News and Events

On Thursday and Friday of last week, Materialise celebrated its 20th anniversary during its 2010 Materialise World Conference. For the first time, Materialise joined together all of their conferences into one event and this proved to be very successful. Despite the volcanic ash cloud that turned Belgium and most of Europe into a no-fly zone, the conference was well attended with over 200 participants each day. Because of the flight restrictions some of the speakers unfortunately couldn’t make it. Nevertheless the revised program received very positive feedback from the attendees. The conference proved to be an excellent opportunity to learn something new, network with international peers, discuss the latest innovations and take a look inside the heart of Materialise’s international headquarters.

Materialise wishes to thank all speakers and attendees that went the extra mile to make it to the event. Special thanks go out to those speakers who could not make it and kindly provided a video presentation and to the presenters that stepped in last minute as replacements.

The Conference hosted several programs which offered a wide variety of topics. On April 22 and 23 the Materialise World Conference featured the 2010 edition of the:

• Medical Innovation Conference, focusing on biomedical R&D, with a special session on FEA and CFD. 
• Materialise Innovation Forum, bringing together experts in rapid prototyping and additive manufacturing with separate sessions on topics like additive manufacturing for arts & architecture, for automotive applications and high volume parts. The Visionary Summit on Friday resulted in an exciting discussion on how to promote additive manufacturing as an industry.

On April 22, the dedicated CAE session on Micro-CT and Tech-CT honed in on the preparation and processing of Micro-CT and Tech-CT data for all kinds of engineering applications, such as FEA, CFD and much more.

The Rapid Implant Manufacturing Forum on April 23 brought together pioneers in rapid manufacturing of implants, and highlighted the research in this filed. This included a discussion forum to set new goals for the industry.

Unfortunately, Materialise had to cancel the CMF sessions of the Clinical Innovations Conference because of the flight restrictions, preventing most of the presenters and participants to attend the event. However, the orthopaedic session on April 23 did go ahead as scheduled. Renowned orthopaedic surgeons shared their experiences with Materialise’s surgery planning solutions.

In all sessions, the presenters showed case studies, cutting edge ways in which they are using Materialise technology and how they have overcome challenges in their field. The presenters included Google SketchUp, BMW, Phonak, Imaginarium, Hyundai Motors, KU Leuven, Siemens, inCT, Technischen Universität München, National Naval Medical Center, 3TRPD, FluidDA, Biomet and more.

Visit our website to see a short video of the conference.
 
If you want to have a look at the detailed programs of the different sessions, click on the program of your choice below:

• Materialise Innovation Forum - April 22-23 
• Medical Innovations Conference - April 22-23
• A dedicated CAE session on Micro- and Tech-CT - April 22
• Rapid Implant Manufacturing Forum - April 23
• Clinical Innovations Conference - April 23

Read on to hear the enthusiastic feedback Materialise received: Daniel Johns, Head of EADS ALM Technology Program, e.g. is one of the satisfied attendees:

Whilst I am a passionate evangelist in applying the virtues of ALM, and working in an exciting sector with a wonderful passionate and creative team, I still came away from Materialise with even greater motivation and renewed energy for the long journey we are undertaking in Aerospace. We live in an industry that has a fairly good view over the horizon, however your conference invitation to ‘come and see the future’ did not disappoint. I believe that if people take the time to reflect on the conference, the connections they made and the atmosphere you generated, then some may realise they just may have seen a glimpse beyond even that.