In 1988, a young engineer named Fried Vancraen visited a research facility in Bremen Germany, and while there, saw one of the first 3D printers up and running in Europe. For the entire drive back to Leuven, his mind was racing with the applications that could one day be made possible by what this early-stage technology had to offer. Just one year later, Fried did an FFF funding round (friends, fools and family), purchased his very own 3D printer, and opened a small prototyping company called Materialise.
27 years, 130+ printers and 1300+ employees later, Fried stood in the very same room where he first encountered 3D Printing and had the honor of officially opening the metal printing production line at Materialise’s Metal Competence Center in Bremen, Germany. Joining him on stage for the morning’s celebration were Martin Günthner, Bremen Senator of Economy, Labor, and Ports, Marcus Joppe, General Manager of Materialise Germany, and Ingo Uckelmann, the Technical Manager of the newly opened production line.
In addition to the grand opening of the new production line, yesterday also marked the fourth stop for the highly popular Materialise Metal Tour. The Metal Tour is a series of 3DP ACADEMY workshops, designed to inform attendees about technologies for metal printing, the most common alloys available, and the benefits offered by Additive Manufacturing. With six European events still planned and spaces filling fast, be sure to book your spot now.