Rapid Ready Roundup: Optomec and 3D Systems on the Road, GPIE Expo and Customizable Kewpies

In the course of my diligent efforts to keep you good people up to date on the state of additive manufacturing, I come across many interesting news items. I’ll gather them up every so often and present them in a Rapid Ready Roundup (like this one). You can find the last Roundup here.

Lots of additive manufacturing (AM) folks are on the road lately, bringing the gospel of 3D printing to a workshop near you. Optomec will be visiting the Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA, for SEMICON West. The conference runs from July 10-12.

Optomec will be showcasing its Aerosol Jet 3D printed electronics used in applications such as an automotive tank with fill level sensor and control circuitry, a multi-chip package with fine line conformal interconnects, and aircraft components with printed antennae, sensors, and power distribution circuitry.

3D Systems will be out and about with its “Smarter 3D Printing” seminars being held across North America. The seminars will begin in July and wrap up in September. You can find location information here. Attendees can expect to hear about which 3D Systems printer is best for their company, an overview of the ZPrinter and ProJet lines, information on upcoming printers, and hear details about 3D Systems’ service bureau, Quickparts.

For those around the Midwest, GPIE Expos 2012 will be held on August 29. Speakers include Tim Caffrey from Wohlers Associates, Bryan Crutchfield from Materialise, and David K. Leigh from Harvest Technologies. The one-day event will be hosted by Plastic News and will examine product development, end-use parts manufacturing, sales and marketing.

Last, we have MakieLab, an online toy manufacturer based in London, England. The website allows customers to create custom dolls (along with accessories) using a reasonably simple point-and-click interface. Once the doll (or Makie) has been created, it is built using AM. The dolls currently run £99 (around $154), but the company says it is working to simplify the system and reduce prices to around the £50 ($78) in the near future.

Below you’ll find a short video about MakieLab.

Sources: Optomec, 3D Systems, Plastic News, Co.Create