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  • Dawn Aerospace Raises $25 Million as 3D Printing Helps Power Reusable Spaceflight Ambitions

    The race to build the next generation of reusable spacecraft just got another boost. Dawn Aerospace has landed $25 million in Series B funding to help scale its reusable space transportation business. The company, now valued at $195 million, is betting that reusable vehicles will help reshape how often (and how affordably) we reach space.

    The new funding will support the expansion of Dawn’s satellite propulsion business, continued development of its Aurora reusable spaceplane, and work on Loop, the company’s planned in-orbit satellite refueling network. Dawn is targeting a Loop demonstration in 2028.

    For the additive manufacturing (AM) industry, the funding points to a growing trend: many of the most ambitious space startups are building critical hardware with 3D printing.

    Based in New Zealand and the Netherlands, Dawn Aerospace already has one foot in space. Unlike many space startups that are still pre-revenue, Dawn already generates revenue through its satellite propulsion business. Its propulsion systems are flying on dozens of spacecraft, providing revenue while the company develops something much more ambitious: Aurora, a reusable spaceplane.

    Unlike traditional rockets, Aurora is designed to take off from a runway, reach the edge of space, land back on a runway, and fly again with far less downtime between missions. The long-term goal is to make access to space look less like an occasional rocket launch and more like regular aircraft operations.

    “As a cash-flow positive company, raising capital is about accelerating the growth of programs we have extremely high conviction in, and that our customers are desperate for,” said Stefan Powell, CEO of Dawn Aerospace.

    Aurora in flight during one of Dawn’s test campaigns. Image courtesy of Dawn Aerospace.

    Behind the scenes, Dawn has been using 3D printing to develop critical space hardware, including rocket engine technology developed through projects with the European Space Agency (ESA).

    The announcement comes as investors continue to back companies working to make spaceflight cheaper and more routine. Reusability has become one of the industry’s biggest trends, helping cut launch costs and increase the number of missions. While companies like SpaceX have helped make reusable rockets a reality, Dawn is betting that the next step is a reusable spaceplane that operates more like an aircraft than a traditional launch vehicle.

    For many space companies, 3D printing has become much more than another manufacturing tool. It helps teams move from design to testing faster, while also making it possible to produce lightweight parts that would be difficult to manufacture any other way. For Dawn Aerospace, those benefits are especially important. Reusable spacecraft need to be as light, reliable, and efficient as possible. AM makes it easier to refine critical components and reduce the number of parts in a system, helping simplify production while improving performance.

    The Series B round follows Dawn’s $20 million Series A in 2022, which helped the company expand its satellite propulsion business and continue development of its spaceplane program. With the latest investment, Dawn has now raised at least $45 million in equity funding as it works to scale both businesses. The round was led by U.S.-based Balerion Space Ventures, with participation from both existing and new investors, including Japan’s ANA Future Frontier Fund, backed by airline giant All Nippon Airways (ANA), Japan’s largest airline, as well as entrepreneur and entrepreneur and angel investor Tim Ferriss, who previously backed companies such as Uber, Shopify, Facebook, and X. As part of the investment, Balerion General Partner Dan Wallman will join Dawn Aerospace’s board of directors.

    The company is also aiming for Aurora to become the first vehicle to fly above the Kármán line—the internationally recognized boundary of space—twice in a single day in 2027. If successful, it would mark another step toward Dawn’s goal of making spaceflight operate more like commercial aviation.

    The team behind Aurora, next to the rocket-powered aircraft, the first New Zealand-designed and -built aircraft to fly supersonic. Image courtesy of Dawn Aerospace.

  • Aires Tide Designed with AI, Supercomputers, and 3D Printing

    The Department of Energy‘s National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) is part of the US government that manages the US nuclear stockpile, helping to upgrade, improve, and maintain nuclear weapons, and helps to maintain the Navy’s nuclear propulsion program. This is a super-secret, super-sensitive part of the government that we don’t often see or hear from.

    Now they’ve introduced Aires Tide, a rapid implementation of a hypersonic vehicle that used the DOE’s Genesis Mission AI supercomputing capacity to make the vehicle, “15 times cheaper and seven times faster than traditional manufacturing.” The work was done by Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore, Sandia, and the Kansas City National Security Campus.

    NNSA Administrator Brandon Williams said,

    “Aires Tide is a remarkable early demonstration of how NNSA is putting the Genesis Mission into action. “President Trump has made it clear that America must lead the world in artificial intelligence and use emerging technologies to strengthen our national security. By combining AI, high-performance computing, and additive manufacturing, we are pioneering a faster, more efficient model to design and produce capabilities for national security while keeping human judgment firmly at the center.”

    The Venado supercomputer at Los Alamos National Laboratory helped power the AI-driven design of the Aires Tide flight test vehicle. Image courtesy of NNSA.

