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Benin Summer School 2019: Materialise volunteers and local students “work together on a dream”

The 9th edition of the École de vacances (summer school) saw a trio of Materialise volunteers travel from Belgium to Benin to mentor a group of under-20s as they developed projects around plant-based alternatives for preventing and curing malaria, empowering female entrepreneurs in rural regions, and kick-starting a clean, safe e-scooter alternative to dirty, petrol-fueled motorbikes.

Meet the eight high school graduates who are making ripples across their communities.

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The Future is…Industry 4.0

Industry 4.0 is the hot new buzzword in manufacturing, but it isn’t always clear what it means and the magnitude of the transformations it can bring.

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Quigley Design and Viridian Consultants Take End-Use Additive Manufacturing All the Way to the TCT Awards

“When you’re a designer, you’re only as good as the projects that come along for you to do.” Designer Kevin Quigley may be as modest as he is talented. Recently recognized by the TCT Group for their annual design awards, he and his Quigley Design team have shown just how skilled they are, creating a complex, highly innovative tool for nuclear decommissioning in partnership with Viridian Consultants.

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3DP&Me: “When customers can see exactly what’s possible and practical with additive, it leads to that 'Aha!' moment”

In this interview, we talk to Jurgen Roekens, Materialise’s Design and Engineering Director, about how the Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) process helps his clients produce exactly the right engineering solution that adds value in many different ways.

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Our New TPU Has Crisper Details, Smoother Surfaces, and Higher Accuracy

What makes Materialise’s new Ultrasint TPU 90A-01 a dream for 3D printing? Its reliability, durability and extremely flexible nature, according Giovanni Vleminckx, Research Project Manager in our process engineering unit. We recently sat down with Giovanni, who researches all new materials and technologies that we offer, to get an insider’s view on the ins and outs of the new TPU offering made using Multi Jet Fusion (MJF).

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How Materialise Software Solutions Helped to Create the World’s Largest Jet Engine

The GE9X, the largest jet engine in the world developed for Boeing’s next-generation 777X jets, took its maiden flight on the GE flying testbed in March 2018. Discover how its crucial 3D-printed turbine parts were created using Materialise software solutions, and how these same solutions can power certified series manufacturing in Industry 4.0.

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3D Printing in Healthcare – Transforming Global Expertise into Local Care

When we think about the impact of 3D printing on the healthcare industry, we mostly think about the product innovations it enables. From today’s reality of 3D printing fully-customized skull implants, to future hopes and promises of printing vital organs. These product innovations build on the fact that 3D printing is an inherently digital manufacturing technology, enabling complex designs and increased functionality. Moreover, 3D printing allows for the creation of patient-specific instruments and truly personalized implants that take into account the patient’s unique anatomy. However, the impact of the technology doesn’t end there; 3D printing also enables significant process innovations.

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Why Hospitals Turn to Point-of-Care 3D Printing

More haptic perception, fully integrating with electronic medical records, and talking to patients without the use of screens are just a few reasons discussed at the 3D Printing in Medicine Course as to why hospitals are turning to Point-of-Care 3D Printing. The event, which took place at the M Museum in Leuven, Belgium, on June 13 and 14, 2019, brought together clinicians, medical imaging specialists, engineers, and other experts involved in turning medical imaging data into anatomical models in hospitals to share learnings, findings, and cases to further the field.

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How is Materialise becoming greener? Through ISO 14001.

Materialise’s Director of Quality Management, Risk and Compliance, Ward Callens, is heading a team that is using ISO 14001 as a system to reduce Materialise’s footprint. In the interview below, he describes the ins and outs of what this certification actually means, and the important role that sustainability plays at Materialise.

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AI Cuts Number of Changes to Knee Surgery Planning by 50%

Surgeons would need to make 50% fewer changes to AI-based pre-operative plans compared to current ones. This is according to a research project we conducted here at Materialise with Dr. Raf De Vloo, an orthopedic surgeon at AZ Klina in Belgium, in which we applied AI-based planning to 193 cases. This technology learns an individual doctor’s preferences for surgical approaches and, based on those, provides higher-quality pre-operative plans.

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