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  • The Magic of AMUG as Reported by a First-Time Attendee

    There’s a special kind of magic about AMUG. I’ve heard about it for years, but never experienced it myself until last week. It’s different than what you see at some of the other industry events. Trade shows like RAPID are for selling stuff, while AMUG is more about problem-solving. Both are focused on making connections, but from the special theme evening and “fishbowl” lunches to Casino Night, the networking opportunities at AMUG were absolutely next-level. I’ve heard the Additive Manufacturing Users Group name and the tagline a million times—for users, by users. I didn’t truly understand until I came to Reno for the 2026 conference.

    The sense of camaraderie is strong with this one, folks. Everyone was so nice and welcoming, and really focused on helping each other solve their AM problems. I went to a roundtable about post-processing for polymer powder bed fusion, and it was fascinating to listen to the people who are actually getting their hands dirty and using the technology every day. In addition to some rather explosive tales of life on the factory floor, they were sharing tips and tricks. For instance, one attendee cautioned the others to never show customers a vapor smoothing machine, because they’ll expect those results every time, even for jobs that don’t require it.

    Another noted that customers looking into AM are often reluctant to switch because they want what they’ve always used, like injection molding.

    “People will say, ‘It’s not possible,’ and that’s not true, it’s just not what you’re used to!” another user said.

    I’ll share some more of what I observed in the keynote presentations, breakout sessions, expo floor chats, and more.

    This special AMUG poker chip was included in our AMUG backpacks

    Keynote Presentations

    Thanks to a blizzard in the Midwest and the partial government shutdown affecting TSA agents across the country, I had some major travel delays while traveling to AMUG. So I unfortunately missed the Tuesday morning keynote by Steve Fournier, Senior Manager – Additive Manufacturing at General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, and Scott Sawyer, Director of Programs – Aerospace and Defense, at Divergent, titled “From Hypercars to Defense Drones: How Two Major Industry Innovators Started their Partnership Journey at AMUG.”

    However, I was able to sit down with the two of them after the fact; shout-out to AMUG President Shannon VanDeren for connecting us so quickly! You can read about our conversation in another article.

    Innovators Showcase & Award

    Every year, AMUG chooses one individual who’s had a significant impact on the AM industry over a long period of time to receive its esteemed Innovators Award. This year, it was Max Lobovsky, Co-Founder and CEO of Formlabs; we were lucky enough to have him onstage at our Additive Manufacturing Strategies (AMS) event last month.

    “The AMUG Board of Directors admires his story,” VanDeren said when the news was announced. “Max was an obvious selection for the Innovators Award, and we were unanimous in our decision.”

    AMUG President Shannon VanDeren presenting Formlabs CEO Max Lobovsky with the Innovators Award

    In addition to the physical award itself, the winner is also the featured guest of the Innovators Showcase at AMUG, and interviewed by AM industry veteran Todd Grimm. One piece of advice Lobovsky shared was to “focus on the problem, not the solution.”

    “I know it sounds strange because people say you should be solution-oriented, but often you can eliminate something unnecessary if you’re focusing entirely on the problem.”

    Todd Grim and Max Lobovsky during the AMUG Innovators Showcase

    Lobovsky also shared about his trip to Ukraine last year, explaining that while both of his parents grew up there, he’d never been. But when the war with Russia ramped up, he wanted to do something to contribute. After he learned that people in the Ukraine were buying a lot of Formlabs printers, and that it was possible to “reasonably and safely travel there,” he decided to go there with his father to visit his hometown, meet and understand Formlabs customers in the country, and work on giving back.

    “It was an amazing, emotional, inspiring experience,” he said. “It’s amazing how much positive energy there is in a place that’s experiencing so much trauma. Much of that energy is currently focused on defending their country, but I’m hopeful that when the war ends, that energy will go towards something else.”

    LEGO Group 3D Printing at Scale

    On the last day of AMUG, Ronen Hadar, Senior Director and Head of Additive Design and Manufacturing at LEGO, presented a keynote titled “AM at Scale in Consumer Goods – The Case of The Lego Group.”

    Ronen Hadar, Senior Director and Head of Additive Design and Manufacturing at LEGO, onstage at AMUG 2026

    He explained that when LEGO is deciding to integrate new technology, it looks at quality, cost, and volume, in that order. The company uses metal AM for products like jigs, fixtures, grippers, and mold components, and polymer AM for consumer goods.

    In terms of 3D printing LEGO bricks, the company was aiming to achieve +/- 20-30 microns. Hadar said this “was hard to do without photoreactive materials, which we will not use to make toys that your children will put in their mouths!”

    “We had a hard time getting dimensional accuracy to this level. But we did it. We are fanatics about those tolerances, and that’s what separates us from some of our competitors.”

    Hadar said that LEGO produces hardly any waste powder in its AM process, because material development, recyclability, and sustainability are also business factors.

    He concluded by listing three things that must happen for AM to be more adopted in the consumer goods industry, with the first one being unit cost reduction. The ways to achieve this are more automation, process acceleration, machine and materials decoupling, and reducing the total cost of ownership (TCO).

    “OEMs really need to internalize that machines cannot cost $800,000 or a million dollars!” he said emphatically.

    The second is scaling production, which requires stable production platforms, as well as digital workflow and workforce productivity. The last is quality, enabled by a data-driven look and feel to ensure repeatability and accuracy, surface roughness improvements, color development and scaling, and powder quality and reliability.

    Breakout Sessions

    There were almost too many afternoon breakout sessions at AMUG! I had a very hard time choosing. However, I’m always interested in medical AM applications, so a lot of the sessions I attended after lunch each day were focused on this sector. The first was about “In-House Metal 3D Printing in Hospitals: Opportunities and Challenges for Medical Products.”

    Metal AM in Hospitals

    Using a real use case from Lerdsin Hospital in Bangkok, AppliCAD Application Engineer Napakarn Thussakorn, alongside Michael Staiger, One Click Metal, shared the AM production workflow for patient-specific orthopaedic implants.

    It starts with a patient consultation to assess the need for a 3D printed implant, and then CT or MRI imaging. Using Materialise Mimics, these images are then converted to a segmented 3D model of the relevant anatomy.

    “We need to go into each slide and each slice,” Thussakorn explained. “We need smooth surfaces and no holes.”

    Once the custom implant is designed, it’s printed out of biocompatible Ti64 using LPBF technology onsite at the hospital, using a One Click Metal MPRINT system. Then comes post-processing, like support removal, sand blasting, and sterilizing for surgical use. The implants are “designed to perfectly match patient anatomy,” which offers more design freedom, improves the fit and alignment accuracy, increases surgical confidence, reduces the need for intraoperative contouring, and lowers surgery time.

    Several examples were shared, including implants for the wrist, ankle, and forehead, as well as surgical tools like an acetabular chisel. Thussakorn said they all “help improve quality of life.”

    Mayo Clinic Microscale 3D Printing

    Seth Hara, PhD, Principal Engineer at the Mayo Clinic, had just about as difficult a time getting to Reno as I did. So his presentation, “Beyond the Visible: Microscale 3D Printing at Mayo Clinic,” got pushed until the last day of the conference. This was lucky for me, as I would have missed the original time due to my own travel delays.

