90% of global trade takes place by sea. The North Sea and the Baltic Sea are the most heavily trafficked waters on earth. From this point of view, it is only logical that Mobility goes Additive e.V. also positions itself in the maritime sector.

At the Marilight network meeting, the network of maritime lightweight manufacturers, we were able to present the successful work of our members from the Working Group Approval in Rail and show that Additively Manufactured parts are already being used in safety-relevant areas of train traffic.

This technology transfer is what makes MGA special: After all, shipping still offers great potential for Additive Manufacturing, whether in tooling, spare parts or interior fittings.

To contribute to climate protection, shipping must massively reduce its CO² emissions. The transition to alternative propulsion systems in the offshore sector will be exciting. Hydrogen, ammonia (NH³) and methanol are being traded here as energy sources for fuel cells. Materials in Additive Manufacturing should be prepared for these energy sources and should already be examined regarding their resistance (corrosive or chemo-mechanical stress).

But not only commercial shipping holds potentials for AM, also the navy has already developed applications for Additive Manufacturing processes – as presented by Captain Lieutenant Sascha Hartig M.Sc. at our MGA Annual Meeting last year. But this industry offers much more and is waiting for solutions and innovations.

We are excited to see how the cooperation on and off the water will develop and look forward to the next steps with Marilight and other representatives of the maritime industry.

Photo Copyright: Deutsche Bahn AG / Dominic Dupont & Susanne Tost

What if you’re looking for a network but can’t find one yourself? This is what happened to the Deutsche Bahn in 2016 and thus together with 8 other companies, MGA was founded.

Since then, we have grown to over 150 members and are happy to announce a ground-breaking milestone of a member: DB has reached the mark of 100,000 3D printed spare parts! This achievement marks a significant step in the transformation of maintenance in the rail industry, which Deutsche Bahn is shaping together with NS (Netherlands), SNCF (France), ÖBB (Austria), Trenitalia (Italy), SBB (Switzerland) and Angel Trains (UK) in our RAILiability Working Group.

According to a recent DB press release, the 100,000th 3D-printed part is a gearbox housing for shunting locomotives: With impressive dimensions of almost one cubic metre in volume and a weight of 570 kilograms, it is the largest and heaviest 3D-printed part that the company has ever produced using Additive Manufacturing. The final component was created in close cooperation with voestalpine – and also reflects the great benefits of a network like MGA.

Conventional procurement of the spare part has long delivery times of ten months on average – thanks to the sand mould created using binder jetting, the manufacturing process could be accelerated enormously, so that the component can now be made available within two months. Another advantage of indirect 3D printing with rapid casting: with this procedure, the component remains in its original manufacturing mode, as only the mould for the cast component is printed – this often makes extensive approval processes obsolete and is easy on the wallet.

The gearbox housing of the 29x series is part of DB’s digital warehouse, which is being continuously expanded – another topic that plays a major role in our network. This approach not only saves storage space and costs, but also shortens delivery times and creates independence from supply chains that can be affected by global crises or raw material shortages. It also contributes to sustainability, which is why the full-size gearbox housing can also be admired at the DB booth at the GreenTech Festival in Berlin in June.

The Deutsche Bahn has established itself as a global pioneer in 3D printing for the rail industry. What started in 2015 with simple plastic parts (perhaps one or the other member remembers the famous coat hooks) has now developed into over 100,000 parts for more than 500 different applications. DB is working with our network of users, suppliers, printer vendors, material manufacturers, software providers, consultancies, universities, institutes and more to drive innovation in 3D printing together.

This Deutsche Bahn success story is an impressive example of how innovative technologies can revolutionise industry and increase efficiency. It shows that not every part has to be printed directly – rapid casting offers diverse possibilities to produce even large parts with AM. We are proud that one of our founding members is driving these ground-breaking advances and look forward to a continued successful collaboration in the world of industrial Additive Manufacturing.

Here you find the official press release

The exhibition and award ceremony of the eighth edition of the 3D Pioneers Challenge, the international competition for additive and advanced technologies, was a highlight of Rapid.Tech3D in Erfurt.

