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Materialise
Materialise's Uk 3D Printing Seminar
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Materialise
Karel Brans on the Streamics package
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Materialise
Renishaw's Stephen Crownshaw keeps a realistic cap on things
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Materialise
Tri-Tech's Tim Smith discusses the capabilities of the new multi-material, multi-colour Connex
On Tuesday, 20th March the Belgian additive manufacturing behemoths Materialise hosted their 3D Printing Seminar in the UK’s Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC). With the likes of Renishaw, Tri-Tech, EOS, Arcam and Concept Laser all in attendance the seminar was designed to show the capabilities of 3D printing today.
The MTC, which recently received a £15.3 million additive manufacturing boost from the UK Government, aims to bridge the gap between the research and manufacturing knowledge that comes from the UK universities and the adoption of such techniques into commercial enterprises. As a company with such intrinsic link to their local university, The KU Leuven, Materialise are perfectly placed as an authority on such a transition.
Luke Ambrose, Software Sales Manager for Materialise’s UK office kicked off proceedings with an introduction about Materialise. During his presentation, he went over the unique Materialise business structure and how it truly excels where 3D printing knowledge, engineering and software overlap. Ambrose emphasised how this knowledge in AM enabled Materialise to create a software platform for the 3D printing industry.
Speaking about the event, Luke said, “Our software platform for 3D printing will cover the whole 3D printing process whilst also providing access to specialist complimentary tools such as FEA, quality control hardware and CRM systems, all from the trusted Materialise software environment.”
Tim Smith, Sales Manager from Tri-Tech followed Luke on stage as he enthused about the new multi-material, multi-colour Objet 500 Connex3 from Stratasys. The machine offers one of the “widest ranges of modeling applications, from concept modeling to design validation and ensures higher optimization and the quickest return on investment.”
Later in the morning, Karel Brans, Materialise’s Strategic Partnerships Manager for the software division, followed in the footsteps of Luke Ambrose’s presentation by going more in-depth about the software competence of Materialise. Karel, who was also presenting at the SLM Solutions User Group, focussed specifically on Streamics automation and control system and how this software helps to streamline production processes, manage all data and resources involved.
Such is Materialise’s pull that the audience was from all walks of life, Daniel Eyers, an attendee and lecturer at Cardiff University came to the seminar to learn more about the software side of 3D Printing and see how Streamics supports a manufacturing environment. When discussing the event, he said, “The seminar was a great opportunity to meet with leading technology providers, industrialists, and academics to discuss the latest developments in 3D Printing. The organization was fantastic, and the venue superb – I was really pleased to attend the event.”
Before finishing off with a tour of the MTC it was up to one of the companies with vast involvement with the centre, Renishaw, to round off the day’s business. Renishaw’s venerable AM Business Development Manager, Stephen Crownshaw was keen to emphasise the potential of 3D printing and the potential it has for so many industries but as usual Stephen wanted to keep a lid on expectations: “The industry still is not at the point of offering ‘the complete package’. The industry is still evolving—that’s the beauty of it.”
