Tests on new designs for next-generation solar cells can now be done in hours instead of days thanks to a new system incorporating 3D-printed key components.

An important new trend is buying electrics and electronics you customise to function not just shape. See the new IDTechEx report, "Complete Electronics as Smart Material, User-Customized 2020-2040". Builders, textile manufacturers, those doing home improvement and others are starting to buy electrically-smart materials direct from materials companies, bypassing the electronics industry.

Researchers are refining their design of a 3D-printed nuclear reactor core, scaling up the additive manufacturing process necessary to build it, and developing methods to confirm the consistency and reliability of its printed components.

By implementing high precision 3D scanning and robotic based fabrication technology, Emerald-Ash-Borer-infested "waste wood" is transformed into an abundantly available, affordable, and sustainable building material.

Elementum 3D announced that it has achieved ISO 9001:2015 certification for quality management.

It's a frustrating limitation of 3D printing: Printed objects must be smaller than the machine making them. Huge machines are impractical for printing large parts because they take up too much space and require excessive time to print. Now, a new material can be used to 3D print small objects that expand upon heating. The foam could find applications in architecture, aerospace and biomedicine.

Selective LED-based melting is the name of the new technology that a team has developed for 3D metal printing and has now applied for a patent. The technology is similar to selective laser melting and electron beam melting, in which metal powder is melted by means of a laser or electron beam and built up into a component layer by layer.

Nano Dimension Ltd and REHAU succeeded in printing a 3D touch sensor. With the 3D electronic device, the premium polymer products from REHAU can be transformed into back-lit human-machine-interface surfaces.

Engineers have created a highly effective way to paint complex 3D-printed objects, such as lightweight frames for aircraft and biomedical stents, that could save manufacturers time and money and provide new opportunities to create "smart skins" for printed parts.

Conventional concrete manufacturing methods require a mold to shape the concrete into the desired structure, which adds to costs and limits design possibilities. 3D-printing would eliminate the expenses of this mold.

Engineers have developed a faster, simpler 3D-printing technique to build electronics, trimming their manufacturing time from hours down to a few minutes. The method can be used to print electronics into complex shapes in volumes that could be used for antenna arrays, prosthetics, sensors and robots.

Free open source hardware and 3D printing could help to alleviate the burden of Covid-19 on global health systems, according to scientists.

VELO3D has raised $28 million in a Series D funding round. New investors Piva and TNSC joined the round, along with existing investors Bessemer Investment Partners, Playground, and Khosla Ventures. This brings VELO3D's total funding to $138 million.

Health care is poised for a potential giant leap forward thanks to the 3D printing of medications. To advance the technology and science of 3D pharmaceutical printing, Purdue University's College of Pharmacy and Aprecia Pharmaceuticals, LLC are launching a comprehensive collaboration on future 3DP pharmaceutical equipment and medications.

A research team has developed NeuroPod, an automaton that simulates the activity of a six-legged insect. The model, which walks, trots and runs, uses efficient and cost effective materials. It could therefore pave the way for the creation of prostheses or structures for the rehabilitation of spinal cord injuries at a reduced cost compared with those currently in use.

Titomic has been certified a Research Service Provider by Innovation and Science Australia, the statutory body that advises the Australian Government on innovation, research and science issues. The first additive manufacturer to get Research Service Provider status, it will allow Titomic to provide scientific or technical expertise and resources to perform research and development work for other companies.

Many people are familiar with the idea of using a 3D printer to create plastic items, but fewer realize that you can use a 3D printer to create synthetic rock samples. Such 3D-printed rock samples help physicists and engineers study rocks, as they help keep the variables of the experiment controlled.

Researchers have architecturally designed plate-nanolattices - nanometer-sized carbon structures - that are stronger than diamonds as a ratio of strength to density.

The adoption of metal additive manufacturing is progressing in numerous sectors, with notable use-cases and success stories appearing. The next-generation Sapphire® machine from VELO3D will print up to 1 meter in height, making it the world's tallest laser-powder additive manufacturing system