Editorials / Opinions

The development of additive manufacturing has closely tracked broader trends in industrial digitalization. Additive manufacturing is digital at its point of origin. Geometry, process parameters, and machine instructions are all…

Apple’s Apple Watch implementation is a shining example of additive manufacturing at scale. Apple now makes two watch cases and a port using additive. Now Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has stated that,…

We’re once again in the lovely city of Berlin, at the absolutely immense Estrel Center. The congress center, a musical and theater venue, towers over the easternmost reaches of the…

As additive manufacturing moved beyond prototyping, its first sustained production relevance emerged in applications where performance considerations outweighed cost efficiency and throughput. The driving factor in these cases was not…

Nikon Corporation has invested in Vast Space through its NFocus Fund. Vast wants to build space stations and is led by Max Haot, who previously led 3D printed rocket engine…

Leading service bureau Incodema3D has been bought by AFM Capital. New York-based Incodema3D is one of the largest metal 3D printing services and contract manufacturers in the U.S. Specialized in…

A new generation of more sophisticated desktop 3D printers is revolutionizing the 3D printing market. Bambu, Creality, and Prusa Research have leaped ahead over the past few years. More firms,…

Additive manufacturing (AM) has long relied on a deep well of expertise that is notoriously hard to document. That expertise can be found in the nuances involved in setting up…

Additive manufacturing has been discussed for decades as a technology with the potential to reshape how products are designed and produced. Expectations have often focused on what the technology could…

One of my favorite expressions is “Hurry up and wait,” because it perfectly captures one of my least favorite scenarios to have to live through. You rush to get ready…

For decades, the AM industry has been powered by an exciting narrative of endless growth and disruptive potential. We celebrated every new technology, every injection of capital, and every bold…

When the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences was awarded in 2025 for work explaining innovation-driven economic growth, many readers outside economics likely skimmed past it. Inside manufacturing and technology circles,…

Thingiverse is to be acquired by MyMiniFactory. Ultimaker has sold long-neglected Thingiverse to UK-based MyMiniFactory, which also owns former Ultimaker platform YouMagine, resin/character-driven platform and slicer SoulCrafted, as well as…

Uptool has come out of stealth mode. The company has raised $6 million from prominent investors and hopes to become an indispensable tool for manufacturing. For now uptool is providing…

Nikon SLM Solutions has sold a second NXG 600E to HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding unit. This machine will be used to print in NiAlBr, Nickel Aluminum Bronze. The printer will…

SWISSto12 is on the move. I think that the firm owns one of the most promising and profitable applications for 3D printing, RF components, and it is showing real growth…

Through its short history, Additive Manufacturing has been presented to the investment community as a classic high growth technology story. Manufacturing is a multi-trillion-dollar market. Even a small percentage looks…

Aerospace and defense manufacturing is entering a pivotal era. The demands placed on metal parts have never been higher, driven by rising performance expectations, increasing system complexity, and an operating…

Associate Professor Hang Yu, along with researchers Donnie Erb and Nikhil Gotawala, has used Additive Friction Stir Deposition (AFSD) to make shape-memory ceramics. Published in Materials Science and Engineering R:…

For much of additive manufacturing’s history, progress has been constrained by both printing hardware and geometry — often in different ways and at different stages of adoption. Hardware limitations around…

I’m not saying that I invented this or that I’m the first to try this. For many years, people have been filling the infill patterns of material extrusion prints with…

What if we take a helicopter view of the additive manufacturing market? Beyond silos, technologies, and market segments, what are going to be the most interesting trends, strategies, tactics, technologies,…

The material extrusion market has seen titanic shifts over the past few years. A new bevvy of low-cost 3D printers have turned to software and sensors to make reliable high-speed…

The rise of high-speed, reliable desktop Material Extrusion and Vat Polymerization systems by Creality, Bambu, Elegoo, and Prusa Research, the onward march of Formlabs in Pro LPBF and VP, as…