Recently, I had the opportunity to join the Altair team for the first in a global series of conferences entitled solidThinking CONVERGE. With a focus on “exploring the intersection of design and technology,” the event was more than just a user conference and included keynote speakers ranging from Ralph Gilles, the head of design at Fiat Chrysler, to Terry Wohlers, the author of one of the leading market reports on 3D printing.

Big players such as EOS were on board, so you can imagine that the two-day event was ripe with designs and concepts that were only possible thanks to developments in 3D printing.





Wohlers: The Increasing Prevalence of Industrial 3D Printers

The annual report that bears Wohlers' name has long been accepted as the leading analysis of the 3D printing market. Avid readers will remember his 2016 issue, reviewed on ENGINEERING.com. While Wohlers spoke about some of these statistics at the event, he also shared some additional details.

One of the stats that jumped out at me was first that the number of industrial-grade printer manufacturers has doubled since 2011. Even so, Wohlers claims that there were still fewer than 12,000 industrial 3D printers sold in 2015.

To put that into perspective, roughly 90,000 injection molding machines are sold every year. Wohlers classifies “industrial” as anything with a price tag greater than $5,000 and noted that the average selling price of such devices is around $100,000.

Wohlers on stage at solidThinking CONVERGE, sharing details on the prevalence of 3D printers in the market.

Those industrial numbers are in contrast to the devices for the “desktop market,” which Wohlers states are marketed for less than$5,000, though they bear an average selling price of around $1,000. Anecdotally, Wohlers claimed that there “may be more than 1,000 manufacturers in China alone” for these machines.

With nearly 280,000 units sold annually, it is unlikely that most of these manufacturers will stick around—so expect future Wohlers reports to include a list of 3Dprinting OEMs that have shuttered their doors.

Wohlers also shared some excitement for Mattel's new push into the consumer 3Dprinting market with its pending release of the $300 Thingmaker, but pointed out that we have not heard much from Mattel since it first showcased the product in February at New York Toy Fair.

The other major highlight of Wohlers' talk was some details around the new HP Jet Fusion. Claiming a 10x improvement in printing speed, the printing giant’s newest machine is designed to make short-run additive manufacturing more viable for production. With new standardization of file types, thanks to the 3MF consortium, the ability to layer in color, decals and various other designs will unlock even more potential for designers and innovators.

Even with all of these great developments, Wohlers noted there is still a lot of “tribal knowledge” to 3D printing. This insight proved accurate; the rest of the speakers highlighted their own unique workflows that were anything but ordinary.





3D Printing in a Manufacturing World

One of the major focuses of the talks was the new opportunity introduced by both production methods and design methods when it comes to 3D printing. The solidThinking teams, especially those working with topology optimization tools such as Inspire, can create some amazing designs—but production with real materials is entirely different than a simulation. A few of those designs were on display in the partner area where the 500 registrants mingled in between sessions.

Topology-optimized parts designed using solidThinking Inspire and prototyped with additive manufacturing techniques.





The Importance of Creative Thinking

Traditional manufacturing techniques, specifically molding and machining, are limited in terms of the designs they can produce, but additive manufacturing has opened up the geometries available for production.

In his keynote, Wohlers was quick to point out that we are still early in unlocking the potential of these production techniques, stating that “Design software and tools are key know-how in expanding the technology.”

For Altair’s part, it too views itself as more than just a simulation company. Jim Scapa, founder and CEO of the company, kicked off the event by reminding the audience that his employees were not just scientists and engineers but also artists and creative thinkers.

This is one of the reasons why the CONVERGE conference was focused so heavily on additive manufacturing. Nearly every speaker at the two-day event showed a product that could only be created using current additive manufacturing.





Are You Not Entertained?

A design and technology conference in southern California would not be complete without a look at the entertainment industry. The Altair team was able to convince Jason Lopes of Legacy Effects to share some of the work his firm has done on blockbusters, including Iron Man, Avatar and Robocop (along with a slew of others).

Lopes' firm uses a number of rapid prototyping techniques, including two Carbon3D machines, and pointed out that none of the company's machines are stock. As tinkerers and designers, his team starts breaking down and improving new machines as soon as the installation technician leaves.

