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What’s driving the automotive lightweighting revolution?

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A perfect storm of social and regulatory changes, AI-driven generative design, and advances in additive manufacturing are bringing automotive lightweighting into the mainstream.

By Avi Reichental, CEO, Techniplas Digital

Since the widespread adoption of industrial technology began in the late 18th century, there have been only a handful of instances where a combination of social change, technological advancement and public policy converged to create the perfect environment to precipitate exponential change.

Today, we are witnessing just such a perfect storm in automotive lightweighting. The result will be a fundamental change in the way people and goods move from one place to another.

What exactly is driving the automotive lightweighting revolution, and how will its effects continue to emerge? To understand this, we need to take a deep dive into both the technological and social/regulatory sides of the equation.

Social and regulatory changes drive demand, but efficiency drives change
Environmental concerns like global warming are driving governments worldwide to demand changes from carmakers with strict emissions and fuel efficiency standards. In addition, consumers are beginning to take vehicle efficiency into account, and manufacturers are being forced to adapt.

But pure vehicle weight considerations are not the primary driving force behind the move to lightweighting. Manufacturers are prioritizing not only vehicular efficiency (of which weight is a key factor), but also overall manufacturing and operational efficiency.

Thus, social and regulatory demands have moved the ball into the manufacturing court. Yet what’s truly driving the lightweighting revolution and making it economically and ecologically viable to lightweight on a massive scale is the technological revolution that’s enabling the design and at-scale production of lightweighted parts.

AI-driven generative design is transformational
AI-driven generative design is lightweighting’s secret sauce.

The reason? Lightweighting by definition relies on either material substitution or reduction – achieving the same function with the same amount of a lighter material or less material. We’ve essentially reached the cost-benefit breaking point for material substitution, and thus the automotive industry has turned to material reduction for lightweighting. And material reduction is where AI-driven generative design truly shines.

AI-driven generative design transforms CAD from an electronic drawing board to a co-designer. Novel solutions created via generative design have shattered existing design paradigms, making the production of organically inspired structures – which can optimize materials usage and radically lower weight without compromising integrity – a reality.

Additive manufacturing brings generative design to life
Without the ability to produce amazing AI-driven designs at scale, the lightweighting revolution would be stuck in the laboratory. Thus, the final element of this “perfect lightweighting storm” is Additive Manufacturing (AM). Today, the automotive industry has the capability, tools, and experience to produce the complex and lightweight geometries created by generative design cost-effectively, rapidly, and at scale.

AM enables vehicle manufacturers to produce millions of the same parts or millions of one-of-a-kind parts. This turns conventional manufacturing wisdom on its head and provides automotive manufacturers a new degree of freedom that it has not previously experienced.

So where does lightweighting come in? The fact is that the components being created by generative design can only be practically manufactured using additive techniques.

Thus, the next generation of lightweighting is tied intrinsically to AM. And this is where things get fascinating. Because now, generative designs are being optimized for AM. Complex geometry is no longer a limitation, but an enabler. Tooling is no longer a must, and more parts can be combined into homogenous units at the design stage, without assembly – lowering part count and (you guessed it) weight.

The bottom line
Automotive manufacturers were early AM adopters – using it for design and prototyping for decades. They realized that this technology was a game changer, yet material performance, computing power and scalability were holding them back.

Today, processes are more cost effective, more scalable, and development cycles are shorter. Today, 3D-printed parts are being produced on a mass scale, and the foundation of traditional manufacturing is being rocked. With the addition of powerful and effective AI-driven generative design, automotive lightweighting today is limited less by technology than by pure imagination.

Do designers need to get physical?

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As powerful and feature-rich as CAD programs have become, you can argue that there’s a missing element to the design experience. Even augmented reality does not deliver the needed experience, yet.

The experience is actually touching a physical, three-dimensional model of the designed object.

The digital world is working hard to replicate such an experience as best as it can, but nothing quite succeeds like holding the object in your hands and examining and testing it. Simulations are great, and quite mature, but something is still lacking.

 

That is one of the reasons behind the trend to offer a fabrication lab experience to CAD designers. Dassault Systemes in Waltham, Mass., recently gave a tour of its new fab lab within the headquarters building. Noted Abhishek Bali, 3DExperience Lab manager, this facility helps CAD software designers, as well as customers, test and play with equipment to learn more about how a design could or should be manufactured and what future features to include in SOLIDWORKS to make the process more efficient. Part of the focus of the new features in SOLIDWORKS 2018 is on shrinking the steps it takes to go from design to actual product production.