    The Aires Tide vehicle was flight tested in May. The vehicle was tested at the US Army’s Dugway Proving Ground, being dropped from 32,000 feet. The design was made on the Venado and El Capitan. El Capitan is currently the world’s second most powerful supercomputer. The US$600 million system was built on the HPE Cray EX architecture and reportedly can run at 2.821 exaFLOPS. The computer uses 11,039,616 CPU and GPU cores, consisting of 43,808 AMD fourth Gen EPYC 24C “Genoa” 24-core 1.8 GHz CPUs (1,051,392 cores) and 43,808 AMD Instinct MI300A GPUs (9,988,224 compute units, 228 per GPU, which have a total of 639,246 stream processors, 14,592 per GPU). The 700-square-meter system is at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). The system was commissioned and built specifically for nuclear weapons design and testing. Named for the rock formation in Yosemite, this computer is near the precipice of computing today.

    The Venado is currently the 26th most powerful supercomputer in the world, down from 11th only a few years ago when it was launched. The machine has 481,440 cores and is made of 2,560 NVIDIA Grace Hopper Superchips and 920 NVIDIA Grace CPU Superchips. Although less powerful, Venado is in some respects a much more critical system. The Venado was made by HPE specifically for AI. Have you heard of AI? Well, these guys probably have the world’s best cat pictures. OpenAI and other Frontier models are being run on the machine, on its own network, for National Security use. So far, the system has also been used to find new materials, looking at frontier AI models themselves, and astrophysics.

    By using them in design, the NNSA is pushing forward at the intersection of engineering, science, and materials. If we look at Genesis, it’s a supremely ambitious initiative; just one element is: “Manufacturing Accelerating advanced manufacturing Turning design into production at the speed of need. Engineers and AI-driven digital twins share a continuous feedback loop between design, sensors, and fabrication, cutting qualification time and boosting efficiencies.”

    Now there are a lot of buzzwords there, but it’s really important nonetheless. If we can tie what is happening on the factory floor directly to the physics of materials and manufacturing, we can make it in a completely new way. A much more fluid and fundamental method of making could be introduced. We could change a material to offset a manufacturing tolerance issue, or change a design to make printing easier or to improve surface texture, not just before making that design in FEA, but by working backward from the physics of manufacturing and real-world performance. We’re talking about a new world beyond CFD and FEA.

    Now I’m aware that this sounds rather woolly, but Aires Tide is a very concrete result. We can use this new design system to cost-effectively design new vehicles more cheaply and quickly than we normally would. This is very important now, since the US has depleted its precision interceptors and needs to produce more missiles while lacking superiority in hypersonics. The new drone world, which we will talk about on the 30th, needs a more agile and faster US defense establishment. Aires Tide combines AI with 3D printing to quickly produce cutting-edge vehicles. That is great news for us, but it could also point to a future in US manufacturing for defense. We’re not sure what this vehicle is, but our guess is that it’s a hypersonic glide vehicle cruiser, which suggests this is a very important, cutting-edge development indeed.

  • From Vision to Reality: Secure Additive Manufacturing for Brazil’s Energy Sector

    In the oil and gas industry, every day of unplanned downtime can translate into significant operational and financial losses. When a critical component is unavailable, operators may wait days or even weeks for replacement parts to arrive through traditional supply chains, particularly when assets are located offshore or in remote locations. This reality has made localized manufacturing one of the most attractive opportunities in additive manufacturing, enabling parts to be produced closer to the point of need and reducing dependence on inventory and logistics. Yet despite the technology’s potential, many organizations have been reluctant to scale distributed manufacturing due to concerns around intellectual property theft, unauthorized part reproduction, and the challenge of maintaining control over sensitive manufacturing data across multiple production sites.

    For Petrobras, one of the world’s leading energy companies, these challenges are particularly relevant. Across oil and gas facilities, maintenance teams routinely replace components that have reached the end of their service life due to corrosion, wear, or environmental exposure. One common example is the handwheel, developed by Korall Engineering, used for manual valve operation. In offshore and coastal environments, metal handwheels are constantly exposed to moisture and corrosive conditions, often becoming rusted and requiring replacement as part of normal maintenance activities. While these components are relatively simple, delays in obtaining replacement parts can impact maintenance schedules and increase operational costs. Producing such parts closer to the point of need is in the core operations of Sparely, the company orchestrating the spare parts supply in the project, offering a practical opportunity to improve responsiveness while reducing dependence on lengthy supply chains.

    “The ability to securely manufacture parts closer to the point of need is a game changer for industrial operations. It has the potential to reduce supply chain constraints, improve responsiveness, and unlock new opportunities for distributed manufacturing,” said Lior Polak, CEO and co-founder at Assembrix.

    This is where secure digital manufacturing infrastructure becomes the missing link between the promise of distributed manufacturing and its industrial adoption. While industrial 3D printing technologies have largely solved the challenge of producing qualified parts, manufacturers still face a critical question: how can production be distributed without compromising intellectual property? For many industrial organizations, the true value of a part lies not only in the physical component itself, but in the engineering expertise and proprietary manufacturing data embedded within its digital design. Simply sharing files across multiple suppliers or production locations can expose valuable intellectual property and create risks of unauthorized reproduction. Assembrix addresses these challenges by integrating with industrial 3D printers, including HP Multi Jet Fusion systems, and enabling secure remote production through encrypted data delivery, centralized control, and complete process traceability. This allows IP owners to manufacture parts anywhere in the world while maintaining full control over when, where, and by whom production is executed, without exposing sensitive design data to the production site.