    Hara is the manager of Mayo’s Microfabrication Laboratory within the 70-member Division of Engineering. The entire Mayo Clinic enterprise is about 82,000 employees, and any of them can come to the team for help with engineering consultations, design, and development services.

    Hara explained that microscale AM has many implications for healthcare, as “many different medical challenges require a level of complexity that can be hard to achieve with conventional manufacturing.” The technology offers freedom of design, which is helpful for fabricating things like lattice scaffold structures. Microscale AM can also be used to replicate anatomy so clinicians can get a better understanding of different tissues, organs, and cells at the proper in-vivo scale.

    The major considerations for using AM in medical device applications include biocompatibility, cleaning and sterilization, and post-processing. The specific applications for microscale AM at Mayo Clinic include microfluidics, tissue engineering, ultrasound markers, microneedles and microneedle arrays, and anatomic models. However, these models aren’t for training purposes, but for studying how the environment affects the biology by replicating the microenvironment.

    “This is all about enabling solutions for the clinicians’ problems that can’t be solved any other way,” Hara explained.

    3D Printed Golf Driver

    I didn’t only focus on medical sessions at AMUG. For instance, aerospace R&D company Hyphen Innovations, which is based in my hometown of Dayton, Ohio, shared about their work to develop a metal 3D printed golf driver. Lead Research Engineer Troy Krizak, PhD, presented “Using the i-DAMP Design Software to Develop Next Generation Golf Drivers.”

    The company’s i-DAMP solution is a design method for 3D printed parts that are vibration- and damage-resistant. Basically, they design voids inside these parts to act as particle dampers and suppress the energy in a system while it’s vibrating. The software that Hyphen CEO Dr. Onome Scott-Emuakpor developed helps to minimize stress concentrations and fatigue, as well as the amount of unused powder within the structure.

    “What we’re trying to do with i-DAMP is reduce the effect of fatigue, which is influenced by material, porosity, microstructure, surface finish, and residual stress,” explained Krizak.” Not understanding the material or manufacturing process can lead to bad outcomes.”

    The company validated i-DAMP for aerospace applications, and then wondered if the solution could also be used to decrease the high-frequency vibration that caused pinging in a golf ball. Drivers are typically made out of carbon fiber, with a metal face plate glued on. Hyphen’s four main goals for this project were to make the driver more lightweight; more forgiving; more durable; and less expensive.

    “If we can use additive to make the faceplate even a little lighter, there will be efficiency gains,” Krizak said.

    The team reverse engineered an industry driver, and used their software to find the most optimal place to put the voids in the driver to reduce damping. The initial print was aluminum, which was too light for the industry standard, and they ended up using Nickel 718, which is what was available at the time. Unfortunately, this resulted in the opposite problem: the 3D printed golf club head was far too heavy to actually be effective. But, Krizak said they achieved 4x damping increase, which proves that i-DAMP is effective for damping.

    In the future, Hyphen wants to try a lighter material, like reinforced high strength aluminum, so they can actually attach the 3D printed driver to a golf club. They also want to focus on optimizing the feel, and achieving a wider “sweet spot” for where the driver connects with the ball.

    3D Printed Ski Boot

    In another 3D printed sporting goods use case, GoEngineer AM Applications Engineers Peter Moe-Lange and Lukas Brokamp presented “Scan, Model, Shred: Lessons Learned Designing and Printing a Ski Boot.” They scanned an existing boot with a Creaform blue light scanner and reverse engineered it using SOLIDWORKS.

    The company has access to many different 3D printing solutions, so they had plenty to choose from in finding the best one for this particular application. As Moe-Lange explained, ski boots need “extreme flex and cold weather impact resistance.”

    They ruled out FDM because it’s such an anisotropical process, they were worried they’d end up with shearing. PolyJet standard materials are too brittle for high-stress impact applications, so they were left with resin and powder. GoEngineer went with the latter, specifically Selective Absorption Fusion (SAF) by Stratasys. While not quite as cheap as FDM, powder parts are definitely less expensive than resin, won’t degrade in sunlight, and have thermal resilience and superior toughness.

    Using the SAF-driven H350, they printed four total parts for the ski boots using Nylon PA11, which is the same material GoEngineer used to print its Plinko chips for the AMUGexpo earlier in the week.

    They embarked on an “archaeological expedition to find the parts” in all the powder, and used a PowerShot system from DyeMansion to blast the rest off. To ensure better safety margins, the boots were also vapor treated. Then, once the necessary hardware was added, it was time for Moe-Lange to field test the boots.

    He explained that typical ski boots use a lot of heavily engineered specialized thermoplastics, like rubber tougheners, impact modifiers, and plasticizers. There just isn’t much publicly available research into how powder materials handle cold temperatures, and as Moe-Lange learned, they don’t handle the cold too well. He said the only issue with the 3D printed boots was that, as the temperature dropped and the plastic got colder, they became “more rigid and difficult to flex.”

    The 3D printed ski boots are on the left, next to the boot they scanned and reverse engineered.

    While they’re limited by this reduced flexibility in cold temperatures, 3D printed ski boots seem to be a real possibility. Moe-Lange said that the technology “aligns well with the economics of ski boot manufacturing.” However, powder-based technology needs to advance for there to be true viability.

    Expo Floor Chats

    Because of my travel delays, I only had one night on the AMUGexpo floor, so I made the most of it and visited a lot of booths!

    Earlier in the day, I’d spoken to Ali Tamijani, the CEO and Co-Founder of generative design software firm Novineer. He explained that the company’s NoviPath is about simulation specifically for FFF and FDM 3D printing. But at AMUG, Novineer was presenting NoviVision, which allows you to upload pictures of a part to very quickly create 3D models. So I stopped at the booth to get a closer look.

    Tamijani said it takes two minutes to create the STL, and two minutes to generate the STP, so you get the model in under five minutes.

    “The concept is very simple. You take a couple of pictures of a part, and then it creates the digital model.”

    It can be imported in any CAD software, and can be used for everything from aerospace and defense to railway and automotive. Tamijani said that more than 600 parts have been created with NoviVision. The solution doesn’t use photogrammetry, but is AI-based.

    “We’re not trying to reconstruct the part based on all the images,” he explained. “It’s looking at the images and the data to come up with the part.”

    You apparently don’t even need super high quality images for NoviVision to work. They can’t be blurry, but Tamijani said it works even if there are other things in the background.

    I also met with Skuld at AMUG. This Ohio-based company developed an additive-enabled evaporative casting (AMEC) process.

    “There’s reasons why that’s what we like to work with as opposed to other options, and part of it’s based on affordability,” Skuld Founder and CEO Sarah Jordan told me. “We use desktop printers to make metal parts, so that seriously drives down the cost.”

    The company uses lots of popular desktop material extrusion printers, like Bambu systems.

    “We mainly developed this process for our own purposes, because tooling and lost foam can get really expensive. So the goal is like, well, what if you don’t need tooling?”

    Skuld booth at AMUG

    They do still make tooling if the volumes are high, and depending on the geometry of a part as well. As Jordan reminded me, legacy castings are pretty blocky, so “not optimal print geometries.” So sometimes Skuld will print something, or they’ll machine it, or they’ll do both.

    The company has something exciting goals it’s working towards in the future. I said it sounded like they were up and running, and Jordan said it was more “up and walking.” They expect the whole production line at their Dayton-area facility to be ready within the next five weeks or so.