 

This lab has a range of equipment, notably several versions of desktop 3D printers, such as Formlabs and Ultimaker, a Tormach mini CNC mill, a Roland SRM-20 for circuit design and test, a Shopbot CNC router, and even a small robot arm.

Said Bali, “Engineers are doing more physical prototyping, rather than just working with software.”

The trend for design engineers is to become multi-faceted, performing a range of tasks more involved with physical product development. So in a sense, everyone is becoming a “maker.”

Some of this shift into making is due to 3D printing / additive manufacturing. “3D printing has made a lot more engineers think about manufacturing,” said Craig Therrien, senior product manager for SOLIDWORKS.

With this increase in skills, comes the need for better communications between design and manufacturing. The two groups still often speak in different “languages.” Dassault hopes to change that by promoting SOLIDWORKS 2018 as a common language between manufacturing and design, even across the enterprise.

 

One takeaway from the meeting is that everything—from design through manufacturing through use—is connected; we just need to figure out how to fully benefit from this connectivity. This is where future advances lie.

Leslie Langnau
llangnau@wtwhmedia.com

New Balance Uses 3D Printing to Create Customized Shoes for Runners

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No two runners are the same. This is especially true for athletes competing at the most elite levels. Their foot-strike patterns, degrees of pronation (the amount a runner’s foot rolls inward with each step), and braking and propulsion forces are all unique. However, the extent to which most running shoe models vary is rather limited in comparison.

As a result, there are some who believe that personalizing a runner’s shoes, specifically the spike plate that provides traction on the underside of the shoe, can help these athletes become faster on the track.

A proponent of this trend is New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc., best known simply as New Balance.
The company embraces innovation across all platforms of the business and continuously explore advanced methods for product design and production so it’s no surprise that New Balance has turned to design-driven manufacturing for 3D printing custom spike plates, based on an individual runner’s biomechanics and personal inputs, for their elite athletes.

Using a proprietary process to collect race simulation data from Team New Balance runners, the Sports Research Lab then applies advanced algorithms to translate this information into an optimized design that can be additively manufactured on an EOSINT P 395 system—plastic laser-sintering technology from EOS that allows designers to produce, or “grow,” complex geometries that can’t be created using traditional manufacturing techniques.

“There are so many great things that came out of this process, compared to the methods we used in the past to develop and manufacture products,” says Sean Murphy, senior manager of innovation and engineering at New Balance. “This is a totally unique situation where we come away with the runner’s data, generate multiple plates we feel will meet their needs, and actually provide several pairs of track spikes for them to try simultaneously. It’s great to be able to have them identify and respond to each different variation that we produce.”

New Balance Sports Research Lab individually customized spike plates and additively manufactured them using a plastic laser-sintering system from EOS. Side view of the spike plate attached to the bottom of a track spike.
New Balance Sports Research Lab individually customized spike plates and additively manufactured them using a plastic laser-sintering system from EOS. Side view of the spike plate attached to the bottom of a track spike.

Customized Design with the Runner in Mind

Long before the spike plates are additively manufactured, or even designed, New Balance’s Sports Research Lab collects each runner’s biomechanical data using a force plate, in-shoe sensors, and a motion-capture system worn by the runner. The motion-capture system helps determine the relationship of the foot to the force plate, creating a three-dimensional vector recreation of the foot strike (i.e. the impact of each stride).

The in-shoe sensors show discrete pressure information over the course of the runner’s foot strike and how the runner’s foot interacts with the shoe. When a particular part of the foot exhibits high pressure values, it generally indicates that the associated 3D vector is important to that area of the shoe at that specific moment in time.

“We establish a relationship between these high pressures and the corresponding forces to help us create a map of forces relevant to each area of the foot,” says Murphy. “A simple example is in the toe area. Generally, when you see high pressure there, it corresponds to a force that is pushing toward the heel to create a propulsive force forward. We use parametric modeling software to process this data and distribute the position of the spike plate traction elements, calculate the orientation and adjust the size of the elements, and incorporate specific runner preferences into the design.”

The designer is then responsible for performing the CAD “cleanup” necessary to create the final product, including touching up model surfaces and making adjustments to accommodate the full-size range of the spike plate. Once the final geometry has been verified, the CAD files are converted to .stl files and uploaded to the EOSINT P 395 system for layer-by-layer manufacturing.