The exhibits ranged from large-scale 3D printing of architectural elements to complete e-cars art objects. Visitors could watch a robotic arm print a dress or discover3D printed materials from eggshells to oysters. They could get active themselves and take a closer look at printed electronics on the nanoscale at the microscope and thus experience first-hand what 3D printing makes possible.

The 3D Pioneers Challenge has established itself as one of the most important competitions in the 3D printing industry. Entries from 29 countries and 5 continents were submitted, 43 made it into the exhibition. The finalists and award winners had travelled to Erfurt at the beginning of May from Europe, America, Tunisia, Singapore and Australia. The tension was palpable as the 10 winners were announced on the second day of the fair and the prizes were awarded by jury members and partners of the 3DPC.

The focus of this year’s Challenge was: RESILIENCE. NOW. Advanced Technologies to enable a sustainable tomorrow.

What could be more in line with this topic than the main prize winner in “MedTech” MATTISSE from France? These totally resorbable 3D printed implants allowing a natural, simple and riskfree breast reconstruction after cancer could positively change the lives of millions of women after a cancer diagnosis. The “Sustainability” Award went to the “Material” category with the project “FLAM”, from the University of Singapore. They enable true circular additive manufacturing with bioinspired manufacturing and Fungal-like Adhesive Materials. Other highlights were the “Best Student Project” from the Bauhaus-University of Weimar “Algae” by Lena Vogel, who explored the cultivation of microalgae.

The 3D-printed basketball by Wilson, which caused a sensation beyond the industry, could decide the “Design” category for itself and “Digital” was won by the Italian company EnginSoft with its “3D printed Helices”. The jury was convinced by the potential that these projects can open up for further applications. A project on a much larger scale won in “Architecture”: ETH Zurich with its sustainable robotassisted construction method that implements additive processes in a novel way. Mobile 3D printing was demonstrated by “Armstone” from University College London.

Julius Sustarevas was awarded in “Machinery” for enabling printing in unlimited space with his autonomous robot. Individual, “Inclusive Eyewear for A diverse World” and thus REFRAMD was able to win the “FashionTech” category. With their vision to revolutionise the electronics industry by democratising electronics manufacturing, the Australian team from Syenta won the prize in “Electronics”. The joint project of ETH Zurich, inspire AG and Siemens rethinks the electric motor with its hybrid AM housing in the vertical “Mobility” and takes an important step towards sustainability
in the automotive industry by increasing performance. In total, prizes worth over 185,000 euros were awarded. These included software licences
from nTopology and 3YOURMIND, a coaching for the “Best Start-Up” by AM Ventures, and 3D printers from Ultimaker, Asiga and Makerbot. Partner Autodesk awarded 3 Special Mention. The prize money of 35,000 euros was provided by the Thuringian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Science and Digital Society.

At the Rapid.Tech 3D gala event on 10 May at the Zentralheize Erfurt, the prize winners were honoured in this festive occasion by Minister for Ecomonic Wolfgang Tiefensee and CEO of Messe Erfurt Michael Kynast: “The 3D Pioneers Challenge has become an integral and impressive part of our Rapid.Tech 3D and also a real enrichment. In the eighth year we are again delighted to be able to show the forward-looking developments as part of the finalists’ exhibition.” Networking evenings like these reflect the spirit of Rapid.Tech 3D and 3D Pioneers Challenge, bringing together innovative minds and initiating new collaborations. The award ceremony and exhibition of the 3D Pioneers Challenge was an impressive event that once again showed the potential of 3D printing and how innovative the industry is.

It was impressive to see how the pioneers and innovators are resiliently shaping a sustainable tomorrow.

What is the best way to learn about and fully understand Additive Manufacturing? And what is the most fun way at the same time? For us, it is being up close with the machines and watching how physical objects are created out of thin air. Luckily, among our members there are numerous printer manufacturers who can make this possible.