    “As additive manufacturing adoption continues to grow, customers need solutions that connect production readiness with secure operational deployment. Integrations such as Assembrix help bridge that gap, enabling manufacturers to move from isolated production environments to connected manufacturing operations without compromising operational governance,” said Arvind Rangarajan, Global Head of Product and Strategy for HP Additive Manufacturing Solutions.

    Manufacturers can authorize production, monitor activity in real time, and maintain governance across multiple locations while keeping sensitive manufacturing data protected. In addition, the Assembrix platform streams production data throughout the build process, providing real time visibility into manufacturing activity and machine performance. This enables stakeholders to verify that production is being carried out according to the original specifications and quality requirements, helping ensure consistency and confidence in the final part regardless of where it is produced. By securing the digital thread from design to production, Assembrix enables organizations to confidently scale additive manufacturing without sacrificing control over their most valuable assets.

    For Brazil’s energy sector, this represents far more than a technological improvement. It has the potential to be a game changer. By addressing one of the largest barriers to distributed manufacturing, the secure management of intellectual property and production workflows, organizations can finally begin realizing the full value of localized production. What was once viewed as a future vision for additive manufacturing is becoming an operational reality, enabling critical parts to be produced where they are needed most while maintaining the security, control, and traceability demanded by industrial operations. The successful production of a replacement handwheel for a corroded component found in existing oil and gas facilities provides a practical example of how secure additive manufacturing can help modernize maintenance strategies, reduce supply chain dependency, and strengthen operational resilience across Brazil’s energy sector.

  • 3YOURMIND Partners with Phillips Corp. in US Navy’s RIMPAC Distributed Manufacturing Experiment

    I recently wrote about the US Navy’s development of the Advanced Integrated Mobile Machine Shop (AIMMS), a containerized unit built around the Phillips Additive Hybrid system, which combines DED and CNC milling in a deployable platform. I noted that the story was especially relevant given the delivery of the AIMMS unit to the Pacific, and Phillips’ upcoming participation in the biennial Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) event, the world’s largest maritime combat exercise.

    Now, AM software provider 3YOURMIND, a US and German company that frequently collaborates with Phillips, will be partnering with Phillips once again at this year’s RIMPAC, July 24-31 in the Hawaiian Islands. 3YOURMIND and Phillips will be participating in the distributed manufacturing experiment run by Naval Postgraduate School (NPS), one of the US military’s primary breeding grounds for advanced manufacturing R&D.

    Phillips Additive Hybrid system at MILAM 2026. Image courtesy of 3DPrint.com.

    3YOURMIND’s involvement will enable NPS to gauge the effectiveness of executing distributed production on an operational vessel, with the USS Essex serving as the ‘laboratory’ in this case. The USS Essex is an ideal site for the purpose, having been the first US Navy vessel where the US military tested metal 3D printing on an in-service ship.

    3YOURMIND and Phillips have been working together for years on US military contracts, including projects like reverse engineering tank parts to create a digital inventory for the US Army, and the integration of 3YOURMIND’s Rapid Part Identifier (RPI) with the US Marines’ Digital Manufacturing Data Vault (DMDV). This is the third US military exercise that 3YOURMIND and Phillips have partnered on in as many months, previously working together at the Joint Inter-agency Field Experimentation (JIFX) at California’s Camp Roberts in May, and Valiant Shield in Okinawa in June.

    In a press release about the collaboration between 3YOURMIND and Phillips at the upcoming RIMPAC exercise in July, the president of 3YOURMIND’s North American operations, William Cuervo, said, “Establishing a digitized manufacturing network is fundamentally an enterprise problem concerning fragmented people and assets. The strategy involves addressing this enterprise problem and tailoring the solution for military requirements.”

    Chris Curran, program manager at the NPS’s CAMRE program, said, “We’re moving advanced manufacturing out of the lab and into the fleet. But to operationalize that during a massive exercise like RIMPAC, we needed absolute command and control over the digital supply chain. It’s about ensuring the right unit gets the right file at the exact right time, so they can print what they need to stay in the fight.”

    The capability to create distributed manufacturing networks is what I consider the most intriguing long-term value proposition for the AM industry. But for now, I generally think of it in terms of scenarios like, “Research Lab A creates a prototype, and then its partner, Research Lab B — thousands of miles away — accesses the same network, prints the prototype file, modifies it, and uploads the new file to see what Research Lab A thinks of the modification.”

    On the other hand, what the US military is exploring in war-game exercises with distributed manufacturing — expeditionary manufacturing — can be thought of as the basic concept taken to its logical extreme. In that sense, it’s pretty exciting from a technological perspective that the DoD keeps doubling down on the idea, because if you can produce parts on an operational naval vessel, you could presumably produce them from anywhere.