Spike plate customized for New Balance runner Jack Bolas, including his name (seen on the outer edge of the plate toward the heel).
Spike plate customized for New Balance runner Jack Bolas, including his name (seen on the outer edge
of the plate toward the heel).

Side-lining Traditional Techniques

Track-shoe spike plates have three general characteristics that can vary depending on the length of the race the athlete is competing in and their preferences: The fit, stiffness, and design of the plate all impact the comfort and performance of the runner. Typically, each spike-plate style requires several injection molds for various sizes, all costing thousands of dollars. These molds will run thousands of plates before being retired or replaced, often annually, by a new mold indicating a new model. Currently, the laser-sintered batch sizes produce around four unique plate pairs and take five to six hours to manufacture.

“By laser sintering our customized spike plates we can manufacture on demand, fluidly adjust our process to accommodate different sizes and widths, and update designs without the continuing capital investment required by injection molding,” says Katherine Petrecca, business manager of New Balance Studio Innovation. “The incorporation of the laser-sintered spike plate also allows us to realize a five-percent weight reduction compared to traditionally manufactured versions.” For a competitive runner, the smallest change in weight can make a significant difference.

The development and production of the custom 3D printed spike plates isn’t the only thing that separates these shoes from their off-the-shelf counterparts. While traditional track spikes are commonly made of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) and polyether block amide (PEBA), New Balance worked with high-performance materials manufacturer Advanced Laser Materials, part of the EOS family, to develop a proprietary nylon blend.

“We decided to collaborate with ALM on this project because they had experience developing the type of material we were looking for,” says Murphy. “We had worked with them on a previous prototyping project and the variety of materials, as well as knowledge, that they offered made them the perfect partner.”

The spike plates are “grown” in the EOS system from the custom-blend nylon powder, coupled with tailored laser conditions, and yield maximum engineering properties such as tensile and flex moduli, while minimizing build time. Post production includes standard processing techniques such as bead blasting (the process of removing surface deposits by applying fine beads at a high pressure without damaging the surface), after which the plates are processed through a proprietary system for aesthetic finishing and coloration.

The Proof is in the Personal Records: One Runner’s Story

With all the time and energy put into the research and development process, there is still one important question: Does it make a difference in the performance of the runners who wear such customized spike plates? Kim Conley, a member of Team New Balance and U.S. Olympic runner, thinks so.

After initially coming in to the Sports Research Lab at New Balance for the simulation testing in 2012, Conley first wore her customized spike plates for competition in 2013 at the Mt. SAC Relays and has continued to wear them, especially at such important races as the World Championships.

“My shoes are critical to my performance. They’re the most important piece of equipment I have,” says Conley. “As a professional runner, you obviously want the most effective and comfortable spike plates for competition. For me, these are the ones New Balance designed based on the curve running data their development team had collected. They provide better traction and less pressure on the outside of my foot, which allows me to focus on my race plan and not worry about my spike plates.”

Conley has run personal records (PRs) in both the 3000m (8:44.11) and 5000m (15:08.61) wearing her laser-sintered spike plates. She also wore them at the 2013 World Championships, where she had her best international performance to date.

A Perfect Fit

What does all this mean for the amateur or recreational runner? While runner-specific spike plates are currently only available for Team New Balance athletes, Petrecca says this will eventually change.

“Design-driven additive manufacturing really holds the promise of more on-demand production and more individually customized design,” she says. “These spike plates are the first step we’ve taken with our athletes to prove that out. As the material options expand; as our own proficiency with the technology expands; as capacities for additive manufacturing grow, we believe we will be able to bring 3D-printed products, in some format, to the everyday consumer.”

Runners won’t be the only ones having all the fun. Petrecca notes that there is definitely the opportunity to expand the customization practices developed on the spike-plate project to other sports. However, the repetitive motion of running along the track doesn’t always happen in other athletic events—where participants are required to quickly change direction, pivot, back-pedal, or shuffle side to side—which could present a number of data-collection challenges.

“There is still a significant amount of progress that needs to be made in order to get groundbreaking products like this to the consumer,” says Petrecca, “but seeing these customized plates on the feet of elite athletes is a tangible example of a next generation of products: additively manufactured, performance-customized products that could allow every runner to have a shoe that is uniquely their own.”

