Origin
Henkel-medical-grade-silicone-part-produced-on-the-Origin-platform
Henkel medical grade silicone part produced on the Origin platform.
Origin, the Silicon Valley-based additive manufacturing vendor launched last year, has announced that Henkel has joined its Open Material Network.
Henkel, a chemical company active in the 3D printing space for more than two years now, is already actively developing materials for Origin’s modular hardware system, after the companies signed a Memorandum of Understanding to combine their expertise.
The partners are working together to develop a range of materials that facilitate additive manufacturing at volume throughout a variety of industrial sectors, like automotive and medical. Origin says it has already worked closely with Henkel to validate and test several materials to Henkel’s protocols based upon ISO-10993 biocompatibility standards. These materials are developed from Henkel’s FDA-approved biocompatible resin, though the approval of the resin after additive processing is still impending. The proposed applications for these materials range from surgery tools to pre-surgical models to hearing aids. The sample part pictured above was additively manufactured according to ISO-10993 biocompatibility standards, using a medical-grade silicone material, which is said to boast flexibility and mechanical strength.
Read TCT's interview with Origin CEO Chris Prucha from the day of the company's launch here.
Henkel has become the second Open Material Network partner of Origin, after BASF, and will work with Origin to co-develop materials for the company's programmable photopolymerisation technology (P3). The aim is to have a sizeable impact on the manufacturing market, enabling 'additive mass production'.
“We are eager to give customers even more material options in a diverse range of portfolio materials that can take advantage of our P3 process such as silicones, epoxies, and polyurethanes,” commented Chris Prucha, co-founder and CEO of Origin. “We believe our open network approach with Henkel and other strategic partners will fundamentally reshape manufacturing and global supply chains and we look forward to unveiling world-class and industry-defining projects in development with Henkel in the coming months.”
“We’re excited about Origin’s open approach and the potential for its platform to accelerate the introduction of new materials that surpass anything available on the market today,” added Philipp Loosen, Head of 3D Printing at Henkel.
Henkel will be showcasing sample parts produced with materials developed with Origin at MD&M West between February 5-7 on Booth #2919. Meanwhile, Origin has an announcement on verticals and collaboration scheduled for the RAPID + TCT show in May, and has also announced the appointment of Bill Buel to VP of Hardware Engineering. Buel has prior industry experience with MakerBot, where he worked as Director of Engineering between 2012 and 2014.