    In any definition of distributed manufacturing, the combination of a parts identifier function and digital inventory that 3YOURMIND delivers is an indispensable component for leveraging the full potential. It’s clear why that would be the case for military organizations, who need to be able to reverse engineer files on the ground to leverage expeditionary manufacturing as a lead-time reducer. But it’s just as important for any organization that’s being held up by lack of access to a critical part which is difficult to procure because it’s no longer in mass production, or because it’s in particularly high demand, or because one or a few of the materials it’s made from are scarce, etc.

    Another factor suggesting that 3YOURMIND is well-suited to capture this market is its partnerships, not just with Phillips but also with companies like EOS, a sister company of AM Ventures, whose portfolio 3YOURMIND is a part of. If AM enables and encourages Western militaries to collaborate more closely on new weapons systems development, that won’t be able to happen without a shared software network.

    Image courtesy of 3YOURMIND

  • Rocket Lab Buys Iridium in $8 Billion Deal, Creating a New SpaceX Rival

    Rocket Lab is buying Iridium for $8 billion in a cash-and-stock deal worth $54 per share. Shareholders will receive $27 in cash plus additional Rocket Lab common stock. The company now sees itself as a “vertically integrated space company that designs, builds, launches, and operates its own constellations, delivering critical communications capability to millions of users worldwide.” In essence, therefore, Rocket Lab is now a SpaceX alternative. Given Elon Musk‘s increasingly visible political profile, Rocket Lab may be seen by many firms and individuals as a more responsible and safer partner. Iridium currently has 2.55 million active subscribers for L-band spectrum and LEO-based data and voice direct-to-device services. The hope here is to use Rocket Lab’s launch capabilities to extend the Iridium network, its constellation, and its capabilities to a level that rivals SpaceX.

    Rocket Lab launches “IoT 4 You & Me” Mission. Image courtesy of Rocket Lab.

    Sir Peter Beck, founder and CEO of Rocket Lab, said,

    “This is a defining moment for the space industry and the start of a new era of strategic, accelerated growth for Rocket Lab and Iridium- Iridium has built the gold standard in secure, safety critical global satellite connectivity. It is relied upon by maritime fleets, the aviation industry, governments, and heavy industrial organizations who operate in the most remote off-the-grid locations. By marrying Iridium’s deep heritage, trusted infrastructure, and highly sought-after spectrum with Rocket Lab’s extensive and proven launch and manufacturing capabilities, we have the capability to unlock entirely new markets. We will go far beyond maintaining a legacy; we are going to build upon it to pioneer next-generation space applications and deliver sought-after capabilities to existing and new customers.”

    Iridium CEO Matt Desch added,

    “As the worlds of space and terrestrial communications continue to converge, more critical services will depend on space-based capabilitie. Success will come from those who can bring new innovations to space quickly and sustain them over time as efficiently as possible. We’re excited about being able to accelerate the next generation of IoT, aviation, maritime, PNT, and national security capabilities, and pursue new innovative applications as part of Rocket Lab – a fully integrated, end-to-end space company. That’s an incredible opportunity for our customers, partners, employees, and stockholders.”

    The company wants to be an end-to-end space firm with captive launch capabilities and its own path to end users, constellation, spectrum and network. This should materially add to Rocket Lab’s revenue and profile. The company previously was an interesting potential partner for governments, and now it will be an essential one. Just days ago, SpaceX also bought around $20 billion in spectrum, meaning it is likely to enter the US mobile market directly. Potentially, Rocket Lab can now do this, either as a partner to existing networks or as a rival to them. Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile have revenues of $138 billion, $125 billion, and $88 billion, respectively, so the prize there is indeed a rich one.

    The company also thinks that there is a defense play in warfighter communications. In PNT (Positioning, Navigation, and Timing) and other military services, which could include targeting and navigation capabilities for drones, for example, as well as direct warfighter push-to-talk and other services. Iridium did $871.7M in revenue in 2025. The company hopes to close the deal in 2027. So far, both boards have agreed. Rocket Lab has gotten a $3.6 billion 364-day senior secured bridge term loan facility from Deutsche Bank and Wells Fargo to help finance the deal.

    “IOT 4 You and Me” payload integration. Image courtesy of Rocket Lab.

    This deal is interesting since it opens up a direct SpaceX competitor. Will the deal go through? We’re not sure, since there are many considerations for countries to weigh. Also, Elon Musk was the largest direct source of funds for Donald Trump’s campaign, giving him $291 million in the last election. He could yet secure approval in the US for this complex deal, or, at the very least, slow it down considerably.

    It would be good for the military and commercial businesses to have more alternatives to SpaceX. More competition on the worldwide internet will prevent a monopoly from forming there. It may take years for competitors to build up capacity and global coverage, so a monopoly of space-based internet services for only a few years may deter competition indefinitely. For companies and governments wanting to deploy backup networking solutions, sensor networks, and global communications networks, just having SpaceX is, of course, a terrible thing. It would give them only one choice and open them up to being effectively extorted on pricing. A livelier, more spirited Iridium offering would give many people a viable alternative, lower prices, and lead to better service.

