strong as titanium but not nearly as heavy. Arris just got some major validation for its use of Additive Molding in the UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) industry, as the Skydio X2 drone has received the Best of Innovation Award for Drones and Unmanned Systems at the virtual CES 2021 event.

“We are excited and honored to receive the CES 2021 Best of Innovation Award for the X2. This award is a testament to our forward-thinking vision for autonomous drones and to the incredible work of our engineering team,” said Adam Bry, the CEO of Skydio. “The X2 delivers groundbreaking intelligence and robustness that allows professional pilots to get the job done faster, more accurately and with greater peace of mind. Our goal is to make drones easier and safer to use than ever, while opening up entirely new use cases based on autonomous flight.”