Why 3D printing for films? One of Lopes' biggest complaints is the classic concern of moving too slowly. For Lopes, the ability to scan new data in the morning and be working on a model by the afternoon preempts the need to outsource much of the work because it takes that long just to get an outsider on the phone.

Automated quoting and output tools, where you can upload a file and have it quoted and printed without needing to speak to someone, will help in this regard but still that requires significant knowledge of the process to ensure there are no failures in the design.

Legacy Effects uses 3D printing as one of a number of processes in creating effects for Hollywood blockbusters.





Putting 3D Printing in Space

The requirements for printing in micro-gravity and the need for materials that can withstand the stresses of space travel are just a few considerations for Raul Polit-Casillas of JPL. The use of additive manufacturing at JPL spans everything from reducing the weight of ship components to developing new metal “fabrics” that can be used on space suits.

I came away from Polit-Casillas' presentation with the impression that there was a lot more going on behind the scenes at JPL, but the main takeaway for me was that printing in micro-gravity (at least some varieties) is not that difficult because “A laser puts pressure that actually seals materials together.”





The Future of Additive Manufacturing

Figure 1. EOS’Future of Additive Manufacturing designs show why design optimization tools will be so important.

Experts in polymer and metal. That's how EOS' Director of Global Application and Consulting, Gungor Kara, introduced his firm. The claim was backed up when he also shared some hard numbers, noting that at EOS “We sell more systems in metals than all of our competitors combined.” With such a lead in the metal printing space, EOS is also now focusing on empowering users to unlock the potential of their machines.

Kara’s presentation highlighted optimization techniques and it was easy to see the logic behind the partnership with solidThinking. Simply look at the lattice structures in Figure 1 that make up potential car bodies and support beams. Imagine trying to model or design that by hand! There is no way this design could be efficiently done without the help of some serious mathematical modeling. It is this sort of optimization technique that will require a network of experts in various fields.

As CEO of Morf3D, a service-provided and engineering consulting firm, Ivan Madera focuses on five major issues for companies trying to use additive manufacturing. For his customer base, primarily the big industries such as aerospace and medical,these issues boil down to:

Design for additive expertise

Fragmented value chain

Little client collaboration

Variability in build quality

Lack of repeatability

Morf3D's mission is to position itself as an expert in additive manufacturing to help ensure that major players do not invest in the wrong areas. Madera's job, it seems, is to ensure that everyone maintains a focus on the bottom line and what is achievable rather than getting lost in the sci-fi futuristic opportunities of additive manufacturing. With so much happening in the space, it is sometimes hard to know which is which.

Gilles speaking at the solidThinking CONVERGE conference in Los Angeles.

Nearly every presenter at the two-day conference weaved additive manufacturing into his or her talk. From Ralph Gilles, head of design for Fiat Chrysler, using it to get a feel for a new headlight, to Eric Long, associate director of architecture firm Skidmore Owings and Merrill, who uses it to produce scale models of new building designs, additive manufacturing is playing a role in an increasing number of design processes.

To many consumers, 3D printing is still a buzzword—but as more and more designers, engineers, artists and creative types are exposed to the potential and as companies such as Altair and its subsidiary solidThinking continue making the design process easier, it is quickly becoming the backbone upon which new ideas take shape.

This shift could very easily affect students and young engineers as well, who should take note. The job market for traditional processes could soon see change in a big way, as Gilles pointed out when he shared headcount numbers that showed a doubling of virtual modeling experts since 2008. This came curiously at the same time as a 25-percent reduction in clay modeling experts.

If you missed this event, the CONVERGE conference is not a one-time thing. Altair is taking the show on the road to Germany, China, Japan, India and Korea, so expect to see more great uses of technology and additive manufacturing as each event pulls in speakers from the local area.





Chris McAndrew (@CbMcAndrew) is a product development and marketing executive with nearly a decade of experience bringing concepts from the idea stage to market release in a variety of industries. He is a trained mechanical engineer, with a B.S. from Tulane University, and he is completing an MBA program at UCLA Anderson School of Business (’16).