    Direct-to-device internet could be a winner-take-all global market for control over internet access. I don’t think anyone, save one person, wants this to be dominated by one firm. And two or more global players would make it much more likely that people would use and rely on satellite internet services worldwide. So if this goes through and gets approval, it should bring some much-needed competition. Across the pond, this may lead to jockeying for space among the largely European offerings of Viasat, SES, and Eutelsat. Will one or two of these merge? Will Echostar find a suitor as well?

    Europe as a whole will also have to decide whether it wants to mollycoddle a viable European alternative, initiate more space startups in Europe, or build a defense communications alternative to achieve a sovereign alternative. Eutelsat and OneWeb have focused on government and corporate clients but have proved invaluable in Ukraine. IRIS is kind of a European clown car for the internet, including Thales, Airbus, SES, and Eutelsat, and would cost $10 billion. Just looking at the sovereign warfighter communications that it could provide and the targeting this could be necessary. But, if it were just a government network, then both Rocket Lab and SpaceX would seem to be better businesses. SwissTo12 again looks to be a brilliant play because, by using that firm’s 3D printed infrastructure and Hummingbird satellites, more government-specific networks and potentially a fully fledged competitor could emerge. Interesting times indeed in the space launch and constellation business.

  • HeyGears Unveils G1X, the World’s First Desktop Full-Color 3D & UV Printer

    For creators, makers, studios, and small businesses, color has remained one of the biggest barriers in digital fabrication. Multi-color FDM is limited in detail and often creates waste towers, while resin 3D printing delivers fine detail but requires manual painting for color. Full-color 3D printing has traditionally been expensive and out of reach, with UV printing and texture creation still locked in separate workflows.

    The HeyGears G1X is designed to change that. As the world’s first desktop full-color 3D and UV printer, G1X combines Full-Color 3D, 3D Texture, and 2D UV printing in one desktop-scale platform. From paint-free full-color models and tactile relief effects to high-resolution surface customization across hundreds of materials, G1X gives creators a faster, more flexible way to turn digital ideas into finished physical products.

    One Machine. Three Worlds of Creation.

    The HeyGears G1X combines Full-Color 3D, 3D Texture, and 2D UV printing in one desktop system.

    3D Printing Mode (Prints Full-Color 3D Models & 2.9D Deep Relief)

    In 3D Mode, the G1X builds three-dimensional models layer by layer using a dedicated ink set: CMYK + Double White + Water-SolubleSupport + Transparent (CMYKST+W*2). This mode produces:

    • Full-Color 3D Models: Seamless, paint-free models with interior and exterior color.
    • Deep Relief (2.9D): A specialized application of full-color 3D printing for deep three-dimensional relief, extending your prints up to 150 mm for enhanced expression.

    Transparent printing application demonstrating color fidelity, fine detail, and clear material effects. Image courtesy of HeyGears.

    UV Printing Mode (2D Printing & 3D Textures Printing)

    In UV mode, the G1X 8-channel ink system and up to 1440 × 2400 DPI resolution support vivid color, fine detail, raised textures, and surface customization across 400+ compatible materials. It functions as a high-speed flatbed printer capable of producing two types of creations:

    • 2D Printing: Direct high-resolution printing on 400+ compatible materials (metal, acrylic, wood, leather, ceramics).
    • 3D Textures: Supports up to 5 mm in 3D texture height, allowing you to reproduce realistic surfaces such as leather, wood carvings, brushstrokes, and Braille.

    A leather-style book cover featuring raised 3D textures and high-resolution color printing created with the G1X. Image courtesy of HeyGears.

    Industrial-Grade Print Quality, Speed, and Color Fidelity

    G1X is designed to bring industrial-grade print performance into a desktop-scale system, combining faster UV printing, precise color reproduction, and stable long-term output.

    • Epson I3200 industrial-grade printhead: Supports ultra-high-frequency jetting for faster printing, more stable ink ejection, and reduced risk of clogging.
    • Up to 3X faster UV printing: Helps creators, studios, and small businesses improve productivity for custom projects and small-batch production.
    • Advanced RIP algorithms: Enable 10M+ colors, smoother gradients, and more accurate visual output across different printing modes.

    Note: The 3X UV printing speed boost is based on internal testing compared with desktop UV printers equipped with a single F1080 (XP600) printhead.

    Custom skateboard deck produced using the G1X’s full-color UV printing capabilities. Image courtesy of HeyGears.

    From Idea to Print with AI and Auto Calibration

    G1X combines AI-powered creation tools with intelligent hardware alignment, making the workflow from idea to final print faster and easier.

    • AI-powered modeling: With HeyVerse AI and Blueprint Studio, users can generate high-fidelity models from text or images or convert 2D visuals into 3D Texture outputs through a simplified workflow.
    • Auto calibration in seconds: Line-scan imaging identifies an object’s position, shape, and edges, enabling accurate design alignment and smart layout in Blueprint Studio for more efficient, consistent batch production.
    • Full-stack creation workflow: With HeyVerse, Blueprint Studio, 500+ curated assets, and text/image-to-3D generation, users can turn ideas into printable models in minutes—even without 3D modeling experience.

    Early Access and Deposit Reservation

    The HeyGears G1X is launching soon on Kickstarter. Join our waitlist now to secure early bird pricing.