    Networking Events

    AMUG is all about building connections, both through learning and having fun! In addition to the daily sit-down lunches, where you break bread with users from all areas of the AM sector, the mid-week Theme Night is a party I won’t soon forget. Our theme this year was “Game On,” which I interpreted through an Oregon Trail game t-shirt. In addition to the AMUGderby, the whole arcade level of the Grand Sierra Resort was opened to us for four hours of VR games, laser tag, old-school and newer arcade games, and my personal favorite, bumper cars.

    The final experience of AMUG was the Family Closing Dinner and Casino Night, which I’ve heard happens every year but I found particularly entertaining because we were already in a casino. But I must say, it’s much more fun to gamble when you’re not playing with real money.

    I hope to see everyone next March in Atlantic City for AMUG 2027!

    Images courtesy of Sarah Saunders for 3DPrint.com

  • Florida’s New Coastal Protection Law Opens Door for 3D Printing

    Florida just gave a boost to a new kind of coastal protection, and 3D printing companies are right in the middle of it.

    On March 19, 2026, Governor Ron DeSantis signed new legislation to support coastal protection, including Senate Bill 302, a measure focused on coastal protection and nature-based solutions. The law makes it easier to approve “living shoreline” projects, sets clearer rules for nature-based solutions, and connects them to funding through programs like the state’s Resilient Florida initiative, which has more than $200 million available for coastal protection projects.

    “My administration has delivered historic investments to protect Florida’s 1,300 miles of coastline,” said DeSantis. “Today, I signed legislation to preserve the Terra Ceia Bay and to build on our work to promote coastal resiliency and water quality statewide. We are committed to protecting Florida’s environment for future generations to enjoy.”

    This comes as Florida’s coastlines are under growing pressure. Rising sea levels, stronger storms, and ongoing erosion are starting to affect homes, infrastructure, and beaches across coastal areas. With millions of people living near the coast, the impact of these changes can lead to more frequent flooding and long-term damage.

    It also opens the door to newer approaches, including 3D printed seawalls and hybrid structures, alongside more traditional methods such as mangroves and reefs. Overall, it seems the state is trying to make it easier and faster to build coastal protection that works with nature.

    Kind Designs’ Living Seawalls are now all over Miami Beach and Miami.

    This move is opening the door for a small but growing group of companies using 3D printing to rethink how coastlines are built.

    One of the companies already working in this space is KIND Designs, a Miami-based startup that prints “living seawalls.” These structures are designed not just to stop erosion, but to act like artificial reefs, helping marine life grow while reducing wave energy.

    However, existing rules can still limit how these designs are used. The Miami Herald cited Anya Freeman, founder of KIND Designs, as saying current regulations often limit seawall extensions to around 18 inches, which can make it harder to use more complex, nature-based designs. She added that while the new law is a step forward, its real impact will depend on how it is implemented.

    Their approach is already gaining traction. The company has been working with municipalities and coastal projects, and its systems are designed to be cost-competitive with traditional seawalls while adding environmental benefits.

    Anya Freeman and the KIND Designs team.

    But Kind Designs is not alone. Florida is not starting from scratch. Several projects and companies are already working on nature-based coastal protection across the state. In South Florida, Reef Arches is developing engineered reef structures designed to rebuild shorelines and support marine life. In the Florida Keys, a state-backed artificial reef program is testing new ways to protect ecosystems and coastlines, supported by millions in funding. In Miami Beach, the REEFLINE project is building an underwater reef system as part of a larger coastal protection effort.

    At the same time, universities like the University of Miami are developing advanced reef structures designed to absorb wave energy and protect shorelines. While not all of these projects use 3D printing, they show the type of infrastructure Florida is now moving toward, and where companies like KIND Designs could expand.

    Why This Law Matters for 3D Printing

    Governments are starting to fund what’s known as “nature-based infrastructure.” For example, in the U.S., programs from agencies like NOAA and state initiatives now support projects such as reef restoration, wetlands, and living shorelines to reduce flooding and coastal damage, and there is even a White House resource guide that has identified more than 100 funding programs tied to these types of solutions.

    3D printing is one of the few tools that can actually build these kinds of structures. Traditional seawalls are designed to block waves, but they often damage surrounding ecosystems. Newer approaches are different. 3D printed systems can reduce wave energy, create habitats for marine life, and be customized for each location. Kind Designs, for example, prints structures that mimic mangroves and coral reefs, helping protect coastlines while also improving water quality.

    The seawall factory on the Miami River.

    This is not just about one law in Florida. It points to a broader trend. Climate adaptation is becoming a real market, governments are starting to invest in it, and 3D printing is moving beyond prototypes into real infrastructure.

    For companies like Kind Designs and others building reefs, seawalls, and marine structures, that could mean more projects, more deployments, and a path toward real scale.

    KIND Designs Living Seawalls in Miami.

    What Still Needs to Happen

    Most of these solutions are still early. Even with strong concepts and pilot projects, large-scale deployment is limited, long-term performance is still being tested, and funding cycles can be slow. But with policy now backing these approaches, that could start to change.

    Florida’s new law is doing something important. It’s turning 3D printed coastal protection from an idea into a potential industry. And companies that can combine engineering and ecology with manufacturing may be the ones that benefit most.

    Images courtesy of KIND Designs

  • The AM Workforce Is Entering a New Phase — and the Industry Is Starting to Feel It

    Across the additive manufacturing industry, a shift is underway. One that is becoming increasingly visible in both strategic discussions and day-to-day hiring realities.

    At this year’s Additive Manufacturing Strategies (AMS 2026) conference in New York, much of the conversation focused on how companies can transition from technology-driven growth to application-led, commercially viable business models. A similar theme emerged at AM Forum Berlin, where workforce data (from Alexander Daniels Global) highlighted a market moving into a new phase of maturity — defined by slower job creation, rising talent competition, and a shift in demand toward production and customer-facing roles. In parallel, ahead of TCT 3Sixty in the UK — with their newly added Workforce and AM Skills track — attention is turning toward workforce structure: how companies build, retain, and deploy talent in an industry that is no longer scaling through rapid hiring, but through more targeted, operationally focused growth.

    These are not separate conversations. They are different perspectives on the same underlying change.

    After more than a decade defined by rapid innovation and expansion, additive manufacturing is entering a more mature phase, one shaped by operational discipline, production scalability, and increasing competition around real-world applications. As a result, the workforce dynamics that once defined the industry are beginning to shift.

    Recent data suggests that the challenge is no longer simply a shortage of skilled talent. Instead, the market is becoming more balanced — and in some areas, more competitive — as the growth of the workforce outpaces the creation of new roles. For companies, this is changing how hiring decisions are made. For professionals, it is reshaping how career moves are evaluated.

    Joris Peels kicks off Additive Manufacturing Strategies (AMS) 2024. Image courtesy of 3DPrint.com.

    The Talent Market Has Flipped

    For much of the past decade, one of the most persistent narratives in additive manufacturing was the shortage of skilled talent. Companies struggled to find experienced engineers, applications specialists, and commercial leaders capable of translating complex technologies into real-world outcomes.

    That constraint has not disappeared, but it has evolved.

