Social Issues
Bambu Lab & 7 Accessibility Organizations Launch Design Challenge for 3D Printed Assistive Devices
In 2023, Chinese 3D printer OEM Bambu Lab launched MakerWorld, its collaborative 3D model platform. By early 2026, the platform had about 10 million monthly active users and started to…
AM & National Competitive Advantage, Part One: the Real Problem with US Manufacturing
The problem with US manufacturing is the productivity growth rate. Depending on the source, US manufacturing productivity has either been flat or slightly declined since 2010. Before going any further…
Let the Games Begin! Xi Throws Down the Advanced Manufacturing Gauntlet
Sangmin Lee went to TCT Asia back in March and reported on the event for 3DPrint.com. He wrote two articles arguing that China’s AM industry looks “ready to scale.” This…
3D Printed Football Helmets Are Amazing Business. They’re Also So Much More
NFL football is by far the most popular sport in the US, followed by college football (a state-of-affairs oddly similar to the fact that the world’s largest air force is…
Killer 3D Printing Applications: Human Factors
In 3D printing, key industries include things such as poka-yoke and manufacturing tools like jigs and fixtures. These low-volume tools save money and reduce errors. Refits in things like military…
RIC Robotics Begins Work on Colorado Community, Including Dozens of 3D Printed Homes
Despite years of increasing public focus on the issue of affordable housing, it wasn’t until the end of last year that US federal policymakers introduced a comprehensive bill to address…
3D Printing News Briefs, July 11, 2026: Fundraiser, Strategic Guide, Dentures, & More
In this weekend’s 3D Printing News Briefs, we’re starting with relief efforts for the earthquakes that hit Venezuela last month. Then we’ll move on to a new white paper from…
Wells Fargo Backs ICON in Landmark Milestone for 3D Printed Housing
Qualification is an indispensable step on the path to legitimization for any new technology, but it’s still just one step: markets tend to remain unswayed without a co-sign from an…
AM Drilldown: the Beginning of 3D Printing’s Next Phase in the Energy Sector
For much of the last decade, many have pushed an unjustifiably optimistic view of global energy consumption, along the lines of, fossil fuels are “on their way out.” Sadly, this…
Where the Money is Going, Part Two: Why All Roads Lead to AI
In Part One of this article, Vanesa Listek expertly described the major themes driving infrastructure investment so far this decade, illustrating how the same concerns are driving both public and…
DMG Mori Joins $10M Defense 3D Printing Program
To look at the Biden administration and the Trump administration that succeeded it and find areas of policy overlap is obviously a bit of a challenge. But such areas certainly…
BLT’s Partnership with Shenzhen Startup Illustrates Why a Robotics Boom Depends on 3D Printing
The way that manufacturers produce goods is changing, concerning both the techniques involved, as well as the overarching strategies which organize those techniques into systems of output. Additive manufacturing (AM)…
3D Printing Should Benefit Greatly as EU Releases €6 Billion for Ukrainian Drones
Drones have changed everything. Case in point: with the aim of preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, the US and Israel initiate airstrikes on the Gulf nation. A couple…
Orano Federal Services & UNC Charlotte Show How AM Could Cut Costs in Nuclear Energy Resurgence
Outside of the defense sector, few industries have been impacted by Russia’s ongoing occupation of Ukraine more than nuclear energy. The same appears to already be happening in response to…
Resetting the Role of AM in Defense, and the Role of Defense in the Economy
The Trump administration recently revealed that it is requesting a $1.5 trillion defense budget for FY2027, confirming Trump’s initial announcement of that topline number at the beginning of 2026. So…
BLT & Tianqiong Partners Flex on West with Consortium-Enabled, 3D Printed Upgrade for OPPO Find N6 Hinge
Due to a combination of historical, ideological, and economic reasons, companies originating in East and Southeast Asian nations have proven far more adept than their Western counterparts at leveraging organization…
Please Localize Your Supply Chains
Resilience is starting to feel like the only economic metric that matters, which is noteworthy, for one, because there is no defined metric that I know of that actually measures…
Italy’s First Certified 3D Printed Home is Alive: WASP Completes the Itaca Project
Additive construction (AC) can’t “solve the housing crisis”: that’s too much to expect from one technology. But AC processes have demonstrated that they’re a promising tool for helping to mitigate…
AM Demand Signals: Global Grid Resilience
We’re one year and a few days removed from the DeepSeek meltdown that rocked U.S. equity markets, not to mention the de facto U.S. AI brain trust, with fears that…
An Operation Warp Speed for Manufacturing: a Recommendation for the 3D Printing Industry in 2026
There is no looming shortage of manufacturing workers in the United States: that’s a misconception. Rather, there’s a shortage that’s already entirely present, one which increasingly threatens to turn into…
Alquist Launches Concrete Printer Brand & Expands Construction 3D Printing Partnership with Walmart
One of the highest-profile use cases ever in the additive construction (AC) space occurred a little over a year ago, when Walmart announced that it had partnered with Colorado’s Alquist…
3D Printing Helps Create Narcan Dispensers to Prevent Overdoses
A North Texas team is using 3D printing to make smaller, low-cost Narcan vending machines, helping more communities get access to a medication that can reverse opioid overdoses and save…
3D Printed Habitat Prototype Encourages Natural Regeneration of Marine Ecosystems
Recently, the World Design Organization (WDO) and the UK Design Council hosted the World Design Congress (WDC) 2025 in London. The tagline for the event was “Design for planet,” and…
Powering the Manufacturing Workforce: Nick Pearce of Alexander Daniels on the 3D Printing Labor Pool
Workforce development is starting to become one of the most prominent themes in the mainstream news cycle. While this may seem like a sudden emergence, it’s in fact a story…
