In this weekend’s 3D Printing News Briefs, we’ll start with some exciting funding news, as NIST has awarded over nearly $2 million to small businesses working to advance AI, additive manufacturing, and more. Then, Supernova announced the release of four new materials. Next it’s on to medical news, with University of Minnesota research into spinal cord regeneration. Finally, Mausware is launching a 3D printed computer mouse you can wear on your finger.
NIST Awards Over $1.8 Million to 18 Small Businesses for R&D
Image Credit: metamorworks/Shutterstock
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recently awarded over $1.8 million, under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, to 18 small businesses working to advance new services and products related to standards, artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductors, additive manufacturing (AM), and more. The funding call was for proposals that address technical needs related to NIST’s research areas. The winning projects received Phase 1 SBIR awards, which are meant to establish the merit, feasibility, and commercial potential of the proposed R&D projects. Phase 1 SBIR projects cover work from August 1, 2025 to January 31, 2026. Once these are completed, the awardees can apply for up to $400,000 in Phase II funding to continue their projects. Of the 18 small businesses that received Phase 1 SBIR awards, five are working on projects that focus directly on AM.
Advanced Cooling Technologies Inc. in Lancaster, Pennsylvania received $106,499 for pre-standardization research for assessing the performance of 3D printed porous structures used in satellite and spacecraft heat transfer systems. Located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Advanced Materials Design LLC was awarded $100,000 to develop a real-time strain imaging tool that can monitor internal stresses during the 3D printing process. ChemCubed LLC in Nesconset, New York was awarded $99,865 to create a 3D printable, biodegradable, insulating dielectric material for PCB manufacturing, while Intact Solutions Inc. in Madison, Wisconsin received $106,500 to come up with a simulation tool for multi-laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) printers that will help reduce defects and optimize process parameters. Finally, X-wave Innovations Inc., located in Gaithersburg, Maryland, received $100,000 to develop a machine learning-based, in-situ monitoring package to help improve the quality of metal LPBF parts.
Supernova Launches Four New Viscogel Materials for Industrial Applications
At Formnext 2024, Supernova launched a new polymer AM ecosystem, centered around its proprietary Viscogel materials and Pulse Production Platform. Now, the company has launched four new Viscogels, designed for demanding transportation applications and available in Supernova’s Beta Program. There are two material families—elastomers and rigid polymers—in the Viscogel portfolio, and all four new materials are compatible with Dual Material mode on Supernova’s printers, which will provide users a less expensive alternative to 2K molding for production runs below 200,000 parts. RU55 and RU70, the new elastomeric grades, are said to have excellent tear strength, durability, chemical resistance, and thermal stability under high temperatures and mechanical stress, even replicating the performance of molded EPDM. These rubbers would be a good choice for applications such as gaskets, cable grommets, and precision sealing systems. The ST3-V0 and ST3-HB Rigid grades, designed for electrical connectors, balance flame retardancy with high impact strength and stiffness. These materials are reported to have a Young’s modulus of 3 GPa (ASTM D638), which keeps connector housings rigid enough to secure contacts and hold up under clamping forces.
“This is the first time in Additive Manufacturing where materials can meet—and in some cases exceed—the requirements of molded plastics in real transportation-grade applications. By focusing on connectors and sealing systems, we are proving that Viscogels are ready to serve the most demanding industrial customers,” said Roger Antúnez, the Founder and CEO of Supernova.
Hope for Spinal Cord Recovery with 3D Printed Organoid Scaffolds
New research combines 3D printing, stem cell biology, and lab-grown tissues for possible treatments of spinal cord injuries. Credit: McAlpine Research Group, University of Minnesota
According to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center, more than 300,000 people in the U.S. suffer from spinal cord injuries. Sadly, there is no proven way to fully reverse the damage and paralysis from these injuries, namely due to nerve cell death and the inability for nerve fibers to regrow across the injury site. But a research team at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities recently published a study on their breakthrough process that could offer some hope. In their regenerative medicine method, a 3D printed organoid scaffold with microscale channels acts as a framework for lab-grown organs. The channels are seeded with regionally specific spinal neural progenitor cells, or sNPCs, which are derived from human adult stem cells and can divide and differentiate into certain types of mature cells. When the team transplated the scaffolds into rats with severed spinal cords, the sNPCs differentiated into neurons, which extended their nerve fibers toward both the head and tail to form brand new connections with existing nerve circuits. Over time, the new nerve cells integrated into the host spinal cord tissue, which led to major functional recovery.
“We use the 3D printed channels of the scaffold to direct the growth of the stem cells, which ensures the new nerve fibers grow in the desired way. This method creates a relay system that when placed in the spinal cord bypasses the damaged area,” explained first author Guebum Han, a former University of Minnesota mechanical engineering postdoctoral researcher currently working at Intel Corporation.
Mausware’s 3D Printed Wearable Computer Mouse
U.S. startup Mausware was just founded earlier this year, but the team has actually been working on product development for over a decade. Now, it’s finally ready to announce its first offering: a wearable tech product called the Finger Maus ULTRA. It’s essentially a computer mouse that you can wear on your finger. This super lightweight wireless controller for digital devices only weighs about 19 grams, which is a little less than one single AA battery; for comparison, an average computer mouse weighs about 130 grams. The Finger Maus ULTRA has a pretty sleek design, and the manufacturing process used to make it is somewhat more environmentally friendly than other methods, because the housing enclosure for the device is 3D printed. As Mausware founder and design lead Max Eternity said, the wearable mouse reduces “plastic material use by over 80% in its manufacture.”
According to the Mausware website, the Finger Maus ULTRA can be worn on the index, middle, or ring finger, and does not require a flat surface for operation, removing “the noise, weight and clutter of traditional mouse computing.” The company also says that the product is rechargeable and comfortable, with responsive movement. But, there’s no word yet on pricing. A crowdfunding campaign was supposed to be launched recently on Indiegogo, and while a brief Internet search didn’t turn up anything, the Mausware website says that the link to the campaign is coming soon. Pre-orders for the Finger Maus ULTRA are supposed to begin later this month, so hopefully that campaign will be public soon. Mausware spokesperson Edward Morris says the company has five other products it plans to roll out in the next three years, which is a fairly ambitious plan for a new startup. I’ll be curious to see how the Indiegogo campaign for this 3D printed wearable mouse goes, as its success or failure will likely have a significant impact on those planned products.