    Special Launch Offer

    Secure your VIP Early Bird Slot for Just $50

    Receive a complimentary 300ml bottle of White UV Ink (valued at $49) with your printer.

    Reserve Your VIP Slot →

    About HeyGears

    HeyGears specializes in 3D printing and digital manufacturing, delivering precision solutions across dental, rehabilitation, and consumer applications. From medical personalization to consumer innovation, we help restore, reshape, and reimagine what’s possible—making advanced manufacturing more accessible. To learn more about HeyGears products, visit store.heygears.com or contact [email protected].

  • New University of Miami Facility Brings Bioprinting Closer to Clinical Reality

    The University of Miami‘s Miller School of Medicine has opened a new bioprinting facility that is already being used to create living tissues, patient-specific implants, and advanced drug delivery systems. The facility could help move bioprinting technologies closer to real-world clinical use.

    Located within the Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation Biomedical Nanotechnology Institute (BioNIUM), the facility brings together researchers, engineers, and clinicians under one roof. The goal is to accelerate the development of personalized medical treatments and regenerative medicine technologies.

    “It’s a little bit like Star Trek,” said Sylvia Daunert, director of BioNIUM and Lucille P. Markey Chair in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. “We make molecules called nano-carriers that recognize diseased cells. They act like a GPS and deliver drugs where they’re needed. These technologies are making a huge impact on medicine.”

    Dr. Sylvia Daunert is the director of the BioNIUM, which houses the 3D Bioprinting Facility. Image courtesy of the University of Miami.

    What sets the new facility apart is the range of technologies available in a single location. Researchers can use the center to develop so much, including tissue models, bone regeneration scaffolds, bioactive molecules, microfluidic devices, microneedles for drug delivery, surgical models, neural interfaces, and artificial organs. What’s more, the university says the platform can create features as small as 200 nanometers while preserving living cells during printing.

    “We’re making operating tools for surgeons, creating artificial tissues, layer by layer, for discovery research, recreating bones and developing microfluidics for point-of-care tests. We can make microchips for computer-brain interfaces, artificial organs,” said Dr. Daunert. “We’re pushing the envelope of what science can do.”

    The new facility is designed to work with living cells, growth factors, and other sensitive biological materials. Unlike many conventional manufacturing processes that rely on high temperatures, the platform operates under conditions that help preserve the viability of those materials.

    “If you look at some of the other things that have been done, like heating up filaments to hundreds of degrees for extrusion…that would kill cells,” said Vasudev Vivekanand Nayak, a mechanical engineer and operational manager of the 3D Bioprinting Facility as well as a postdoctoral researcher at the Miller School of Medicine. “If you have any sort of temperature-sensitive drug that you want to incorporate within your tissue constructs, extreme heat would destroy it. You need equipment that can print live cells or any sort of bioactive molecules or growth factors at a physiological temperature. It’s really hard to do and has not been attempted in many cases in the past. But it’s happening here.”

    Microneedle array for drug delivery, made in the 3D Bioprinting Facility. Image courtesy of the University of Miami.

    Because the facility is housed within BioNIUM, users also have access to nanofabrication tools including photolithography, electron-beam lithography, advanced imaging, and materials characterization equipment. Those resources can be used alongside the bioprinting systems as projects move from development to testing.

    Some of that work is already underway. Paulo Coelho, a professor of surgery at the Miller School of Medicine who leads the research initiatives behind the 3D Bioprinting Facility, is developing 3D printed scaffolds designed to help patients regenerate bone lost to trauma, disease, or surgery. The technology has shown promising results in animal studies, and researchers are preparing for future clinical trials.

    3D printed bone scaffolding from the BioNIUM’s 3D Bioprinting Facility. Image courtesy of the University of Miami.

    Researchers are also exploring new ways to create skin, cartilage, bone, and nerve tissue. The long-term goal is to develop implants that help the body repair itself more naturally. And while major hurdles remain, progress continues in areas such as tissue viability, vascularization, and implant performance.

  • 3DPOD 304: Precast Concrete AM with Greg Kerkstra, Mangrove 3D

    Greg Kerkstra is part of a family business that leads in the precast concrete industry. They’ve now turned to Progress Group’s large-format binder-jet concrete technology, which we covered here in a podcast with Andreas. Greg is exploring applications, products, and go-to-market with his family business. What will work? Where is the value? What is interesting and profitable in concrete 3D printing? We contrast their printing method with the usual concrete deposition technologies and look at what they can make and want to make. We look at Mangrove 3D options, its goals, and try to Devine where the business is in this novel market.

    This episode of the 3DPOD is brought to you by FacFox, where your next product starts as a file and ends as a custom-made reality. With instant quoting, rapid design feedback, and on-demand 3D printing, CNC machining, injection molding, and more, FacFox makes it easier to test out ideas, fine-tune every detail, and manufacture with confidence. Curious what your design could become? Upload it and find out.

     

  • How One Artist Is Using 3D Printing to Tell Stories About the Ocean

    Artist Kimberly Callas sees something different when she looks at a 3D printer. Where others see a machine for making parts, she sees a way to tell stories about the ocean, climate change, and humanity’s relationship with nature.

