3D Braces, Nuclear Reactors, and Xometry gets Funding -- plus NASA! 3D Printing News 2020

Welcome to the third episode of the 3D Printing News Show! Today we will be talking about:

00:00 Intro
00:17 - LightForce Orthodontics Raises $14M for Custom 3D Printed Braces
https://3dprint.com/272755/lightforce-orthodontics-raises-14m-in-series-b-to-further-develop-3d-printed-brackets/

LightForce Orthodontics has recently raised $14 million from a series-b funding round that will help the company continue to develop. They’re using 3D printing to provide patients with a personalized treatment process since no one’s jaw, mouth or teeth are the same. The company was founded by Dr. Alfred Griffin III, DMD, PhD, MMSc and Dr. Lou Shuman, formerly of Invisalign

LightForce’s technology basically creates custom braces by 3D printing brackets which are designed for each individual tooth, ideally leading to shorter time wearing braces and fewer appointments for adjustments.

02:03 - Purdue University Receives a Grant to 3D Print a Nuclear Reactor
https://www.3dnatives.com/en/3d-printed-nuclear-reactor-110920205/

The US Department of Energy awarded $800k grant to Purdue University’s College of Engineering to accelerate the development of the microreactor. This project will be the first advanced reactor to operate in the US in 40 years. Purdue scientists and engineers are looking to drive the integration of technologies such as AM, computational material modeling and AI, in creating the components for the reactor.


03:24 - Harvard Researchers Develop YET ANOTHER Shape Memory 3D Printing Material
https://3dprintingindustry.com/news/harvard-researchers-develop-eco-friendly-shape-memory-3d-printing-material-175408/

Researchers from Harvard University’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have developed a 3D printing material that can be pre-programmed with reversible shape memory capabilities.

04:41 - Cultivate3D has launched it’s Massive “Elevator” 3D Printer complete with the MEDUSA dual-extrusion hotend
https://www.fabbaloo.com/blog/2020/9/8/cultivate3d-elevator-3d-printer

Australia-based company has launched their new “Elevator” 3D printer, a large format FFF printer designed to compete with other large format systems from 3D Platform and BigRep

On the Medusa, hot ends rotate out of the way when not in use. They even rotate into a nozzle blocker that minimizes oozing. The only major caveat is that it doesn’t come with a build plate. The cost of shipping a massive sheet of aluminum or glass outweighs cost of outsourcing it yourself, locally.

Now, there are 2 versions - Fully enclosed, and “Naked”
- Starting at only $3520
- Or $2760 for the Naked edition

Available through kickstarter - pre orders start september 8, and the price is going up about $1k by the end of the year!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/c3d/elevator-gigantic-scalable-multi-material-3d-printer

10:07 - Xometry Raises $75M in Equity Funding Round
https://www.fabbaloo.com/blog/2020/9/9/xometry-raises-75m

Xometry is a specialized in on demand manufacturing services. The new equity round was led by funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, and also included Durable Capital Partners and ArrowMark Partners, as well as previous investors BMW i Ventures, Greenspring Associates, Dell Technologies Capital, Robert Bosch Venture Capital, Foundry Group, Highland Capital Partners, and Almaz Capital.

11:56 - NASA and KULR to 3D print Batteries in Space
https://www.3dnatives.com/en/nasa-and-kulr-to-3d-print-batteries-in-space-040920204/

The Marshall SpaceFlight Center has awarded KULR Technology a contract to build 3D printed battery systems for manned and robotic space applications. KULR technologies develops next generation carbon fiber thermal management technologies for batteries and electronics systems, mostly used in aerospace, electronics and electric vehicle production. On June 2020, they developed a Passive Propagation Resistant battery design for space

Overall, the ability to 3D print batteries in space has a lot of advantages, such as lowering costs, allowing for extended missions, and reserving cargo capacity for other valuable items and equipment.

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At Vision Miner, we specialize in Functional 3D printing, especially high-performance plastics like PEEK, ULTEM, PPSU, PPS, CFPA, and more. If you're interested in using functional 3D printing and materials in your business, feel free to reach out, and we can help you make the right choice for your application.

Call 833-774-6863 or email contact@visionminer.com, and we're here to help!

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