New AIA Course on 3D Printing Helps Architects, Engineers, and Contractors Improve Project Speed, Affordability and Quality
Powerful Business Technology Offers Way to Quickly and Cost-Effectively Create Detailed Architectural Models on Demand
07/23/09

BURLINGTON, Mass., USA – Architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) professionals looking for economical new ways to improve their designs and market their services may benefit from a new course on “3D Printing for Architecture/Engineering/Construction.”

3D printing is a fast and affordable way to create detailed site, infrastructure, and building models from the very first stages of a project. It helps architects, engineers and builders collaborate, ensure accuracy, delight clients and speed projects to completion.

3D printing is a technology that automatically creates tangible physical models from 3D computer data in much the same way that a document printer produces business letters from a word-processing file.

The free 90-minute classroom course, developed by Z Corporation (www.zcorp.com) and registered with the American Institute of Architects, will be delivered around the United States on schedules set by participating Z Corporation authorized partners. The course earns AIA members 1.5 hours of Continuing Education System (CES) learning unit credit.

“Over the past few years, AEC firms and educational institutions have shown increased interest in 3D printing technology as a strategic tool to complement traditional visualization and modeling methods,” said Olimpio DeMarco, Z Corporation director of AEC business development. “This new AIA CES program will detail how 3D printing yields great designs, drives innovation, improves communication and wins new business.”

Unlike more time-consuming and expensive handcrafted models, 3D printed models are ideal for early massing studies, detailed design models, client presentations and regulatory approvals. For architects, engineers and builders themselves, 3D printed models help detect clashes, analyze systems and plan construction.

The AIA course includes an introduction to 3D printing, the printing process, its place in the design workflow, applications, case studies, data integrity, and scaling guidelines. Following the 90-minute course, attendees will examine a range of 3D printed physical models and see 3D printing in action.

Here is the first set of course dates:

* Aug. 5, Anvil Prototype & Design, Wilmington, N.C.
* Aug. 11, Peak Solutions, Portland, Oregon
* Aug. 19, Peak Solutions, Burbank, Calif.
* Aug. 24, Peak Solutions, San Bruno, Calif.
* Aug. 25, Microsol Resources, New York

Information on these and other “3D Printing for Architecture/Engineering/Construction ” courses can be found here: http://www.zcorp.com/en/forward/events.aspx?c=14

To learn more about the course, visit the AIA web site: http://www.aia.org/education/findcourses/index.htm.

About Z Corporation
Z Corporation makes products that enable users to capture, edit, and print 3D data with unprecedented speed, ease, versatility and affordability. These products include the world’s fastest high-definition 3D printers — machines that produce physical 3D models from digital data in multiple colors – and uniquely portable 3D scanners – handheld machines that digitize 3D surfaces in real time. Z Corp. technology is enabling a wide range of applications in manufacturing, architecture, civil engineering, reverse engineering, geographic information systems (GIS), medicine and entertainment.

BURLINGTON, Mass., USA – Z Corporation today released zp®150, a premium composite build material for its ZPrinter® 450 and ZPrinter® 650 3D printers. zp150 improves the strength and color of 3D printed models for 3D CAD while producing whiter whites for applications such as architectural modeling where true white is the traditional standard.

Using zp150, water for the first time can be used as the curing agent in finishing multicolor models; ideal for early prototypes and education environments. In addition, the zp150 material improves on Z Corporation’s best-selling composite materials with the following enhancements:

* 40 percent increase in “green” strength for improved ease of use
* 40 percent increase in final strength of parts cured with Z-Bond 101
* Noticeable increase in richness of colors and brightness of whites
* 100 percent increase in strength of water-cured parts, an easy, clean process that finishes parts with a spritz of water

“The ability to print small features is very important to us,” says Aaron Brackett, mechanical engineering manager at Enterasys Networks, a leading provider of networking hardware and security software solutions. “zp150 has allowed us to prototype details like heat sink fins and pin connectors more vividly and precisely than ever before with our ZPrinter 450.”

The new material is the latest industry breakthrough by Z Corporation, maker of the world’s fastest 3D printers and the only ones capable of printing in multiple colors. In addition to hardware, Z Corporation provides powerful software – including its ZEdit™ Pro 3D printing optimization toolbox – and the broadest range of materials for producing stronger, better-looking, and environmentally friendly parts at the lowest cost in the industry.

“The new zp150 build material exemplifies our ongoing commitment to improving the 3D printing experience,” said John M. Kawola, Z Corporation CEO. “In many ways these materials create a de facto upgrade in capabilities for existing ZPrinters, enabling users to create even better quality parts without purchasing a new machine.”

Availability
zp150 is now available through Z Corporation’s worldwide reseller network. Sample parts printed in zp150 are available for order at http://demoparts.zcorp.com.

