Zortrax Participates in a Prestigious Conference in the USA
Zortrax representatives are taking part in IEEE Aerospace Conference 2022, one of the most important conferences in the world dedicated to the latest aerospace research. The event takes place on March 05-12, 2022, in Big Sky, Montana (USA). Zortrax is represented there by Michał Siemaszko, Head of Research and Development and Jacek Krywko, Leader of Advanced 3D Printing Solutions. The former will depict the results of Zortrax engineers’ work on composite 3D printing in double extrusion on March, 09. The paper has passed the peer review process and hence can be featured at this important symposium.
The space sector is one of the main development directions for Zortrax. The value of the global space industry as well as its importance in terms of 3D printing has been consistently growing in recent years*. Since 2019, Zortrax has been working with ESA, developing composite 3D printing technology on the Zortrax Endureal industrial 3D printer. In this joint project, Zortrax engineers were the first to develop the technology to 3D print components with embedded electrical circuits and data paths using two PEEK filament blends: the Z-PEEK, offered commercially by Zortrax, and the conductive PEEK blend provided by the European Space Agency.
„Once we achieved the option of interchangeable 3D printing using two PEEK blends on our Zortrax Endureal 3D printer, the RnD team focused on perfecting this breakthrough technology. Since the panel 3D printed in collaboration with ESA and featuring an integrated electrical circuit, will be tested aboard the WISA Woodsat satellite this spring, we needed to get the prints ready for the space flight. The samples underwent and passed detailed tests. This way, we have proved that the composite 3D printing technology developed together with the European Space Agency can be successfully used in the space industry,” – says Michał Siemaszko, Head of Research and Development department at Zortrax.
The results of the tests were described by Zortrax engineers in a research paper entitled “3D Printing CubeSat Parts with Power and Data Transfer Functionalities with Two Blends of PEEK”. The article has passed the peer review process so that the Zortrax team’s achievements can be presented by the company’s Head of RnD, Michał Siemaszko, at the IEEE Aerospace Conference 2022 in the US. Participation in the conference will allow to show the milestones achieved in the composite 3D printing project carried out by Zortrax and European Space Agency specialists, as well as to establish relations with the renowned representatives of aerospace industry and scientific community.
“About 700 delegates from 20 countries attend Big Sky each year, including representatives of the US aerospace industry from Boeing and Lockheed, members of government agencies such as NASA and DARPA, and many distinguished engineers as well as scientists. Taking into account the importance of the event and the presented achievements, we are convinced that our presence will have a positive impact on the popularization of our solution,” – concludes Jacek Krywko, Leader of Advanced 3D Printing Solutions at Zortrax.
*The global space industry is currently worth about $350 billion and is expected to grow to $1 trillion by 2040. source: https://www.morganstanley.com/ideas/investing-in-space/