Barb Schmitz

SpaceClaim Adds Support for 3D Printing

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It seems nearly hourly a story about 3D printing is hitting the newswires and showing up in blogs, on Twitter or in the mainstream media. The applications of 3D printing are widely varied, from 3D printed chocolates to cars to houses to perfectly fitted prosthetics. It seems that the possibilities for 3D printing are nearly limitless.

My colleague and Design World Managing Editor, Leslie Langnau, has been covering 3D printing from its humble beginnings. In a future issue, she and I will be covering 3D printing, from both the hardware and software sides of the equation.

One of the obstacles for users is how do you use CAD data to print a 3D part, as you can’t simply send the CAD file to the printer. CAD files must be converted to STL files, which in turn can be used by the printer. Problems, however, often rear their ugly heads when any file is converted to another file type.

We’re very interested in hearing how you all are doing this so feel free to comment or send me an email as we prepare on how to tackle this topic.

Facilitating the CAD-3D printing connection

In the latest release of SpaceClaim 2014 SP1, the company is introducing a solution to help with the problems being faced with 3D printing. The STL Prep for 3D Printing module prepares models for 3D printing not only repairs problems, but also modifies STL and CAD files. According to SpaceClaim, this new module also extends SpaceClaim Engineer’s intuitive interface, speed, and ability to work with any major 3D format into the 3D printing world.

The new STL Prep for 3D Printing Module for SpaceClaim 2014 helps repair printing problems and modify STL and CAD files.
The new STL Prep for 3D Printing Module for SpaceClaim 2014 helps repair printing problems and modify STL and CAD files.

SpaceClaim’s director of product management, Justin Hendrickson, was interviewed by Ralph Grabowski, editor of Upfront eZine, on the obstacles faced by users who want to create 3D printed parts using their CAD models.

These problems included:

* STL files have to be watertight (no gaps between surfaces)
* Shapes must be suitable for printing, such as merged assemblies, thickened ribs, and interiors removed
* Models have to be resized to fit the envelop size
* Fixtures added, such as exterior and interior supports
* Model reduced in complexity to reduce the data sent to the printer
* Additional considerations for material, such as shrinkage
* Inability to use 2D drawings or scanned data

To resolve many of these issues, SpaceClaim’s new add-on tools help users prepare CAD models for 3D printing. In today’s multi-CAD design environments, perhaps the most important tool is one that enables users to combine models from a variety of CAD packages. When the source file is a mesh, then the new 3D Print Prep tool cleans it up, removing gaps, holes and intersecting meshes, which makes them watertight.

Hendrickson explains a common scenario in which the software’s modeling tools can help users print something derived from a model, such as a mouth guard derived from a cast of someone’s teeth. The modeling tools can be used to create a generic mouthguard, and then subtract the mesh (of the teeth) from the mouthguard model.

SpaceClaim’s new 3D print prep module also handles these tasks: converts any model to STL or AMF [additive manufacturing format] files; previews the solid to mesh export, with adjustable settings; reduces triangles automatically.

STL Prep for 3D Printing is available as an add-on for SpaceClaim 2014 SP1 for an additional $1,200; Base package for SpaceClaim is $2,445. Find out more about STL Prep for 3D Printing here.

Barb Schmitz

Mark Forg3D’s Mark One: World’s First Carbon Fiber 3D Printer

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Software companies spend a lot of money trying to create excitement at their user conferences, but it was newcomer, Mark Forg3D, that clearly generated the most buzz at this year’s SolidWorks World with the announcement of the upcoming release of its Mark One 3D printer. The Mark One is the first 3D printer to print composite materials. Designed to overcome the strength limitations of other 3D printed materials, users will now be able to print parts, tooling and fixtures with a higher strength-to-weight ratio than 6061-T6 aluminum.

Composite parts are stronger and stiffer than aluminum

The ability to 3D print composite materials is a big deal since the resulting parts are stronger than CNC-machined aluminum, opening up the technology to even more applications. Parts printed in composites are also both stronger and stiffer than the more common 3D printing material, plastic; 20 times stiffer and five times stronger, to be exact.

Designed to be aesthetically pleasing, the Mark One 3D printer can print in carbon fiber, fiberglass, nylon and PLA.
Designed to be aesthetically pleasing, the Mark One 3D printer can print in carbon fiber, fiberglass, nylon and PLA.

Eye-pleasing design

The brain behind the product belongs to Greg Mark, an MIT graduate, who got the idea for the Mark One after a stint in the aerospace industry. One of the things that struck me when seeing the system for the first time was how pretty it was. Yes, I said pretty.

