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!