Change Is Additive—Week of 8/4/2017
CHANGE IS ADDITIVE—A 3D Printing News Series by Fathom
3D Printed Smart Hearing Aids, Lockheed Martins New Facility, Manufacturing Giant Integrates Additive, British Museums 3D Archives Available for Download
With so many weekly developments in a fast-changing industry like additive manufacturing, the headlines can really stack up. To cut through the clutter of 3D printing news, check out these staff picks of the week. What do you think is the most impactful development?
Factory of the Future / / Additive Manufacturing
PwCs Bob McCutcheon and industry colleagues discuss how additive manufacturing is reshaping the factory of today // Read More / / Watch Video
Philips’ Lightbulb Moment with 3D Printing
Philips Lighting claims it is using 3D printing to realize cost savings of around €89,000 a year through operational benefits. Danny Van Der Jonckeyd at Philips explains how the partnership with Materialise resulted in the introduction of 3D printed metal components in the production environment for Philips lightbulbs, including a lamp holder bracket and a suction gripper / / Watch Video
Using 3D Printing to Plan a Revitalized Downtown Detroit
With a 3D printed, scale model of Downtown Detroit, Olympia Entertainment sold out all of the suites in the Detroit RedWings new stadium in 40 days.
For its first time working with 3D modeling, Olympia had turned to Zoyes Creative Group, who used the state-of-the-art Stratasys Fortus 450mc 3D Printer to create a breathtakingly intricate model of the arena and the surrounding downtown district / / Watch Video
3D Printing Smart Hearing Aids
University of California at Berkeley’s engineers have created a smart, wearable 3D printed device that is worn on the ear. The project was appropriately nicknamed the ‘earable and is designed to track core body temperature using an IR sensor. 3D printing has already disrupted the manufacture of hearing aids. In 2015, over 15 million hearing aids were 3D printed / / Read More

Virtual Reality and 3D Printing Among Technologies to be Used at Lockheed Martins New $350M Satellite Production Facility
Lockheed Martin has announced that they are beginning construction on a $350 million facility that will focus on producing advanced satellites. The new factory, to be called the Gateway Center, will be built on the company’s Waterton Canyon, Colorado campus near Denver and is scheduled to be completed in 2020. 3D printing and virtual reality will be among the technologies used to create the satellites, which Lockheed Martin states will be more powerful and flexible at only a fraction of the cost and delivery time / / Read More

Mercedes Integrating 3D Printed Replacement Parts
Mercedes-Benz Trucks has opened new possibilities with an announcement yesterday that its now printing metal spare and replacement parts. Mercedes-Benz noted that the first metal parts its printing are aluminum and these excel with almost 100% density and greater purity than conventional die-cast aluminum parts. According to Mercedes-Benz, the 3D printing process could deliver items with a material/structural advantage for use in this context / / Read More


British Museum Offers Digital Replicas of Its Collection
Inspired by the work of University College London and its 3D printing project MicroPasts, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the British Museum has been providing 3D models and printable files for the public, simplifying the process for casual desktop 3D printer users to print objects on display at the museum / / Read More / / Download

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Imagery and News Sources: 3Ders.org, 3DPrintingIndustry.com, 3DPrint.com, Architectural Digest, Materialise, Philips, Olympia Entertainment, Zoyes, Stratasys, UC Berkeley, Lockheed Martin, Mercedes Benz, Fleet Owner, British Museum, SketchFab