    That vision has now earned her a place in the New York Academy of Art‘s 2026 Summer Exhibition, where her piece Ocean Reach combines hand-painted details with 3D printed biofilament to explore the beauty and fragility of marine ecosystems.

    Oceans, coral reefs, marine life, and the challenges facing our planet have become the foundation of her work.

    Callas, an artist and professor at Monmouth University in New Jersey, combines traditional art techniques with modern technologies, including 3D printing. Her piece Ocean Reach wasn’t just selected for the New York Academy of Art’s Summer Exhibition; it was also featured in the latest issue of WEAD Magazine, a publication focused on women working in environmental art.

    What makes the piece especially interesting to the 3D printing community is that it contains PLA biofilament, one of the most widely used materials in desktop 3D printing. This shows us how additive manufacturing is being used in creative fields beyond engineering and manufacturing.

    Art Meets Technology

    For years, 3D printing has given artists incredible new creative possibilities. In Callas’ work, however, the technology is just one part of the artistic process. Her work often explores humanity’s relationship with nature, particularly the oceans. Through sculpture, drawing, installation pieces, and 3D printed elements, she creates works that encourage viewers to think differently about the environment.

    In Ocean Reach, 3D printed PLA biofilament is combined with acrylic ink and graphite to create a piece that feels both organic and futuristic at the same time. It’s amazing how the technology almost disappears into the artwork itself. But that’s part of what makes it interesting. The goal isn’t to show off a 3D printer, it’s to tell a story. And here, the visible print layers add texture and movement that look like waves, currents, and other natural forms.

    Measuring 8 x 6 x 2 inches, the piece, Callas says, “continues my interest in the visceral meeting point between humans and nature.”

    A Different Side of 3D Printing

    Callas chose to create the piece using PLA biofilament, one of the most common materials used in desktop 3D printing. Made primarily from renewable resources such as corn starch or sugarcane, PLA isn’t a perfect environmental solution. Although it still has an environmental footprint, Callas’ decision to use it in artwork inspired by the oceans creates an interesting connection between the material itself and the environmental themes she explores.

    Ocean Reach was selected for exhibition by the New York Academy of Art as part of its summer exhibition program.

    Anyone interested in seeing Ocean Reach can visit the New York Academy of Art’s 2026 Summer Exhibition, which runs through July 13 at the Academy’s Tribeca campus at 111 Franklin Street and features more than 75 works by alumni, students, and faculty.

    Sculptor Kimberly Callas. Image courtesy of Kimberly Callas.

    Ocean Reach isn’t the first time Callas has worked with 3D printing. She has been using the technology for several years in sculptures inspired by the ocean and the environment. Her solo exhibition, Ocean Bodies, shown at Monmouth University in 2025, featured a series of works made with 3D printed biofilament. Other projects have included her long-running Portrait of the Ecological Self series, as well as Ocean Swimmers (Entanglement), a solo exhibition in Budapest inspired by marine ecosystems.

    Art like Callas’ reminds us that 3D printing is also a creative medium. Artists around the world are using the technology to experiment with form, texture, and materials. Some create large sculptures. Others produce wearable pieces, jewelry, furniture, or interactive installations. Callas is part of this growing group of artists who are exploring how digital fabrication can support this type of environmental storytelling.

  • 3D Printing News Briefs, June 27, 2026: Nanoscale 3D Printing, Defense Readiness, & More

    We’re starting with a story about a grant for advanced nanoscale 3D printing in this weekend’s 3D Printing News Briefs, and then on to metal additive manufacturing (AM) for defense readiness and shipbuilding. We’ll finish up with industrial X-ray CT scanning.

    UCSB Receives NSF Grant for Advanced Nanoscale 3D Printing

    Co-PI Andrew Jayich will use the new technology to create ion traps like the one shown here, in which colors indicate independent electrodes to control trapped ions. Image credit: Brian Long

    In response to a proposal they submitted, a team of researchers at University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) recently secured a $1.15 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to purchase a 3D nanoprinting system. The equipment, which the team wrote will “open the door to new approaches to nano- and micro-manufacturing of complex structures and devices,” is able to print a polymer lens fewer than 50 micrometers wide onto the edge of a chip, and will be housed in the UCSB Nanofabrication Facility. The team consists of lead PI Galan Moody, UCSB professor of electrical and computer engineering, and co-PIs Marley Dewey (bioengineering), Andrew Jayich (physics), Sumita Pennathur (mechanical engineering), and Andrea Young (physics). They will all use the new system for their own projects, like creating new photonic chip designs and patterned biomaterials, microprinting ion trap structures for optical clocks, 3D printing microfluidic channels on chips to use as electrical control, and more. As they explained in their proposal, the team also plans to train UCSB students on the equipment, as well as local community college students.

    “There are just a few universities in the U.S. that have tools with these capabilities,” Moody said.

    “Ten-nm-resolution lithography is available at off-campus commercial foundries, but none is capable of creating complex 3D structures with nanoscale resolution and high speed for high-throughput prototyping, which are required for next-generation devices. Being able to make structures in true three dimensions opens new capabilities.”

