Press: Nov/Dec 2012

Posted on 12 December 2012 by withinadmin

November- We received a mention in a DEVELOP 3D Blog post detailing the benefits 3D Printing provides to the world of F1.
December- The December 2012 issue of Desktop Engineering magazine features two fascinating articles- The Twin Forces of Optimization & Inspiration, Perfect Partners- mentioning Within.

Within’s Cufflink design featured in CPM video

Posted on 30 July 2012 by withinadmin

Within’s cufflinks demonstrate the complexity of design achievable by using the EOS Precious M080 Laser Sintering Machine and Cookson Precious Metal’s e-Manufacturing Solution. The system liberates designers, allowing for cost effective production of bespoke jewellery in precious metals. The video on the website shows the cufflinks being grown layer by layer. Once completed, excess powder on the build plate is brushed away to reveal the finished cuff links (the excess powder can then be reused in the next build).

Digital Forming’s design team developed a simple but highly effective customisation concept for this cufflink design. The Digital Forming platform enabled the customer to add initials to the surface of the cufflinks, as well as selecting their choice of material and colours. Digital Forming is Within’s sister company.

Team put their heads together to create first laser-sintered cranial implant geometry

Posted on 20 July 2012 by withinadmin

EOS, Within, and others help Custom IMD optimize a PEEK skull prosthesis.

Designfax Journal discusses Within’s involvement in the EC-Funded Custom IMD project.

“Optimizing implant design by going ‘Within’”

Skull injury (left) and model (right) showing laser-sintered PEEK cranial implant geometry.

“….So the group turned to a new type of design software from Within Technologies Ltd., U.K., that generates scaffolded lattices that can be customized to follow the contours of any desired part shape. Within’s Enhance tool controls not only the design of the internal lattice (resolution, strut thickness, and topology), but also the width of the part’s walls or skin in a fluid and continuous fashion. Once an object is defined, in order to predict its real-world behavior, the Within model is integrated with FEA in a feedback loop that allows rapid iteration between optimizing the design and seeing how it will perform under stress.

“The complex CAD geometries that are produced by this evaluation process are excellent candidates for laser-sintering, according to Within’s managing director, Dr. Siavash Mahdavi. “We’ve been working with additive manufacturing in metal spine, hip, and other implant geometries for a few years now,” he says. “This Custom IMD cranial implant research was our first PEEK design, but I was already fully convinced of the value of laser-sintering for producing patient-specific implants with optimized characteristics designed right in.”

Screenshot showing analysis of generic complex component being optimized by Within’s software for lightweighting and buildability. Note internal lattice structure. Yellow lines emanating from circular portion of structure at right represent the pressure exerted on the part.

“Employing the new software, the group came up with scaffold geometry that satisfied everyone’s requirements for the cranial implant (mechanical properties were targeted to meet all required ISO values for PEEK). A rim was added around the edge of the part to give it a solid border for optimum fit to existing skull bone. “With this version, we saw no stress peaks in the structure at all,” says Lenz. “FEA simulations, and then mechanical testing to confirm that our boundary conditions and other assumptions were correct, showed that we had come up with a strong, functional implant design.”

See Within’s Case Study on the Cranial Flap from the project here.

‘Green’ Center to Cultivate Manufacturers – Wall Street Journal

Posted on 21 May 2012 by withinadmin

Huffington Post & World Financial Review

Posted on 30 March 2012 by withinadmin

The Third Industrial Revolution: How the Internet, Green Electricity, and 3-D Printing Are Ushering in a Sustainable Era of Distributed Capitalism

Jeremy Rifkin lists Within Technologies as “reinvent[ing] the very idea of manufacturing in the Third Industrial era” , in both his Huffington Post Tech blog and World Financial Review .

Jeremy Rifkin is the author of The New York Times best selling book, The Third Industrial Revolution, How Lateral Power is Transforming Energy, the Economy, and the World.

Today’s Medical Developments – Expert Design

Posted on 29 December 2011 by withinadmin

TMD Magazine’s Elizabeth Engler Modic hosts a Q&A with Martin Bullemer, EOS’ business development manager medical, which highlights the trends in laser sintering.

Q: Why are certain medical applications particularly suited to laser sintering

A: Many medical devices are an excellent fit for this manufacturing method, especially if they are low-volume, and if the company makes a variety of different products. Laser-sintering systems are flexible and can switch from design to design as needed, with next to no tooling, fixturing, or other expenses.

Laser sintering can also build complex geometries that conventional processes cannot. For example, a European Union-funded project called Custom-IMD is developing a PEEK plastic cranial implant. The new design incorporates a lattice structure that promotes improved bone growth and optimizes infiltration with a hydroxyapatite-filled, bio-absorbable polymer.

The ability to build parts with lattices and hollows also reduces weight in a way that is not available using other methods. You can laser-sinter a lighter hip stem by introducing hollows and cavities similar to those in human bones; the only way to mill a lighter one is to make it smaller.

Q: Are other businesses and technologies working in conjunction with laser sintering to create advanced applications?

A: For obvious reasons, EOS works closely with a wide range of 3D CAD software programs. For instance, Within Technologies in the U.K. uses their powerful optimization software in conjunction with laser sintering to create strong, yet lightweight structures. Their software can also control the stiffness or flexibility of a design.