    Globally, the number of professionals working in additive manufacturing continues to grow, while the number of available roles is increasing more slowly. The result is a structural imbalance: there are now significantly more candidates in the market relative to open positions, with data indicating that there are over 150 professionals for every AM job globally.

    This shift is being felt across regions. North America continues to expand its workforce, Europe has stabilized following a period of consolidation, and APAC is returning to growth. But in each case, hiring demand is no longer keeping pace with the size of the talent pool.

    At the same time, workforce behavior is changing. Professionals are becoming more cautious about moving roles, with fewer describing themselves as “extremely likely” to change jobs and more prioritizing stability, job security, and long-term career development.

    Taken together, these trends point to a market no longer defined by scarcity but by selectivity.

    Hiring Is Becoming More Targeted

    As the market matures, hiring strategies are shifting accordingly.

    Rather than large-scale recruitment drives, most companies are now planning smaller, more focused hiring efforts. The majority expect to hire only a handful of professionals over the next 12 months, reflecting a move toward precision hiring — bringing in specific skills to address defined operational needs rather than expanding teams broadly.

    This change is closely tied to wider business priorities. Many organizations have spent the past two years optimizing cost structures, integrating acquisitions, and refining their go-to-market strategies. As a result, hiring is now increasingly driven by:

    • replacement rather than expansion
    • capability gaps rather than headcount growth
    • internal upskilling alongside external recruitment

    In practical terms, this means companies are placing greater emphasis on the quality and relevance of hires, rather than the speed or scale of hiring.

    The Shift Toward Production and Applications

    One of the clearest signals of this new phase is the changing nature of demand across job functions.

    Production has emerged as the most in-demand discipline, with a significant majority of companies planning to hire in this area.

    This marks a notable shift from previous years, when hiring was more heavily concentrated in sales, R&D, or early-stage commercial roles. Today, the priority is execution.

    As additive manufacturing moves further into serial production, companies require:

    • machine operators and technicians
    • process and manufacturing engineers
    • quality and inspection specialists

    These roles are essential for delivering consistent, repeatable output, something that is increasingly expected as AM competes with traditional manufacturing methods.

    At the same time, the industry is seeing sustained growth in applications and customer-facing roles. A growing proportion of the workforce now sits in sales, applications, and consulting functions, reflecting the importance of helping customers adopt and scale AM effectively.

    This combination — production capability and application expertise — highlights a broader transition. Additive manufacturing is no longer just about developing technology; it is about deploying it successfully in real-world environments.

    AM engineer. Image courtesy of Alexander Daniels Global.

    From Platforms to Applications

    This shift has also been reflected in the strategic conversations shaping the industry.

    At Additive Manufacturing Strategies, Arno Held (Managing Partner, AM Ventures) captured this change succinctly:

    “AM is not a platform game. It’s an application monopoly game. You have to own a niche application.”

    The implication is significant. Competitive advantage in additive manufacturing is no longer defined primarily by machines, materials, or even software platforms. Instead, it is increasingly determined by the ability to:

    • solve specific industrial problems
    • deliver reliable and repeatable results
    • build deep expertise within defined application areas

    Workforce strategy sits at the center of this transition.

    Owning an application requires more than technical capability. It requires teams that can combine engineering knowledge, production experience, and customer understanding, often within the same role or function.

    A More Mature Industry, A More Complex Workforce

    The emerging picture is one of an industry that is becoming more structured, more disciplined, and more competitive.

    Growth has not disappeared, but it has become more measured. Hiring has not stopped, but it has become more selective. And talent has not become less important. If anything, it has become more critical, but in a different way.

    The challenge is no longer simply finding people with additive manufacturing experience. It is about building teams that can:

    • scale production reliably
    • integrate technologies into existing workflows
    • translate technical capability into commercial outcomes

    In that sense, the evolution of the workforce mirrors the evolution of the industry itself.

    Additive manufacturing is moving beyond its formative years. As it does, the demands placed on both companies and professionals are changing, shifting from experimentation and growth toward execution, specialization, and long-term sustainability.

    Looking Ahead

    As discussions continue at events like Rapid in April or TCT 3Sixty in June and beyond, workforce strategy is likely to remain central to how companies think about growth.

    The next phase of additive manufacturing will not be defined solely by technological breakthroughs, but by the ability to industrialize those technologies – reliably, repeatably, and within clearly defined applications.

    Understanding how the workforce is evolving will be key to navigating that transition.

    These trends – and the data behind them – are explored in more detail in the 2026 Additive Manufacturing Salary Survey, which draws on insights from professionals and employers across North America, EMEA, and APAC.

  • When Castings Take 18 Months: How 3D Printing Helped Fix the Soo Locks

    This article is Part II of a two-part series on Lincoln Electric’s large-format metal additive manufacturing operations.

    In Part I, we looked at how Lincoln Electric built one of the largest wire-arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) operations in the U.S., capable of producing metal parts measured in feet rather than inches. Speaking with Sean Schaefer, marketing manager at Baker Industries, part of Lincoln Electric’s additive manufacturing operations, it quickly became clear that the real test for this type of technology comes when industries face a familiar problem: waiting months, or even years, for large cast components.

    One of the clearest examples comes from the Soo Locks in northern Michigan.

    An aerial view of the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, which connects Lake Superior to the lower Great Lakes shipping system.

    The signature case study is the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers repair at the Soo Locks in northern Michigan, a vital shipping passage connecting Lake Superior to the rest of the Great Lakes that has operated since 1855, where replacing a “cracked, 12-foot steel lever arm threatened the winter maintenance window,” Schaefer recalled.

    “The Soo Locks project was exactly the kind of challenge Lincoln Electric’s additive team is built for: large, time-critical, and nearly impossible to source through traditional casting,” noted Schaefer. “When the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers first sought to have the broken part recast, the quoted lead time was 18 months. Instead, we were able to cut that down: print it, machine it, and install it in about three months.”

    Lincoln Electric printed the part in two seven-foot sections, welded and machined the joint, and delivered on schedule.

    “Their projected estimate for having those locks closed down for just six months was about a billion dollars in lost GDP,” Schaefer exclaimed. “Finishing within the maintenance window meant USACE eliminated the risk of a shutdown if the original in-service part failed unexpectedly.”

    U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Detroit District Structural Engineer Clint Dougherty (left) and Engineer and Research and Development Center Research Mechanical Engineer Dr. Zackery McClelland (right) stand behind the Poe Lock ship arrestor lever arm.

    That gap — between 18-month castings and a three-month print-to-install — is where WAAM is paying off elsewhere, too.

    “We’ve seen up to about an 80% lead time reduction in some of the best cases over casting,” Schaefer said. “Most importantly, industries that can’t sit idle have noticed. We’ve manufactured replacement parts for the oil and gas and power generation industries. If they have a hydro facility or a refinery down, the ability to print a part instead of having to wait for castings cuts that lead time resulting in significant cost avoidance.”

    Poe Lock ship arrestor contractor OCCI installs the largest U.S. civil works component produced by a 3D printer at the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie on March 1, 2024.

    What Gets Printed (and Why)

    WAAM is ideal for large, robust geometry, he tells me.

    “We typically say anything larger than a basketball. Parts measured in feet and meters, weighing hundreds of pounds to several tons. And similar to other AM processes, WAAM opens up design options.