    Meltio Developing Ecosystem of Certified Partners for U.S. Defense Readiness

    Spanish company Meltio, which specializes in wire-laser metal deposition (W-LMD), is working to strengthen its presence in U.S. defense manufacturing through a growing ecosystem of certified industrial partners. These partners operate under recognized quality and regulatory frameworks, including ITAR registration, Type 7 FFL, SAM Registration and ISO 9001:2015 compliance, and they help reinforce the company’s work to provide advanced technology for metal parts production and repair. Meltio’s adaptable manufacturing capability has been validated by the U.S. Navy and allied defense programs, and is perfect for mission-critical environments, like those in the military sector, that require operational readiness, supply chain resilience, and sovereign production capacity. By having these kinds of certified partners, Meltio can deploy its solutions within secure defense environments. These partners include Force Automation, which operates under ITAR registration; Snowbird Technologies, an ISO 9001:2015 certified small business; Fastech LLC, which operates under ISO 9001:2015 and is registered with the U.S. Department of State under ITAR; and Phillips Corporation, which is an ITAR-registered and ISO 9001-certified organization through its Phillips Federal division.

    “Defense organizations are increasingly prioritizing manufacturing sovereignty, resilience, and readiness across distributed environments. Meltio technology, combined with our network of qualified partners in the United States, enables secure and flexible metal part production where it is needed most, supporting mission readiness and reducing dependency on traditional supply chains,” said Jon Grubb, Defense Industry Strategy Manager at Meltio.

    AML3D Completes Initial ARCEMY X Order for Newport News Shipbuilding

    AML3D announced that it has successfully completed an initial order of two of its custom, large-scale ARCEMY X metal AM systems for Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS), a division of America’s largest military shipbuilder, HII. These custom ARCEMY X systems use a 10,886 kg positioner to create “heavy capacity build capability” for shipbuilding applications. They have been commissioned and are now operational at NNS, which completes the initial ~$4.5 million order and triggers the final payment. NNS has already placed an additional ~$9.9 million order for four more ARCEMY X systems, set to be delivered in early 2027 to support the U.S. Navy’s Marine Industrial Base (MIB). This is a major endorsement of AML3D’s WAM technology, and supports the company’s strategic investment plan to double its U.S. manufacturing capacity in order to keep meeting MIB demand.

    “The strong and growing demand we are seeing from the US MIB is a ringing endorsement of AML3D’s U.S. scale up strategy. We are doubling the capacity at Stow to ensure we are well positioned to maximize the opportunity outlined in the letter of intent we received from the from the US Navy earlier in the 2026 financial year that indicated a need for up to 100 additive manufacturing systems and 3,400 additively manufactured parts by 2030,” said AML3D CEO Sean Ebert.

    “It is also pleasing to see the same demand signals that underpinned AML3D’s strategic push into the U.S. market are emerging in other globally significant defense markets, in particularly the UK where AML3D has already won UK defense contracts. We are looking to leverage our U.S. strategic playbook in Europe, with plans and funds to establish a European Technology and manufacturing hub as we have done is Stow. Establishing a European hub will position AML3D with manufacturing capability to support the USA, UK and Australia, the three signatories to the trilateral AUKUS defense partnership. We will also have the capacity to deliver on our strategic growth driver of accessing non-defense industrial manufacturing sectors across the U.S., Europe and Australia.”

    Lumafield Introduces New Tier of Industrial X-Ray CT Scanning Solutions

    Lumafield Triton Performance

    Industrial X-ray CT scanning can be very useful for detecting internal defects on 3D printed parts. Lumafield specializes in this technology, and recently announced a new tier of high-performance, industrial X-ray CT scanning solutions, connecting metrology-grade 3D measurement to production line inspection. In this shaky economic climate, as manufacturers are dealing with material inflation, trade uncertainty, and energy volatility, the timing of the new Neptune Performance and Triton Performance systems couldn’t be better. Traditional inspection tools can’t inspect hidden internal geometries well, or they’re too slow, but Lumafield says its new system tier offers high accuracy and fast scanning speeds. This helps engineering and quality teams inspect complex assemblies and verify internal dimensions of parts, and helps manufacturers catch defects much earlier, thus protecting their margins.

    Lumafield’s Neptune scanner was first introduced back in 2022, making X-ray CT inspection technology accessible to industries that hadn’t been able to use it before. The new Neptune Performance features a major hardware upgrade to offer 12x faster scans and better accuracy, with 4x the data quality compared to the standard Neptune. According to Lumafield, users can now measure critical internal features at micron-level accuracy, even with materials that are transparent. Plus, a measurement template built on the Neptune Performance in the R&D lab is now the automated inspection template for the Triton Performance on the factory floor, and both connect to the cloud-based Voyager software environment for a more unified thread. Speaking of the Triton Performance, the company says it enables users to scan parts at production speed and scale, providing complete volumetric CT reconstructions in as little as 10 seconds per part. It’s supposedly able to catch internal defects, create automated inspection recipes that target known failure modes, and identify parts that deviate from the norm.