The promotion of young talents and the early introduction of 3D printing to the experts of tomorrow is a matter close to our hearts. For this reason, we welcomed 3 student interns again this year, whom we accompanied into the world of Additive Manufacturing. The three boys from a local school spend two weeks with us and gained an insight into CAD programs, 3D printers and the daily business of our network office.

This time we also received active support from 2 member companies to further educate our three students:

At BigRep we got an insight into the world of large-scale 3D printing. The possibilities and use cases include prototyping, tooling, furniture concrete molds as well as design objects. During our visit, we were also able to see use cases ranging from sinks to design studies for new Airbus seats to transport safety locks for helicopter rotors. A big thank you to Nico Wachshofer, Marco Backenhaus, Christine Degner and Peter Drimal for welcoming us on site and getting the three students a little more excited about Additive Manufacturing.

At Formlabs, we first had a guided tour of the premises before we gained hands-on experience in the company’s own printing farm. We experienced and carried out the entire printing process ourselves, from pre- to post-processing, on both, the resin and the powder printers. Another highlight of our visit was, that everyone could pick his favorite exhibits to bring them home.

Once again, we would like to thank BigRep GmbH and Formlabs GmbH for welcoming us and our 3 young guests and for making it possible to experience the printing technologies up close! This is the only way we can inspire the next generations for our industry and educate Additive Natives.

We are already looking forward to welcoming the next interns in the summer of 2024 – if you would like to welcome the students to your company for a field trip or if your children would like to drop in for an internship themselves, please get in touch!

The production of lightweight components reduces the need for resources. By using additive manufacturing, complex designs and structures can also be realized, which are in high demand in lightweight construction. In combination with targeted material selection, additive manufacturing helps to produce lightweight structures that can also be manufactured and used in a resource-efficient and material-saving manner.

In the new round of tenders for the TTP Lightweight Construction, it was possible to add material and resource efficiency to the funding conditions thanks to MGA. Stefanie Brickwede has actively brought the topic into the This means that projects that focus on the development of materials and technologies to reduce resource consumption and CO2 emissions and optimize production processes will now also be supported. By Mr. Werner Loscheider, Head of Unit IVB4 “Construction Industry, Resource Efficiency” in the BMWK already showed at the annual meeting of the working group Materials to the Annual Meeting 2022, on 12.10.2022, the problematic issues of resource efficiency, material shortages and breaking supply chains, which companies face ever greater challenges.

The TTP LB will be increased to 129 million euros annually starting in 2024. The funding guidelines for the program are currently being revised and will be published in the coming months. Further information can be found in the TTP LB newsletter and will be published by the BMWI in the coming weeks.

More information can be found here: https://www.bmwk.de/Redaktion/DE/Artikel/Technologie/technologietransfer-programm-leichtbau.html

There are not a lot of AM-industry events that start as early as Sunday while lasting until Thursday and that at the same time require flying for half a day (if you are based in Europe). Despite these maybe unfavorable circumstances, we set out for AMUG for the first time after the COVID-19 restrictions were lifted. Why leave Europe? Because of the goal of the AMUG: To connect users and concrete approaches of AM to solutions. In other words, the same goal that our network is pursuing! While our focus is on Europe, AMUG’s is on the United States. The willingness of all participants to inspire and live change is what makes largest AM conference in America so unique.

And there are A LOT of participants: To keep the sheer volume of people from overwhelming you, attendees are purposefully mixed and seated by lottery at lunch alongside other attendees. The guests bring new technologies and materials to the market, expand our network, or strengthen the user perspective in the industry. From AM to PM, the Hilton-Hotel Chicago buzzes with conversations like a beehive. The evening events also contribute to getting to know each other – some evenings have specific themes or, as this year, take place in the specially rented museum for Science and History.

During the day, you can pick out fascinating presentations on the latest technologies, trends, and applications from numerous tracks, or learn something about AMUG’s sponsors.

For our network, Stefanie Brickwede, together with Ole von Seelen from Trinckle, was able to present applications in the railroad sector and associated production aids. This attracted great interest, especially since the railroad sector in the United States is still relatively niche.

What are other trends that we observed abroad?