Mark says this is no accident. “We wanted it to look cool,” says Mark. The first version was “clunky” so his team consulted with industrial engineers to make the system aesthetically pleasing, patterning it after Apple products. The rationale: make it attractive since it will likely be sitting right in the engineers’ workspaces.

System offers users choice of materials

The Mark One offers users a choice of materials: carbon fiber, fiberglass, nylon and PLA. The system also improves bed leveling with the addition of kinematic coupling. The bed clicks into the same place every time, saving users significant time.

The unit will sell for $5,000. Though an exact ship date has not been announced, the company is taking preorders on its web site.

Giant sculpture created in 3D CAD

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Whether they need a reminder that they’re late or welcome a distraction from the hassle of modern travel, visitors to Sacramento’s International Airport will not miss Denver-based artist Lawrence Argent’s Leap sculpture. Completed recently in the new Corgan Associates-designed Terminal B, the 56-foot-long red rabbit is suspended mid-jump in the building’s three-story central atrium. An oversize “vortical suitcase” placed in the baggage claim below completes the piece. Argent worked with California-based Kreysler & Associates, a specialist in the design, engineering, and fabrication of large-scale sculptural and architectural objects, to build his vision while meeting the airport’s safety requirements.

The team originally planned to build the sculpture with glass fiber composite, but fire codes would have required additional engineering studies to prove it was flame retardant. Additionally, the building was going to be largely enclosed by the time the sculpture was ready for installation, making it impossible to bring the sculpture, which is 14-ft wide and more than 16-ft high, into the building in one piece.

Argent had designed the sculpture as a form composed of hundreds of flat triangles. “The piece lent itself to aluminum as long as we could figure out how to fabricate the pieces,” said Bill Kreysler, who founded the fabrication company in 1982. Working with Argent’s digital renderings, Kreysler’s team translated the design into Rhino software, creating what he calls a semi-monocoque structure with a double-skin of thin aluminum on a thin-ribbed interior aluminum frame. The decorative surface is composed of 1,446 CNC-cut triangles with side dimensions ranging from one in. to three ft. Etched with a numbering system, the triangles were placed using laser-projected grid lines.

“I think that one of the things that is often overlooked in this digital fabrication world is that there’s a sense that because computers are controlling the process, the human element is reduced, but in many ways it’s increased,” said Kreysler, who limited the number of people working on the piece to ensure consistency.

The rabbit’s interior structure was assembled into 14 pieces of varying diameters in the shop, then transported to the airport for assembly. The exterior aluminum triangles are textured with crushed glass to create a velvet-matte surface and float 1½ in. above the interior shell with aluminum standoffs.

Even in the light-filled atrium space the sculpture’s suspension system appears minimal. The concentrated loads coming from seven custom wire rope suspension cables with swage fittings are received by the rabbit’s internal steel armature. Aluminum transverse members then distribute these loads from the steel armature to the monocoque aluminum shell.

Unveiled on October 6, 2011, the new $1.3 billion airport addition is the largest construction project in Sacramento’s history. The rabbit is the centerpiece of the 14 art installations—more than $6 million worth—commissioned by the city’s Metropolitan Arts Commission and planned for completion in the coming years.

Rhino

www.rhino3d.com

Rapidform Updates 3D Scan Data Processing Tool

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rapidform logoINUS Technology, Inc., a world leader in 3D scanning software, announced the latest release of its turn-key Software Development Kit (SDK) for 3D scanning application development. The updated version of Rapidform.dll™ helps you rapidly deploy industry-proven point, mesh and surfacing functions into your software products with minimal effort.

This latest version focuses on making mesh operations easier and more powerful. The SDK now includes Rapidform’s advanced rewrap, adaptive remeshing and curvature flow improvement algorithms, making mesh optimization easier.

INUS Technology has spent more than a decade creating and refining point cloud and mesh processing tools to deliver great results from any type of 3D scanner. With Rapidform.dll, third party developers can take advantage of this expertise and integrate the technology into their own apps.

New features in the SDK include:

• Mesh topology improvement tools

• Mesh editing capabilities, such as mesh Boolean operations and mesh cutting

• Advanced triangle normal repair (to fix common issues with mesh direction)

• User interface APIs for large point cloud and mesh display and selection tools

In addition to the extensive point cloud, mesh and NURBS surface capabilities found in Rapidform.dll, there is also a set of APIs for dental and prosthodontic design from 3D scan data. Developers can create custom dental CAD programs that enable prosthesis design specific to each patient.