    “It’s a very collaborative process with customers. A lot of these parts are designed for traditional manufacturing methods, and customers are discovering they have more design freedom with WAAM. We work hand in hand with customers in providing guidance, and there’s a growing number who are getting the hang of designing for this process,” Schaefer indicated.

    So far, the early adoption has come from tooling and replacement parts. Schaefer said Lincoln Electric’s systems are often used for aerospace molds and fixtures, where printing can replace time-consuming manual work. With replacement parts, the principal advantage afforded by WAAM is significantly reduced delivery times compared to traditional methods such as castings. By harnessing its advanced software to print near-net shapes, Lincoln can cut down on both material waste and delivery time compared to traditional methods.

    Poe Lock ship arrestor contractor OCCI installs the largest U.S. civil works component produced by a 3D printer at the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, on March 1, 2024.

    “On the government side, the Navy has been the most significant early adopter and by far the fastest DoW branch to adopt it,” Schaefer noted. “Much of that work centers on ship and submarine components, where we’re able to deliver parts much faster than castings.”

    In 2024, Lincoln Electric announced a strategic partnership with Bechtel Plant Machinery, Inc. for development to support the U.S. Navy in printing components up to 20,000 pounds. It also announced in 2025 an investment by the U.S. Navy’s Maritime Industrial Base (MIB) Program and General Dynamics Electric Boat to install four of Lincoln Electric’s SculptPrint™ systems.

    Lincoln is currently supporting aerospace with tooling, ground support equipment, and prototypes.

    When to Call the Printer Instead of the Foundry

    Schaefer said the decision rule is simple here: “If you need a part fast, that’s where we come in. The larger and more complex the component, typically the stronger the business case. WAAM isn’t meant to replace fine-detail powder-bed printing or cover every alloy, but for big structural parts that keep critical equipment running, it changes the equation.”

    In other words, Lincoln Electric’s $4-billion parent might be synonymous with welding, but this corner of the company is definitely acting like a startup, well, one that prints parts as big as a room and installs them on a deadline. And when the alternative is waiting more than a year for a casting, printing the part instead can change the timeline entirely.

    Images courtesy of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

  • 3D Printing News Briefs, March 26, 2026: AMUK, IP Dispute, Asbestos, & More

    We’re kicking off today’s 3D Printing News Briefs with an America Makes Project Call, and then moving on to additive manufacturing in the UK. Then we’ve got some legal news regarding an IP case between Bambu Lab and Pop Mart. We’ll end with some interesting research involving asbestos and PLA.

    Submission Deadline for AIM-4AM Project Call Extended

    In January of this year, America Makes and the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM) announced two Project Calls, worth a total of $8 million in funding. Within the last week, both have had their submission deadlines extended. The Powder Alloy Development for Additive Manufacturing (PADAM) 2.0 Project Call, funded by the  Air Force Research Laboratory’s Material and Manufacturing Directorate (AFRL RXN), is meant to advance manufacturability, performance, readiness, and supply chain resilience of of high-temperature refractory alloys for AM applications that are relevant to the Department of War (DoW). The proposal submission deadline for PADAM 2.0 was recently extended to 5 pm ET, April 8th.

    Additionally, the proposal submission deadline for the Artificial Intelligence for Material Allowables in Additive Manufacturing (AIM-4AM) Project Call has been pushed back to 5 pm ET, April 1st. This $2 million project is funded by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense, Manufacturing Technology Office (OSD ManTech), with two phases and one anticipated award. The overarching goal is to develop an AI-driven framework, using machine learning to model process-structure-property relationships, that is capable of identifying and quantifying risk in the current material allowables approach for 17-4PH stainless steel produced with laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) technology.

    AMUK Annual Action Plan Reveals Future AM Growth Plans 

    It would appear that the UK’s share of the global 3D printing market is shrinking, according to the recently published Annual Action Plan by Additive Manufacturing UK (AMUK). AMUK represents organizations working within the additive technology value chain, and is actively working to establish the UK as a world leader in the development, adoption, and use of AM. AMUK offers member services like sector promotion, academic engagement, strategic partnerships, and more. This is its third Annual Action Plan, offering an in-depth analysis of the UK’s AM sector and including key industry challenges and member-led initiatives; it also lays out a strategic plan for 2026. In 2024, AMUK says the global AM market grew to $21.9 billion, but the value of the UK’s AM market went the other way, and its global share fell by about 4%. AMUK members report hard trading conditions, so the 2025 figures are likely to be the same. But, with signs of recovery showing, AMUK wants to give its members the chance to achieve, according to a press release, “their portion of the UK’s potential of capturing a 7% market share.” Its Annual Action Plan offers a roadmap for developing and growing AM in the UK.

    “Our plan highlights challenges that we must address in order to accelerate the adoption of additive manufacturing technologies,” explained Joshua Dugdale, the Head of AMUK. “Together with our members, we have identified supply chain, skills and standards as the top three challenges, which we will tackle during this year, as these are crucial areas impacting the AM industry.”

    You can download the AMUK’s Annual Action Plan for 2026 here.

    Bambu Lab Reaches Settlement with Pop Mart for 3D Printed Toy Models

    P2S. Image courtesy of Bambu Lab.

    Popular Chinese consumer-grade 3D printer manufacturer Bambu Lab recently reached a settlement with toy company Pop Mart International Group, which is the exclusive provider and distributor of the wildly (and weirdly) popular Labubu toys. The copyright case concerned an intellectual property (IP) dispute over unauthorized 3D printable models of Pop Mart characters, including Labubu and Twinkle Twinkle, hosted on Bambu Lab’s MakerWorld 3D model community. Bambu Lab did not create the models, but they essentially allowed them to go up on MakerWorld. Then, users could then download these files and print similar toy figurines on their printers, and even sell the knockoffs. Additionally, animation studio HMCH Anime also filed a lawsuit against Bambu Lab over alleged infringement regarding animated film The Legend of Hei. While there’s no word yet on the HMCH Anime suit, Bambu Lab, which said in January that its 2025 revenue exceeded CNY10 billion ($1.4 billion), posted a statement on its Weibo account that it had reached a settlement with Pop Mart, and pulled all related content from MakerWorld. In fact, the company accidentally delisted dozens of models that were unrelated to Pop Mart’s IP, which had a lot of people talking on Reddit.

    “After looking into this with the relevant team, we’ve learned that some models were accidentally delisted due to an operational error on MakerWorld. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this has caused,” Bambu Lab responded on Reddit.

    “We’d also like to let everyone know that most of the affected models have now been restored. If your model is still missing, please submit a support ticket so our team can help resolve it for you as quickly as possible.

    “Please click here for the guide for creating a ticket on MakerWorld via the MakerWorld website and Bambu Handy.”

    Upcycling Asbestos Cement into Safe Additive for PLA 3D Printing

    Detoxified asbestos cement (a, b) can be used as an additive for PLA pellets (c), delivering some interesting properties to 3D printed materials (bottom).