About Z Corporation
Z Corporation makes products that enable users to capture, edit, and print 3D data with unprecedented speed, ease, versatility and affordability. These products include the world’s fastest high-definition 3D printers — machines that produce physical 3D models from digital data in full color – and uniquely portable 3D scanners – handheld machines that digitize 3D surfaces in real time. Z Corp. technology is enabling a wide range of applications in manufacturing, architecture, civil engineering, reverse engineering, geographic information systems (GIS), medicine and entertainment.

Top-Of-The-Line Offering Sets Industry Bar For Build Size, Quality, Color and Speed

BURLINGTON, MA, USA – Z Corporation, maker of the world’s fastest 3D printers, today took a major leap forward in multicolor 3D printing with its unveiling of the         ZPrinter® 650, which delivers the industry’s biggest models, highest-quality color and finest resolution.

The ZPrinter 650 is engineered specifically to satisfy the most demanding requirements in engineering, education, AEC, GIS and entertainment. With the largest build volume of any 3D printer, it enables users to print very large, high-resolution, multicolor models in hours or to make many smaller models at once.

Z Corporation remains the industry’s only maker of 3D printers capable of printing in multiple colors and has raised the standard once again. For the first time ever, the ZPrinter 650 adds a dedicated black print head to the standard cyan, magenta, yellow and clear colors to deliver richer and consistent color from part to part, build to build. Superior size and color come with more than double the resolution of other devices: 600 x 540 dpi. The ZPrinter 650 combines these qualities with                       Z Corporation’s documented speed, automation and office compatibility.

“The ZPrinter 650 is the machine we’ve been waiting for,” said beta user William Effrece, Laboratory Manager of Stanley Tools, which uses 3D printing for concept prototypes from initial idea through the unveiling of products at its annual sales meeting. “Z Corporation has listened to our opinions and delivered on all of our requests, resulting in a fantastic improvement in 3D printing performance. Our various engineering and executive teams demand fast turnaround on an ever-increasing quantity of models, and we are all sticklers for quality. The large build volume, color quality, resolution and automation make the ZPrinter 650 our preferred method for delivering full-scale multicolor concept prototypes on deadline every time without much user interface with the printer.”

“We’re making a greater quantity of better footwear models with the ZPrinter 650,” said beta user Toby Ringdahl, CAD Manager, Global Footwear Product Development at Timberland. “All the new automation reduces touch time and keeps our work area tidy, and the new black really makes our footwear concepts pop. The large build volume significantly improves our productivity, which is critical for a busy company like Timberland.”

Key firsts include:
Biggest models: No other 3D printer can match the ZPrinter 650’s 10 x 15 x 8 inch
(254 x 381 x 203 mm) build size, which prints very large models in a single piece. The large build size also enables users to produce multiple models at once, which is virtually impossible with competing technologies that rely on cumbersome structural supports.

Best color: The ZPrinter 650 employs full-spectrum 24-bit color and five print       heads – clear, cyan, magenta, yellow and black – to simultaneously print in multiple colors, delivering the highest color quality and consistency across hundreds of thousands of possible color combinations. Competing 3D printers can print only in monochrome on one of five colored materials, one color at a time. This approach requires separate builds, repetitive manual material loading and painstaking assembly to create multicolor models.

Highest resolution: The ZPrinter 650’s 600 x 540 dpi resolution is the highest resolution in a 3D printer, producing models with the finest detail and accuracy.

Speed: The ZPrinter 650 is five to 10 times faster than other systems, enabling model production in hours, not days, to support engineering departments and classrooms with ease.

Ease of use: The ZPrinter 650 is the easiest-to-use large format 3D printer ever with fully automated set-up and monitoring, no-touch powder and binder loading, and automatic powder recycling.

Office Suitability: The ZPrinter 650 is quiet, safe and clean with an all-in-one self-contained design compatible with other equipment in the professional office environment.

Other 3D printers in the Z Corporation product line are the ZPrinter® 310 Plus, a monochrome entry-level rapid prototyping system, and the ZPrinter® 450 and Spectrum Z™510 mid-range multicolor printers.

“Our customers want to quickly and easily produce big models in high volumes with the highest resolution and most realistic colors,” said Z Corporation CEO John Kawola. “These are exactly the capabilities we’ve delivered with the ZPrinter 650, part of our ongoing commitment to raising the bar on 3D printing quality and automation in the industry and throughout our entire product line.”

Pricing, Availability
The ZPrinter 650 is available now through Z Corporation’s worldwide reseller network for a United States manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $59,900 USD.

About Z Corporation
Z Corporation makes products that enable users to capture, edit, and print 3D data with unprecedented speed, ease, versatility and affordability. These products include the world’s fastest high-definition 3D printers – machines that produce physical 3D models from digital data in full color, and uniquely portable 3D scanners – handheld machines that digitize 3D surfaces in real time. Z Corporation technology is enabling a wide range of applications in manufacturing, architecture, civil engineering, reverse engineering, geographic information systems (GIS), medicine and entertainment.