Carolyn Schwaar

This hybrid solid-state manufacturing method bypasses laser-melting limitations to slash production lead times for complex aerospace components.

By switching to a 30-W CO2 laser source, Sinterit’s latest compact system enables high-speed printing of white, natural, and colorable powders.

Bambu Lab teases A2L, an “extra large” A-Series printer. With marketing material that looks suspiciously like a baby announcement, Bambu Lab is stoking expectations for its next addition. Congratulations, it’s a printer. The new machine appears to be called the A2L, with the “L” presumably standing for “large,” “larger,” or “look, we needed more build volume.” Details are under wraps until June 1, but clues suggest it's a bigger sibling to the popular A1. The ad also shows multi-color print, hinting that the A2L supports multi-filament printing like the A1 and A1 Mini. In other words: same family, bigger crib.

If PETG feels too soft and ABS feels too fiddly, give PCTG a spin — it might just redefine what “easy, strong, and beautiful” means for your next print.

Nike is testing a new initiative that uses additive manufacturing to create a flexible, digital platform for limited-run sneaker designs and customer personalization.

Prusa's new black TPU 95A gets a little black-tie galaxy glitter. This new filament is the company's Jet Black TPU in evening wear because sometimes your RC tires, phone cases, and bendy little shock-absorbing bits deserve to feel like they’re walking a red carpet. The new Prusament PTU Galaxy Black filament keeps the serious stuff under the sparkle, including Prusa’s in-house production and tech specs, plus refill-friendly NFC-tagged spool, and costs $37.99/500g — a small price to pay for adding just enough bling to make your functional parts whisper, “I’m not like the other black filaments.”

Fitbit Air STLs are coming but choose your TPU wisely. Google just dropped 2D CAD drawings for its new Fitbit Air as an open invite for makers to design their own bands, so expect unofficial STLs to hit the usual model repositories fast. Just note: Long-term skin contact means sweat, friction, heat, and overnight wear, and very few 3D printing filaments are actually certified for that job. Look for materials, such as Siraya Tech’s Flex TPU 85A with ISO 10993 biocompatibility documentation.

By translating everyday language into precise parametric code, conversational AI tools are breaking down programming barriers of to make advanced 3D design more accessible.

Navigating America Makes’ collaborative project calls is becoming the defining strategy for securing a piece of the nation's surging additive manufacturing funding calls.

Can a tiny laser finally fix FDM’s weakest link? FDM’s dirty little secret is Z-strength: layers that cool too quickly before the next layer arrives making prints delaminate like a stale croissant. Researchers at Germany's OTH Regensburg want to fix that with a laser-enhanced FDM printhead that preheats the surface just before fresh filament lands. Laser-assisted FDM has been studied for years and shown to improve layer bonding, so why is it still mostly trapped in the lab? Cost, safety, and reliability may all be culprits. Still, if this approach works commercially, FDM’s Z-strength problem might finally meet its Bond villain.