What do you do when Twitter deals you a winning hand? Get into the Christmas spirit I say.

As I look back on 2016, I count my blessings to have been supported by some marvelous people. Together, we’ve travelled down a road they knew where it would lead me before I even did. I paid dues, I got some. Time to pay it forward.

The background of this intro? A couple of weeks ago, I participated in a Twitter contest. Not in the hope of winning. In Dutch, we say you’re unlucky in the game when lucky in love. That and I thought the campaign was brilliant and I seldom pass on an opportunity to promote print. (sorry, my love J)

“Get into the Christmas mood – follow our account, RT our visual and you might just win.”

And win I did.

A 1,80m cardboard tree. An original take on a lasting Christmas decoration in your home. Cat can't cause too much damage, you can personalise the print with Christmas balls pictures of family members, no needles on the floor - not to mention a great piece of POS. Outstanding latex print technology, precision perfect cutting, printed by one of the most promising Belgian creative companies – 3Motion. All mine.

What to do with it? Pay it forward, of course. Time to put the 3 in Motion. (see what I did there?)

The school of my #5yo goes at great lengths every day to bring our multicultural community closer together. They invest, they care. And it works. I’m amazed at how close we all are – children, parents, school. So, when I saw how much effort they were putting into the school’s Christmas celebration to make it an interactive experience to bring people together, I knew what I had to do.

I donated the tree to the school. Surely they’d be able to enjoy it for far more years than I would. Not to mention I wanted to say thanks for the unceasing selfless efforts their teachers and even substitutes put into our children.

3Motion luckily loved the idea. Altruistically, they pushed their deadlines to make it happen in just 2 days’ time and fixed a broken-down lorry to make it to the church on time! They personalized the tree with the school’s logo and their delivery guy even helped us set it up in the church despite looming delivery deadlines. Now that’s service.

Again, my apologies to the ones who have been kept waiting. I’m not much of a church-goer myself, but I’ll put in a good word with the Man Above.

And it fitted perfectly into the nativity scene of the school’s Christmas play. The principal, teachers and most importantly, the kids absolutely loved it. Warms my heart to see everyone enjoyed it so much, the tree would have withered away in my living room.

Here’s to print – may it entertain many more generations to come. In cardboard or any other form.

Thank you for (y)our Christmas miracle, 3Motion. I’m sure we’ll enjoy this environmentally friendly Christmas memento for many years.

Have a wonderful Christmas time everyone. Best 2017 wishes from my family to yours!

Maya

I have this thing with 3D. A few years ago, it was a vague concept labelled “additive manufacturing”. At drupa 2016, I was amazed at the first 3D applications. And although I fully support a 3D idea that can be commercialized and monetized (jewelry, figurines), I’m intrigued by how 3D can also better our everyday life.

So when I found out that iMakr, a leading retailer for 3D printing hosted a “3D printing - a dental revolution” session, it was time to cross the pond. 13 attendees, including 1 actual dentist, 2 students graduating in dental healthcare, 3D engineers and yours PR truly.

Key learnings? Dental healthcare is quite advanced. Automating the digital workflow in dental healthcare drastically cut back manufacturing time, while also reducing the human error rate in production (e.g. crowns). 360° mouth scanning equipment is meticulously accurate. And dental CAD software is advanced enough to allow for both free yet reliable open source software as well as highly specialized medically approved software licences. The 3D printers are up to par. Micron accuracy is crucial – a crown fits or it doesn’t. A halfway fit will only cause more damage. Dental 3D cannot go below perfection.

And it doesn’t. To illustrate, iMakr printed a 3D mouth model based on a stone model scan to see if a half plate would fit both the stone model as well as the 3D print. It was an exact replica. The half plate fit both models perfectly.

The stone model iMakr scanned to replicate in 3D - with fitted half plate.

Above the stone model without crown, below the 3D printed replica with fitted half plate.

A close-up to illustrate the perfect fit of the half plate on the 3D print model.

Imagine the added value of 3D dental prints for research, testing, experimenting, teaching future generations. For the half plate example alone - if dental labs could be made aware, they could seriously up their production level and reduce delivery terms. Manual jobs would be trimmed down, but only to create room for the more specialized tailoring works. (one 3D dental printing lab produces up to 4000 individual models per day and says they now have more time to perfect the expert tailoring jobs that require human intervention!)

Take it one step further and we're talking a showcase of lean manufacturing and sustainability. The on-the-spot printing allows for a decentralised manufacturing process, while also eliminating the need for an elaborate production chain. You'll cut back on logistics, because you're printing where your customer is. Spare parts and stock shortages could be avoided, as this clever chap in the 3D printing group on LinkedIn points out. The knowledge society needs but a blueprint and voilà, instant gratification. Simplistically put, I am aware, but there is a potential here to solve some pungent issues.

Why my interest in dental healthcare? I have a mouth guard and I loathe cast-making. The oversized metal that somehow manages to outsize your mouth, the yucky metallic orange fluid that kills your taste buds, the horrible joke the dentist makes every single time pretending he can’t release me from the mould (and I love my dentist, I really do.) How much easier would dental life be if a 360° scan of your mouth could be made to produce a 3D cast? Quick scanning, live printing, instant mouth guard.

And all you need is a dentist with a 3D scanner, and a lab that has a CAD software and a 3D printer.

Price should not hold people back, neither should the maintenance of the equipment. And although 3D print takes rapid strides in advance, the 3D printer itself does not outdate easily.

It just needs some PR at the right time with the right people.

So my dear dentist, when you read this. Please consider talking to your lab and getting that 3D scanner. You scan, they print the model and create my mouth guard. Delivery in a few days instead of one month. My husband will be ever so grateful.

Tell me - when 3D can print so micron meticulously, what else can be done? What’s your favourite 3D print application?

I’m particating in a 3D print pop-up course in Aalst on September 3rd. Stay tuned, I’ll most likely blog on that one too.

Mini-You - the ultimate selfie. This one is meta even - figurine man holding the 3D figurine in his hand, in his hand, in his hand.

Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree - your cardboard red delights us

The mega of micro – 3D dental care