    Once, we all thought asbestos was a miracle, but we’ve since discovered that the mineral sheds tiny fibers when it’s disturbed; these fibers can get into people’s lungs and cause serious long-term health issues. There’s still a lot of asbestos out in the world, which needs to be processed in a “detoxification” process in order to be rendered safe; unfortunately, this process leaves a lot of waste behind. Luckily, researchers from the Università di Milano Bicocca, Université de Lille, and Graftonica S.r.l. figured out a novel way to upcycle asbestos cement waste into a powder that’s used as a safe additive for 3D printing biodegradable PLA. As they explain in their published paper, they produced composite pellets with up to 50% “loading in PLA” using a standard twin screw extruder. While you won’t be able to use them on your typical desktop printer, these pellets are “sufficiently flowable and stable” for fused granular fabrication (FGF) 3D printing. The researchers also found that there’s potential for adding some interesting properties to composite material as well.

    “Depending on the preparation method, the deactivated asbestos can be fully inert or endowed with catalytic properties. A variant produced in a reducing environment has a strongly hydroxylated surface that can induce PLA chain scission and reorganization from 200°C [392°F], significantly less than the 350°C [662°F] spontaneous degradation of the pristine polymer. This behavior facilitates post-consumer biodegradation while preserving material integrity under standard processing conditions,” the researchers wrote.

  • 3D Printing Financials: Velo3D Sees Rising Demand and Defense Growth, but Losses Persist

    Velo3D (Nasdaq: VELO) is moving further into production-focused 3D printing, with growing demand from defense and aerospace customers shaping its strategy. The company is shifting beyond selling machines toward producing parts at scale, backed by new contracts, stronger partnerships, and a clearer long-term plan to expand capacity. At the same time, it is working to stabilize its finances, improve margins, and support growth as more programs move into production.

    In 2025, Velo3D reported full-year revenue of $46 million, up from $41 million in 2024. The company ended the year with a backlog of $31 million, pointing to some strong demand heading into 2026. For the fourth quarter, revenue came in at $9.4 million, down from $12.6 million in the same period the year before.

    “In the fourth quarter, we achieved record bookings and built a backlog of approximately $31 million, which we believe is clear evidence that demand is not only strong but accelerating. This momentum gives us high confidence as we look ahead to 2026 and beyond. We believe that what’s driving this growth is not just adoption, it’s reliance. Our technology has become mission-critical,” Velo3D CEO Arun Jeldi told investors during an earnings call.

    Velo3D’s Arun Jeldi at Rapid+TCT. Image courtesy of Velo3D.

    But despite growth, profitability remains a challenge. Velo3D posted a full-year net loss of $71.4 million, a bit larger than the $69.9 million loss in 2024. Gross margins were negative for both the quarter and the year, due to a $7 million inventory write-down and production delays during a government shutdown.

    That performance was not well received by the market. The day after the earnings release, Velo3D’s stock dropped more than 20% despite gains in the broader market, as investors reacted to the results and the company’s outlook for 2026. Still, even with the decline, the stock remains higher than a year ago, roughly 330%.

    At the same time, the company is making progress on its cost structure. Operating expenses dropped to $47.5 million in 2025, down from $76.8 million the year before. On an adjusted basis, losses improved, showing that Velo3D is becoming more efficient while still investing in growth.

    At the same time, Velo3D is making changes to its leadership team as it gets ready for the next phase. The company announced the appointment of James Suva as Chief Financial Officer, effective April 6, 2026. He will replace Bernard Chung, who has been serving as acting CFO and will remain with the company as Controller. Suva most recently served as Senior Vice President and Treasurer at Cricut, and will oversee finance, accounting, treasury, and investor relations.

    Velo3D team at MILAM 2026: Eric Cohen (Sales Director), Michelle Sidwell (CRO), Brice Cooper (VP of Defense). Image courtesy of 3DPrint.com.

    One of the biggest changes is in how the company makes money. While machine sales still drive most revenue today, Velo3D is pushing its Rapid Production Solutions (RPS) business, which focuses on producing parts directly for customers. In 2025, RPS accounted for roughly 10% to 15% of revenue, but the company expects that share to grow quickly and eventually become the main part of the business.

    More importantly, that shift is tied to what’s happening in the market. According to Jeldi, customers, especially in defense and aerospace, are no longer just testing additive manufacturing; they are adopting it. They are starting to rely on it. Programs are moving into production, and once they scale, demand can grow fast, sometimes requiring multiple systems within months.

    This is already showing up in new contracts. In 2025, Velo3D secured a $32.6 million agreement tied to Project FORGE and an $11.5 million multi-year production contract with a defense contractor. It also became the first additive manufacturing company qualified under the U.S. Army’s Ground Vehicle Systems Center initiative, a step that could open the door to broader adoption in military programs.

    “Across defense and aerospace, we are seeing a structural shift. Customers are demanding faster, more localized, and more resilient supply chains. Programs are no longer staying in development. They’re scaling into production. They’re doing so rapidly. We believe this creates a compounding demand effect. Programs that begin with a single system are quickly expanding to multiple systems, sometimes within months. As volumes increase and new programs come online, demand just doesn’t grow; it accelerates,” Jeldi told investors.

    At the same time, the company strengthened its balance sheet. Velo3D raised $30 million through a private placement and converted $15 million of debt into equity, reducing its total debt by about 60%. Cash rose to $39 million at the end of the year, up from $1.2 million a year earlier.

    Looking ahead, Velo3D expects revenue of $60 million to $70 million in 2026 and aims to achieve positive EBITDA in the second half of the year. Management also expects margins to improve as production scales, with gross margins projected to exceed 30% later in the year.

    The longer-term plan is more ambitious. Velo3D plans to build up to 400 production systems over the next decade as demand grows. As customers move into production, they need more machines, which in turn drives further growth, the CEO explained.

    Further detailing that “The investments we are making in 2026 in manufacturing infrastructure, supply chain optimization, and workforce represent the critical first phase of that build out. We expect to provide periodic updates on capacity milestones as we execute against this plan.”

    Velo3D’s booth at MILAM 2026. Image courtesy of 3DPrint.com.

    Beyond hardware and parts, the company is also looking at data as a future business. As more systems are used, Velo3D expects to collect manufacturing data that can help improve designs, optimize production, and support new revenue over time. In fact, Jeldi told investors the company wants to build a data and analytics platform that customers rely on, similar to Amazon’s cloud-based model, Amazon Web Services (AWS).

    “We have a strong focus on the business for the next five years, where Velo will be the AWS of data and analytics company and a product-based company at a defense level, which is what you see as the base of start. What you see in the next seven years is the vision of Velo, where Velo will make sure that we are ready for the next generation manufacturing and digital platforms, which are very siloed at this point and do not have access to all the things I’m talking about,” Jeldi said, outlining the company’s long-term vision.

  • A Year in an Hour: Refresh Your 3D Printing Outlook with AM Research’s 2025 Review/2026 Preview Webinar

    One major advantage that helps us at 3DPrint.com in analyzing the additive manufacturing (AM) market is our direct access to data from industry consultancy AM Research, 3DPrint’s sister company. The intelligence provided by AM Research’s EVP, Scott Dunham, helps us stay focused on the most relevant themes and provides our commentary with the objective grounding that results in genuinely actionable information.

    While the insights that consultancies deliver aren’t free, sometimes they are! On March 24, for instance, Scott broke down his comprehensive view of the AM industry’s 2025 activity, along with a preview of what he thinks the industry can expect in 2026, and even a glimpse of the potential for 2027. If you missed the webinar, don’t worry: you can still watch it here, and I highly recommend that you do.

