Yesterday, we covered the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s investment of over $10 million to predict the lifespan of 3D printed parts, and today, we have another defense headline: Velo3D is partnering with the U.S. Navy. Velo3D is a metal additive manufacturing company that creates solutions for the aerospace, defense and energy industries. Now, the company will work with the Navy to advance its use of AM. Next, we will cover TissueLab’s new bioprinter, and then, dive into a new resin created by scientists at UC Santa Barbara and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Finally, we’ll end with a focus on construction, covering Ukraine’s rebuilding efforts using recycled concrete, and the world’s largest 3D printed tower that was just completed in Switzerland.
Velo3D Partners with the U.S. Navy to Boost AM in Defense and Aerospace
Velo3D has signed an agreement with the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) and Fleet Readiness Center East (FRC East) to advance additive manufacturing adoption, specifically for aerospace and defense components. This four-year collaboration seeks to characterize new advanced materials and develop high-performance parts that meet the demanding standards of the military sector. Through this alliance, Velo3D’s advanced metal 3D printing capabilities, in particular, its Sapphire line of printers, will be used to produce military flight hardware with high precision, repeatability and scalability. “By focusing on engineering-driven solutions, we are helping to bridge the gap toward qualifying AM flight hardware and enabling the production of mission-critical parts that meet the stringent reliability and performance demands of defense applications,” said Velo3D CEO Arun Jeldi.
A Velo3D Sapphire XC metal printer. Photo Credits: Velo3D
TissueLabs Presents Its New 3D Bioprinter
In 2022, we introduced you to TissueLabs, a Swiss medical start-up. It was already aiming to create organs with its 3D bioprinters. Today, it presents its latest machine, the TissuePro. Based on the extrusion process, it is equipped with five print heads, each with its own independent piston, offering micron-level resolution. It can combine several biomaterials, both transparent and non-transparent, to create even more complex tissue structures. The aim is not only to make progress in cancer research, but also to create more precise organ models and to pursue pharmaceutical testing. TissueLabs founder and CEO Dr Gabriel Liguori concludes: “TissuePro is everything we’ve learned, reinvented, and reimagined. If you loved TissueStart, get ready. You’re about to fall in love all over again.”
New Resin Capable of Creating Solid Objects and Dissolvable Supports
Scientists from the University of California Santa Barbara and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have demonstrated a new resin for vat photopolymerization that can either be transformed into solid objects or dissolvable supports, depending on the type of light it is exposed to. When fabricating unsupported features like overhangs, solid supports are typically created along with the main object and then are manually removed during finishing. This new resin, however, offers the option to dissolve supports instead. The researchers used a base-degradable thermoset (meaning, a type of polymer that can be degraded in a basic solution) combined with the primary structural material in a one-pot formulation. Then, the resin was processed with a dual-wavelength negative imaging (DWNI) DLP printer. The degradable thermoset was solidified with visible light, and the permanent structure was cured with UV light, with both types of light being simultaneously projected using a single digital micromirror device (DMD). Once the printing process is complete, the object undergoes thermal post-processing to set the primary material, and the thermoset supports are dissolved in a basic liquid. This DLP method has the potential to widen the range of 3D printable materials and structures.
A chain 3D printed with the new vat photopolymerization technique. Photo Credit: Adapted from ACS Central Science 2025
Ukraine Boosts Reconstruction with Recycled Concrete for 3D Printing
The Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture (KNUBA) is leading a project to develop concrete mixtures from the rubble of destroyed buildings. The aim is to apply these mixtures in construction using 3D printing and traditional methods, and thus accelerate the reconstruction of damaged infrastructure in Ukraine. The teachers and KNUBA students intend to use waste from collapsed buildings, along with industrial and agricultural waste, to create environmentally friendly and low-cost resistant building materials. The project will last two years and is financially supported by the U.S. Office of Naval Research and the U.S. National Science Foundation.
Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture launches project to create a 3D-printed concrete from rubble. Photo Credits: Interfax Ukraine
Tallest 3D Printed Tower in the World Unveiled in Swiss Village
On May 20, Tor Alva (meaning “White Tower” in Romansh) was unveiled in Mulegns, Switzerland. At nearly 30 meters tall, the structure has been declared the tallest 3D printed tower in the world. Tucked between the rolling green mountains of the Julier Pass, it is quite a sight to see. The tower is constructed of twisting white columns, 3D printed out of soft concrete. The project was born out of a collaboration between the Origen cultural foundation and ETH Zurich, and it was designed by architects Benjamin Dillenburger and Michael Hansmeyer. Now, the tower is open daily for guided tours, and it will also be available for staging performances starting this July. The tower has a modular design so components can be disassembled easily, and in five years, it will be taken apart and moved to another village. With only 11 inhabitants, Mulegns is threatened by depopulation. Local leaders hope that the tower will attract not only tourists but also future residents.
Photo Credit: Birdviewpicture / Nova Fundaziun Origen)
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