3D Printing News Briefs, September 9, 2021: Events, Materials, & More

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In today’s 3D Printing News Briefs, the first Formnext + PM South China finally opens this week. In materials news, a biomedical company introduced what it calls the first purified and phenol-functionalized gelatin, and a company in California is using corn husks and 3D printing to make furniture. Finally, The Spaghetti Detective reported a major web security issue recently, and a traffic stop in North Vancouver led to a bust of a possible gun-making lab that was using 3D printers. Read on for all of the details!

Inaugural Edition of Formnext + PM South China

After first being announced in 2019 for a 2020 debut and then being postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the inaugural edition of Formnext + PM South China will finally take place this week in the newly opened Shenzhen World Exhibition and Convention Center. The powder metallurgy and additive manufacturing fair, organized by Guangzhou Guangya Messe Frankfurt Co Ltd and Uniris Exhibition Shanghai Co Ltd. and taking place from September 9-11, will welcome more than 200 exhibitors and over 10,000 attendees to the 15,000 square meter space, with a total of 80 seminars spread across seven forums in the event program. Several distinguished guests will speak during the opening ceremony, and there will be new pandemic regulations in place, including temperature measurements, mask mandates, and more.

“We’re very excited for the launch of the very first edition of Formnext + PM South China,” said Mr Hubert Duh, Chairman of Guangzhou Guangya Messe Frankfurt Co Ltd. “Leveraging the expertise of its brand name shows, Formnext in Frankfurt and PM China in Shanghai, this new fair will bring cutting-edge technologies to the Greater Bay Area, and gather together industry professionals to promote the exchange of knowledge which, ultimately we hope will drive the manufacturing industry forward in a positive direction.”

Rousselot Biomedical’s Purified, Phenol-Functionalized Gelatin

X-Pure GelDAT combines purity with superior adhesion performance to increase the potential of in-body applications reaching the clinic.

A brand of Darling Ingredients, leading collagen-based solutions provider Rousselot Biomedical has launched X-Pure GelDAT – Gelatin Desaminotyrosine, which it claims is the first purified, phenol-functionalized gelatin. This addition to its modified, pharmaceutical-grade gelatins was developed in response to customer demands for a readily available biomaterial that can get around clinic translation barriers. Typically, when researchers need a more adhesive biomaterial than Gelatin Methacryloyl (GelMA), they turn to Gelatin Tyramine (GelTYR), but it lacks a scalable production process, and the chemical reactions needed to make it can cause uncontrollable side reactions. Rousselot says that its X-Pure GelDAT offers consistency and purity at scale, and also features a phenolic modification that provides superior adhesion properties to human tissue.

“Based on our extensive experience and scientific expertise in modified gelatins, we created a versatile, effective and scalable alternative to GelTYR. Rousselot® Biomedical delivered a tailored X-Pure® GelDAT solution, from customer’s initial briefing into pre-clinical trials in less than a year,” explained Dr. Jeff Daelman, Business Development Manager at Rousselot Biomedical.

“Rousselot’s X-Pure® GelDAT’s research grade is functionally equivalent to the GMP grade material, so researchers have less risk of having to re-validate their biomaterial prior to clinical trials. Compromising on quality in early research can also cause significant scale-up issues and delays in preparation for clinical trials. X-Pure® GelDAT can be used throughout every development phase.”

3D Printed Furniture from Corn Husks

The Esker coffee table.

California startup Model No. was founded in 2018 to offer a greener, more sustainable alternative to furniture manufacturing, and is following through with its environmentally-friendly 3D printed furniture and home décor made from repurposed agricultural waste—specifically corn husks, beetroot, and cassava. The startup’s online store opened less than a year ago, and its suppliers grind these materials down into a non-petroleum-based plastic, which is later formed into 3D printable pellets. 3D printing is inherently less wasteful and more efficient than traditional forms of subtractive manufacturing, such as CNC machining and injection molding, and Model No. focuses on customization as well, which also helps reduce the amount of waste.

We have the capability where you could do a table and then you can do a shelf, you can do a chair — you can do different parts literally back to back to back. If you were doing traditional manufacturing you’d have to go in and you’d probably have to switch out the mold, you’d have to bring in different individuals who maybe train on different products — so it makes it more challenging to be able to execute — especially customizing to-order pieces,” Phillip Raub, the CEO of Model No., said.

I think the furniture industry is the one industry where — if you look at how big it is and how many items are sold now — this is an extreme thing where people are finally going to wake up and realize not only is there so much waste but I think there’s just a lot of off-gassing and lot of toxins that are going into the materials too that are in one’s home that people just don’t realize. I think that’s something that we’re really taking a bold look. It’s something we want to challenge and see the huge opportunities.”

The Spaghetti Detective’s Cloud Reconfiguration Mistake

The Spaghetti Detective (TSD) is open source artificial intelligence software that automatically interrupts failed prints by running continuously on a computer server and using a computer or 3D printer’s own webcam to monitor the process for any errors. This auto-discovery feature basically detects printers that have the same IP address as the user, which is supposed to act as an authentication measure. But the 3D print remote monitoring company recently got into some trouble when it accidentally exposed some of its users’ printers to each other after an error with cloud reconfiguration. The platform’s founder, Kenneth Jiang, apologized for the issue and explained that he’d made a “stupid mistake” which affected 73 users who had tried to link their printers to TSD during the configuration error. These users were able to control devices that belonged to other users, which is obviously not an ideal situation. TSD let the affected users know about the blunder, and pushed out an update within six hours of being informed about the error from one of the 73 users.

“When I went through the load-balancer reconfiguration, I made a mistake by missing a configuration to let the load balancer pass the public IP address of the connecting client to the backend TSD server. Instead, the load-balancer would just pass its own IP address to the server,” Jiang explained.

“As a result, the server got the same IP address for the users who happened to be connecting their printer to TSD at the same time. The server thought they were on the same local network, and hence allowed them to link each other’s printer!”

Traffic Stop Leads to Discovery of 3D Printed Gun-Making Lab

A West Vancouver Police Department vehicle is seen in this undated file photo. (Image courtesy of West Vancouver Police/Facebook)

The West Vancouver Police Department stated that earlier this summer, one of its drivers pulled over a man in North Vancouver who had two arrest warrants against him. The suspect, 31-year-old Thomas Barewski, was arrested and his vehicle searched, revealing drugs packed for sale, a loaded handgun, and other weapons, in addition to a fake police badge and other “police-like equipment.” This led to a search of the suspect’s home, where investigators discovered more weapons and drugs, in addition to fake IDs and, according to the WVPD’s statement, “items consistent with the manufacturing of firearms, including 3D printers.” Multiple charges have now been approved against Barewski, including possession of identity documents, possession of a prohibited device or ammunition, possession of a firearm or ammunition contrary to a prohibition order, unauthorized possession of a firearm, and possession of a loaded or restricted firearm.

In a news release, Const. Kevin Goodmurphy stated, “Obviously, the guns and drugs, especially the way they were concealed, cause us concern.

“The added presence of police-like items and things like 3D printers, elevates our level of concern.”

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