    There are two key elements to Scott’s perspective that I think set him apart as an analyst. For one thing, he’s simply been doing this just about as long as anyone else has, which means that his views are informed by the AM industry’s long-run trajectory, not speculation built on short-term noise. Secondly, the data drives his outlook, not the other way around. When there’s a momentous shift in the data that warrants adjusting his big-picture view of the industry, he works tirelessly to incorporate the new reality.

    That’s an angle that will play a big role in how AM Research presents its data going forward, starting with the 2025 results and the 2026 preview: for the first time, AM Research is including breakout numbers for maritime and defense in its datasets. Anyone following the industry knows how significant it is to gain transparency on this particular market segment.

    Meanwhile, Scott’s overall findings illustrate that, based on the second half of 2025, there is a broad-based foundation for the AM industry’s current growth trajectory that hasn’t been there for some time. Whether you’re mentally organizing the industry in terms of a division between services, hardware sales, or materials, or you’re more specifically interested in the comparison between metals and polymers, or whether your primary question is about which verticals are gaining the most traction, by the end of last year, AM industry growth was remarkably consistent across-the-board.

    Some of the key details include:

    • A projection of 18% YOY growth for 2026, with current projections for 2027 coming in slightly higher
    • Some of the industry’s biggest metal powder suppliers are experiencing a major backlog on their order books, signaling sustained reshoring demand
    • Increasing demand for large-format components in both metals and polymers, reinforcing the sense of a maturing AM ecosystem globally

    Notably, despite the volatility of the current pace of geopolitical change — a factor that has tended to stall AM’s continuous progress in the past more than it has catalyzed that progress — it looks like international trade dynamics and the state of AM’s capabilities may finally be in alignment. That is, in previous phases of AM’s history, a Q1 like what we’ve experienced so far would’ve rendered an outlook on the previous year virtually moot by the time it could be published. In 2026, however, the setup from the second half of 2025 seems to foreshadow that the industry will keep pushing in the same direction in the years ahead.

    Watch the webinar here and judge for yourself. It’s a rare opportunity to get a year’s worth of intel in only an hour.

  • Polymaker Goes Direct in Europe

    Rather than just going through resellers, Chinese filament giant Polymaker is also going direct in Europe. The company wants to continue to work with 3D printing shops, webshops, OEMs, and distributors, but will also sell its products directly in Europe. I can’t imagine resellers will be thrilled, but it’s a logical move given the strides that Bambu Lab and Creality have made in selling their own filament. Filament is extremely profitable for these firms and deepens their relationship with customers. With a higher proportion of users set to be “crafters” and not makers, more people will want to do less, fiddle less, and print more conveniently. Polymaker’s dependence on large OEMs is growing. At the same time, we’re seeing a real concentration of players dominate the desktop market. Bambu Lab, Creality, Snapmaker, Elegoo, and a few others are doing millions of systems.

    And when you’re doing millions of systems and selling tens of millions of dollars in filament, a few extrusion lines and a materials research department start to look like a great investment. Especially if not doing so means Bambu Lab will be more profitable than you in the long run. That’s not a strategic rodeo I’d like to clown stumble my way into. Seems like a surefire path to getting gored. With market power dynamics shifting, Polymaker as well needs to “own the customer” to remain relevant. All of this is a completely predictable but still insane consequence of High Speed PLA, which people laughed at but has changed everything.

    Now, Polymaker will have a direct-to-consumer webshop focused on the UK, France, Germany, Poland, Czechia, and Spain. The company will also offer services in local languages and all of its Polymaker, Fiberon, and Panchroma brands. The company wants to have a “seamless and reliable purchasing experience, improved delivery times, and transparent pricing…. to strengthen customer support and engagement within local markets.”

    Wildrik Van Der Weide, a VP at Polymaker, said,

    “Our mission has always been to empower creators with the highest quality materials and the best possible experience. Expanding our DTC webshop into key European markets allows us to connect more directly with our community and better serve their evolving needs.”

    The company’s engineering, consumer, and ecological materials will all be available in the shop. Another advantage is that European businesses no longer have to pay VAT while still getting wholesale prices directly from Polymaker. You can register for VAT access online, and the firm says it will get back to you within 2 business days. Only EU-based businesses can use this wholesale lineup.

    In addition to these advantages, it can further insulate the firm from tariff fluctuations. For some businesses, this has been a real hell. Uncertainty and changes have created a lot of uncertainty and work. Local storage, distribution, and warehousing in Europe should improve this a bit. Perhaps the firm will also start producing in the EU? I would, if I were them, to serve customers better and remain competitive. In Europe, players like ColorFabb are innovative and responsive, while Prusament‘s success has been relentless. Local filament lines could make them more responsive and quicker.

    I really like Polymaker filament, and the quality and pricing are always good. The company offers Polychroma everyday PLA, polycarbonate, 8% reinforced ASA, fiber-reinforced PET, PPS, PA6, and production-oriented PLA. I love that they have cosplay material as well. While looking at their site, I also noticed that Polymaker is discontinuing 2.85mm filament. It’s crazy just how quickly the 3D printing world is changing. Only a few years ago, Ultimaker reigned supreme in enterprises, and Polymaker was the big bad wolf in filament land. It used to be that European firms dominated the filament market; now it’s Chinese firms. But in industrial printing, the large materials firms have pulled back, and OEMs are generally opening up access to materials.

    On the desktop, however, it’s OEMs that are gaining more control and market power. A scramble for Europe is therefore a sensible move for Polymaker. The company will, however, have to make some more choices if it wants to thrive. Can it buy ColorFabb to cement a role as the most innovative filament firm? Or will it buy 3D4Makers to move into the industrial business? Or will the firm hack away at Hatchbox and the like, playing the volume game? While the firm used to feel as if it was comfortably sat in the middle of the market, it now looks besieged from all sides. I think we need companies that deliver on value and consistency, so I hope that it makes the right choices.

  • Japan’s Space Compass Corporation Buys a SWISSto12 Satellite

    Japanese firm Space Compass Corporation has agreed to buy a SWISSTo12 GEO optical data relay satellite. The compact Hummingsat will be used for Space Compass’ optical data relay service. Space Compass is an ambitious firm that’s a joint venture between IT giant NTT and pay-TV and satellite service firm SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation. JSAT was the first commercial company to operate a Japanese private communications satellite and operates a constellation of satellites for commercial purposes and Japanese military communications. JSAT, in turn, is owned by a veritable who’s who of the Japanese media and corporate worlds, including Itochu, Fuji Media Holdings, NTT Communications, the Sumitomo Corporation, Nippon TV, and TBS. Itochu and Sumitomo are two of Japan’s largest and most influential wholesale companies (sōgō shōsha) that are really overseas credit and investment firms, kind of a mix between a merchant bank, an investment bank, and an offline Amazon. The other firms are Japan’s largest TV companies.

    What Japan wants to do with the satellite is really quite revolutionary. I don’t know why all Japanese corporate mission statement stuff sounds like it comes from eco-conscious nice wizards lording over the future of Earth, but Compass wants to “connect all human beings and data wherever needed in the expanding sphere of human activity by adopting the newest technology to connect Earth and space. This will contribute to creating a sustainable society by eliminating information disparities, thereby solving various social issues, such as natural disasters. It is important for Space Compass that no one is left behind and all people can pursue their peaceful and fulfilling lives.” If only the world would conform more to the dreams of Japanese corporations, imagine how happy we’d all be.

