As the 3D Printing Industry Awards have now been and gone we wanted to mention how proud we were to once again partner with the 3D Printing Industry to hold the trophy design competition for 2019.
Entries were submitted via MyMiniFactory and then deliberated on from judges from Protolabs and the 3D Printing Industry before coming to a final decision on this year’s winning design. Not only would the winning design be printed by ourselves and be presented to each winner on the evening but the winner also received an Ultimaker 3 desktop printer of their own. As well as the exposure that comes with winning.
As always we were impressed with the high calibre of designs that had been submitted from designers across the world. And it was great to see how each designer had interpreted the design brief. A real showcase of some outstanding talent.
Entries were told that the winning design would have access to the full capabilities of Protolabs, state of the art, additive manufacturing machinery.
With this in mind, we wanted a trophy that would celebrate the unique capabilities of 3D printing, whilst pushing Protolabs manufacturing capabilities to the limit.
Features and considerations entries had to include in their designs were:
- Lattice Structure
- Must be designed to be made in two different materials, one part SLA and one part MJF
- Use of internal channels
- Incorporate multiple features that are minimum 0.15-0.20mm in size (preferably in the same orientation) for SLA parts.
- Minimum feature size for MJF parts is 0.75 mm
- Min/Max trophy size: 75x75x75mm/125x125x125mm
- Optimised for SLA and MJF
Not everyone could be a winner but honourable mentions went to the following for their submissions (shown in order above);
- Metamorphic Gem design by Sruthi Venkatesh
- Sebastiano Di Grazia
- Jeremy Webb International Torch of Innovation
- Bloom trophy design by Dionisis
The winning design went to, Ferran Sánchez Monferrer for his Optim Trophy.
In his own words Ferran wrote this in support of his entry;
It 'shows all the possibilities that additive manufacturing has. The MJF piece is designed to show a lattice structure and a Voronoi diagram. These structures allow an organic finish and reduce the density of the construction. This design give an aesthetic finish that also allows easy construction and post-processing. The piece for SLA generates a diagrid on a surface that encompasses the entire central part of the MJF piece.'
Michael Petch, Chief Editor 3DPI, asked Ferran a few questions about the story behind his winning design and his career in 3D printing. Here's what he had to say.
Q: How long have you been a designer, and how did you start designing for 3D printing?
Ferran Sánchez Monferrer: In 2016 I discovered the world of additive manufacturing and all its possibilities. That year I decided to buy a RepRap printer and I learned by myself how it worked and how to design with this amazing technology.
I realised that 3D design was my passion and, before finishing my degree, I had the opportunity to do an Erasmus in Tampere (Finland) where I wrote my thesis on additive manufacturing and 3D scanning.
Last year I graduated in mechanical engineering from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) of Terrassa (Spain) and nowadays I am currently studying a master’s degree in DfAM at the “Fundació CIM-UPC“.
Q: Are you planning to become a full time designer?
Ferran: Unfortunately I am not a full time designer but to be one is my professional aim. For this reason, I am studying the master’s degree in DfAM.
Every week in this master’s degree people come from all sectors of the industry to explain their experience in additive manufacturing and how to design with current technologies.
In addition, with some colleagues of the master, we are making the final project on the use of 3D scanners and 3D printers to make culture more accessible in museums. We use photogrammetry and professional 3D scanners to obtain the object and we use SLS, SLA and FDM machines to print. This project deals not only with the technical part but also includes its viability for the creation of a new business.
Q: What can you tell us your winning trophy design?
Ferran: The name of the trophy is “Òptim”, it is a Catalan word that means optimum. My idea was projecting optimisation.
The optimisation of its construction and post-processing is what I was looking for when I was designing the trophy, without neglecting its aesthetic part. Therefore, the design not only seeks to use the advantages of additive manufacturing, it also tries to avoid its disadvantages of each technology.
In referring to the shapes of the trophy, the MJF piece was designed to focus on the most classic features that can be seen in a functional piece designed with this technology. For this reason, the design includes a Voronoi diagram for the tower and a lattice in its interior. The SLA piece is a diagrid that covers the tower.
Q: What are your plans for your new Ultimaker 3D printer?
Ferran: My plans are to make new projects to put into practice all the knowledge I have learned these last years. My goal is creating and printing projects from the maker community with the quality offered by the Ultimaker 3D printer.
Q: How did you hear about the competition?
Ferran: I have always followed Myminifactory website since I have got a printer at home. Seeing this collaboration, I thought it could be a great opportunity to become known in the additive manufacturing world.
Images and original article written by Michael Petch can be found on the 3D Printing Industry website: Read original article
Video below courtesy of Photocentric