Rapidform.dll Dental is a superset of the standard SDK that makes developing custom applications for coping, pontic, crown, bridge and custom abutment design fast and easy.

INUS Technology Inc.

www.rapidform.com

 

Source: :: Make Parts Fast ::

Faster 3D Optical Coordinate Measuring System

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Creaform introduced the latest addition to the wide range of technologies it develops and manufactures, the MaxSHOT 3D optical coordinate measuring system.

1120 MaxSHOT3D Product Hand High 300x199

The MaxSHOT 3D adds the accuracy and speed of photogrammetry to the range of applications already possible with Creaform technologies, especially when it comes to larger parts. It combines the MaxSHOT 3D photogrammetric video camera and the VXshot processing software.

According to product director Jean-François Larue, the software is innovative and simple to operate. The system features real-time visualization and validation of acquired data and an entirely guided step-by-step operation, it allows even those new to photogrammetry to quickly and easily generate a high accuracy positioning model of an object.”

In concrete terms, using the MaxSHOT 3D with a Handyscan 3D self-positioning scanner, a MetraSCAN optical CMM 3D scanner or a HandyPROBE arm-free CMM translates into shorter measuring time on larger parts, accelerated positioning of the device around the part and higher measurement accuracy.

Creaform
www.creaform3d.com

 

Source: :: Make Parts Fast ::

New scanner for small part 3D scanning

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threeRivers 3D, Inc., a manufacturer of standard and custom 3D imaging systems, introduced the LC-2-MACRO. This scanner was developed for 3D scanning small parts such as dental molds, hearing aid impressions, jewelry and other highly detailed parts.

lc 2 macro dental s

“The addition of this scanner to our product line provides our customers with even more flexibility,” commented threeRivers 3D President & CEO Mike Formica. “It was developed in direct response to their request for an affordable 3D scanner specifically engineered for small parts scanning.”

It has a working volume of 4 in. x 3 in. x 3 in. and a point spacing of 80 µm, enabling it to capture very fine details. Sharing the same state-of-the-art high-speed architecture as the LC-2, the –MACRO version has a scan time of 5 seconds for a single view, a resolution of 1.2 million points and includes an automated rotary turntable for fast, easy 360 degree scanning.

penny s

Actual scan of a penny with the LC-2-MACRO scanner

 

An Ethernet interface makes the scanner simple to setup and configure and provides fast, reliable data transfer. It weighs less than 5 lb, and easily fits on a desktop or can be integrated into a process line; its light weight, small form factor and tripod mount make it suitable for remote scanning jobs.

threeRivers 3D, Inc.
www.3rivers3d.com

 

Source: :: Make Parts Fast ::

Stratasys announces eighth annual extreme redesign challenge by Dimension 3D Printing

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stratasys logo 701Stratasys Inc. (NASDAQ: SSYS) announced the launch of its Dimension brand’s eighth annual Extreme Redesign 3D Printing Challenge. The global contest encourages students to submit an innovative new product design, a redesign of an existing product, or an original or redesigned work of art or architecture.

Educators worldwide have recognized the annual design and 3D printing contest for its positive impact on students. “Students have the opportunity to put their critical thinking skills to the test, as well as to demonstrate their creativity with this design contest,” said Jesse Roitenberg, Stratasys Education Channel Manager. “Each year they demonstrate they are up to the challenge, with the unique submissions we receive.”

Dimension 3D Printing will award nine student winners either $2,500 or $1,000 scholarships in the categories of Middle School and High School Engineering, College Engineering, and Art & Architecture. Designs are awarded based on creativity, usefulness, part integrity and aesthetics. Instructors of the three first-place student winners will receive an Apple iPad for use in the classroom. Since the contest’s inception, more than $90,000 in scholarships have been awarded to students.

Each submission must:

• be a sound mechanical design

• be realistic and achievable

• include a clear written description of the design.

This year’s contest will also feature an award category in which students may compete for a bonus prize. Students who incorporate a school-spirit theme into their designs will have a chance to win a $250 gift card.

For video, photos, and descriptions of previous winning designs, visit Extreme Redesign 3D Printing Challenge. For contest rules and regulations, visit ER Rules & Regulations.

Dimension
www.dimensionprinting.com

Stratasys, Inc.
www.stratasys.com

Source: :: Make Parts Fast ::