    The first step to global fulfillment, apparently, is a GEO Satellite Optical Data Relay Service. This will accelerate the communication of Earth observation satellite data. This is currently not real-time; there is a delay. Information has to be periodically passed to properly placed ground stations when possible. Compass wants to make this information available instantaneously everywhere through its new satellites. This would, in effect, give militaries and companies a live Google Earth based on real-time imagery. A flood or earthquake’s effects could be seen immediately by planners, for example, or a battle could be seen as it unfolds, not in intermittent flashes. For the military, it would give them over-the-horizon control and navigation capabilities for missiles, drones, and military missions generally. One issue in Ukraine now is to, without interception and jamming, control and let navigate drones far away from bases. The Optical Data Relay Service would also solve this issue.

    SWISSto12’s CEO Emile de Rijk said,

     “We are delighted about this partnership with Space Compass and our shared vision to build multi-orbit, secure space infrastructure that supports some of the world’s most important space missions, such as earth observation. By hosting optical communications payloads for LEO-GEO data relay, HummingSat once again proves its versatility and its outsized impact in enabling purposeful innovation in space.”

    While Space Compass Co‑CEO Hiromi Komatsu stated,

     “The execution of this procurement contract represents a critical milestone toward the realization of our optical data relay service. By leveraging high speed, high-capacity optical data-relay architecture, we aim to enable faster and smarter decision making through real-time Earth observation insights. This first satellite will play a pivotal role in establishing a new space communications infrastructure.”

    The US can probably do this everywhere, but precious few other countries can (I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess France can). With the US periodically cutting off intelligence sharing and satellite access to various allies, a commercial alternative seems like it could be lucrative and definitely could be a good idea for Japan. We would expect more initiatives like this as countries diversify away from the US in light of its late onset capriciousness. Real-time data like this could aid a lot of scientists and government departments while helping investors, analysts, and large companies mitigate risks and sudden onset events as well. Optical data transmission also opens up new types of businesses and communications modalities. You could do secure communications to units, start data services for traveling people, or track lots of containers, for example. Or it could just make search-and-rescue communications more precise and meaningful. You could track lost people, ships, or assets in real time, ping them, judge their movement more accurately, and perhaps even communicate with them.

    This is indeed a great thing for SWISSTo12, which has positioned itself to build compact-capable satellites outside the US. We would expect more companies and countries to turn to SWISSTo12 to reduce their dependence on US infrastructure. This also explains our rather breathless, at times, perhaps coverage of SWISSTO12 and its progress. With a new office in Spain, expansion into satcom on hold, a 73 million investment, and expansion of its Swiss factory, the company is moving forward. There are a few companies in 3D printing that I’m more excited about. Geopolitically, SWISSTO12 GEO play is well-timed, while a general expansion of constellations, space businesses, and communications will also give it much more business. This firm has optimized 3D printed components and turned them into a business that is giving information assurance to nation-states and companies. More firms should dominate their applications and leverage that dominance to build influential, growing applications crucial to the world.

  • HP Webinar Breaks Down Where Industrial Filament 3D Printing Works Best

    As additive manufacturing continues to move into production, one question keeps coming up: not just whether a technology works, but where it actually makes sense to use it.

    HP’s upcoming webinar on March 31 takes a closer look at industrial filament 3D printing, but instead of presenting it as a major breakthrough, it focuses on a more practical idea. Even as filament systems improve, they are not meant to replace every other additive manufacturing technology.

    The discussion comes as HP offers a first look at its new high-temperature filament platform designed for production use. The webinar, titled “High-Temperature Industrial Filament 3D Printing: An Inside Look at HP AM’s New Production-Ready Solution,” will focus on an end-to-end system built to deliver consistent part quality, process repeatability, traceability, and access to certified materials, while maintaining an open materials approach. It will also cover key components, including the industrial printer, Material Management System (MMS), and modular extrusion architecture, as well as how filament-based production can be used in regulated and high-temperature applications.

    Guillermo Fabregat.

    The session will be led by Guillermo Fabregat, HP Industrial Filament Product Manager at HP Additive Manufacturing Solutions. An industrial engineer, Fabregat has experience across manufacturing, operations, R&D, and product management, with a focus on bringing complex industrial systems into scalable, production-ready use.

    For years, filament-based 3D printing has mainly been used for prototyping and lower-cost applications. It has been accessible, flexible, and relatively easy to use compared to other additive processes. But in industrial settings, it has often been harder to use for production, especially when it comes to repeatability, material performance, and consistency. Differences between prints, fewer options for high-performance materials, and slower production speeds have made it more challenging to scale.

    HP’s new system is designed to expand what filament can do in these environments, with a focus on high-temperature materials, improved reliability, and an open materials platform. High-temperature capability is important because it allows the use of engineering-grade polymers for more demanding applications, including parts exposed to heat, stress, or chemicals. At the same time, the system is designed to support more consistent results and better process control, which are key requirements for industrial use.

    But as we mentioned before, the more important question is not whether filament can reach production, but where it makes sense to use it.

    In many cases, industrial filament printing is used alongside other technologies like powder bed fusion or HP’s own Multi Jet Fusion systems. Each process has its strengths and limitations, and those differences become more important as additive manufacturing moves into production.

    Industrial production environments demand repeatability, traceability, and consistent part quality.

    Filament systems usually come with lower upfront costs, more material options, and are easier to use. They’re also easier to set up in smaller environments, whether that’s an engineering team, a small shop, or a distributed setup. In contrast, powder-based systems tend to offer higher output, better surface finish, and more consistent part quality across larger production runs.

    That difference is shaping how companies think about these technologies.

    Instead of choosing one over the other, many manufacturers are now using a mix of processes at different stages. In that setup, filament printing doesn’t need to compete directly with higher-end systems. It simply fills certain roles.

    Use cases like high-temperature polymers, functional prototypes, tooling, jigs and fixtures, or smaller batch production are good examples. In these cases, flexibility and cost often matter more than speed or perfect surface finish. Being able to quickly adjust a design or produce parts on demand can also outweigh some of the limitations.

    There’s also a growing role for filament systems in distributed manufacturing. Because they are more affordable and easier to run, they can be placed closer to where parts are needed, whether in small production sites, service bureaus, or internal teams. This fits with a broader shift in manufacturing, where speed, flexibility, and supply chain resilience are becoming just as important as scale.

    At the same time, there are limits. For high-volume production or parts that require tight tolerances and consistent performance across large quantities, other additive technologies may still be a better fit. Powder bed systems and other industrial processes still have clear advantages in these areas, especially when speed and consistency are critical.

    This is where the webinar becomes more relevant. Instead of presenting filament as a one-size-fits-all solution, it focuses on where it actually fits within a broader manufacturing toolkit.

    As additive manufacturing continues to mature, this way of thinking is becoming more important. The focus is shifting from what each technology can do on its own to how they can work together. Different processes are increasingly seen as complementary, each playing a role in a more flexible production setup.

    HP’s session reflects that shift. It’s less about a single system and more about helping manufacturers understand where filament-based production makes sense, and where it doesn’t.

    Attendees will get the first official look at the platform. To do so, register here.

    Images courtesy of HP