• Cybersecurity, certainly also driven by the many participants from the American Army,
• New metal technologies aimed towards large volume printing (MELD), for example for the chassis of tanks,
• metal technologies aimed towards more cost-effective manufacturing methods (headmade materials),
• concrete printing is everywhere (presentations and a fantastic workshop with hands-on approach)

A very good general overview was, again, given this year by Stefan Ritt about current trends and tendencies. Directly Observable: India is just increasingly entering the world stage for additive manufacturing!

And the previously announced on social media printed basketball from eos and Wilson made an appearance: If you wondered how the relatively high weight of a basketball was achieved, you could have a look at it on site. The Solution: it was printed with double walls and bounced amazingly well.

We will try to get the most exciting presentations to our Annual Meeting.

Next year we will be there again. We wouldn’t want to miss this exchange!

 

Imagine being given a use case and you and your team have two days to come up with a unique product design, business case and marketing strategy for that specific use case utilizing the benefits of AM – and of course you must pitch your product in front of industry experts at the end of your deadline.

This is what the nine student teams from all over Germany at the MGA – VDI Students Competition, an international and interdisciplinary competition on 3D printing for students on all aspects of additive manufacturing and digitization, were confronted with on Friday morning, April 21, and we have to say they all rose to the challenge.

Volocopter GmbH provided the use case – a landing pod for a cargo logistic drone that is, among other boundary conditions, capable of carrying a load of 2 tons and able to adjust to different terrains. And of course, your team has a very limited budget.

Congratulations to Alexander Meyer, Timo Brandes & Kim Jürgensen from the Hochschule Hannover team who won the first place with their product FIREFLY: a landing pod system used in areas prone to wildfires designed to support firefighters. Their solution was amazingly well developed – not just given the unfavourable circumstances – and their corresponding documentation was well organized and structured.

Second winners were the AERODDICTIVE team from the HAW Hamburg (Kristina Brand, Dennis Beck, Moharam Abdelrahman, Sofien Setti, Florian Fuchs, Finn Hörstel, Cedric Foth, Beyza Nur Algan) and third came the MTPY Engineering team from the Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg Lörrach (Paul Spöri, Tobias Seiler, Yannick Reinholz, Matteo Mutz, Maximilian Kromen)

Thanks to all other participating teams, who did amazing work and who we all hope to see again next year:

• VDI Young Engineers II from multiple universities (Pascal Arras, Christian Hartmann, Arpad Horvath, Tessa-Katharina Hoyer, Alexander Eckervogt)
• SÜDSLICERS from the Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg Lörrach (Leon Essenburg, Nils Schnurr, Quentin Günter, Jan Weber, Hannes Krietemeyer)
• Öcher Printen from FH Aachen (Jens Kesper, Luise Kleinerüschkamp, Maximilan Tinio Leon Schulz, Moritz Köhler)
• The Accidental Engineers from the SRH Berlin (Chintan Joshi, Saikumar Balineni, Aditya Kolhe, Valentina Mugno, Sarvesh Naik)
• Visionary Concepts from the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences (Nadim Miakhil, Nicole Eichner, Leon Crecelius, Philipp Metz, Matthias Stamm)
• VDI Young Engineers I from multiple universities (Sebastian Bongartz, Berke Farhat, Magnus Lühr, Jan Nicklas Becker, Florian Wabnitz)

Given the limited time the students had, we were all impressed with the results that the teams presented on Sunday at the end of the competition. Thanks to our jury members Marc Fette, Jan Evers, Jens Holtmannspötter, Pranav Nagarajan, Linus Tillmann and Jan Grasmannsdorf for not just ranking but also mentoring and supporting the teams.

Thanks to our sponsors and supporters Airbus, Altair, Autodesk, Copteruni GmbH, Composite Technology Center / CTC GmbH (An Airbus Company), Volocopter GmbH, Helmut-Schmidt-Universität/Universität der Bundeswehr Hamburg, AM Forum Berlin and Deutsche Bahn without which the competition would not be possible.

If you would like to support the competition or participate in it, please contact us – we are looking forward to an even bigger event next year!