BURLINGTON, MA, Feb 7, 2018 – Desktop Metal, the company committed to making metal 3D printing accessible to manufacturers and engineers, has announced a strategic partnership with Dassault Systèmes’ SOLIDWORKS brand to advance design for additive manufacturing (DfAM) through education and an integration between SOLIDWORKS applications and Desktop Metal systems. At SOLIDWORKS World 2018, Desktop Metal previewed an advanced software tool, available exclusively to SOLIDWORKS users, that offers a new approach to designing for additive manufacturing. Live Parts, an experimental technology, explores a new solution to simplify generative design for 3D printing.
“At Desktop Metal, we are committed to making metal 3D printing both accessible and successful for designers, engineers and manufacturing teams,” said Ric Fulop, CEO and co-founder at Desktop Metal. “In addition to hardware, we believe design for additive manufacturing software tools and techniques are critical to the successful fabrication of strong, lightweight parts that perform. We are excited to partner with Dassault Systèmes on the preview of our latest innovation, Live Parts, and to offer our software tool as a means for educational exploration to the largest community of engineers leading advancements in additive manufacturing.”
Live Parts Technology Preview
Live Parts, the latest development from within Desktop Metal’s research and innovation group, DM Labs, is an experimental generative design tool that applies morphogenetic principles and advanced simulation to shape strong, lightweight parts in minutes. Powered by a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU)-accelerated multi-physics engine, Live Parts auto-generates designs in real-time. This enables users to quickly realize the full potential of additive manufacturing – including material and cost efficiency, and design flexibility. The tool produces functional parts with complex, efficient geometries that are ideally suited for 3D printing. For users, Live Parts requires no prior knowledge of design for additive manufacturing techniques or guidelines.
Beginning February 6, an early stage version of Live Parts is available to preview exclusively to all SOLIDWORKS users. During the preview of the tool, input from the community will help guide its feature development.
Building Awareness and Integration of Technologies for DfAM
As part of the strategic partnership, Desktop Metal and Dassault Systèmes will be collaborating on the implementation of future features that enable users to have a full additive workflow from design through 3D printing. The companies also are exploring a variety of educational initiatives, such as metal 3D printing certification and curriculum, and joint content programs.
“Advances in 3D technology from 3D printing to materials science are driving tremendous growth for key industries, particularly as applications shift towards production,” said Gian Paolo Bassi, CEO, SOLIDWORKS, Dassault Systèmes. “Partnering with an industry pioneer like Desktop Metal will help our customers to take the guesswork and complexity out of developing products specifically for additive manufacturing – empowering engineers and designers to accelerate complex and critical design applications.”
“We are extremely excited to partner with Dassault Systèmes to offer SOLIDWORKS users access to the Live Parts technology preview, and we look forward to future collaboration on educational and additional software tools specifically suited for designing for additive manufacturing,” said Fulop.
About Desktop Metal
Desktop Metal, Inc., based in Burlington, Massachusetts, is accelerating the transformation of manufacturing with end-to-end metal 3D printing solutions. Founded in 2015 by leaders in advanced manufacturing, metallurgy, and robotics, the company is addressing the unmet challenges of speed, cost, and quality to make metal 3D printing an essential tool for engineers and manufacturers around the world. The Studio System is the first office-friendly metal 3D printing system for rapid prototyping and is 10 times less expensive than existing technology today. To manufacture metal 3D printed parts at scale, Desktop Metal also debuted the only 3D printing system for mass production of high-resolution metal parts today, the Production System.
To date, Desktop Metal has raised more than $200 million in financing from investors including GV (formerly Google Ventures), GE Ventures, BMW, Lowe’s, and Techtronic Industries (TTI). In 2017, Desktop Metal was selected as one of the world’s 30 most promising Technology Pioneers by World Economic Forum; named to MIT Technology Review’s list of 50 Smartest Companies; and recognized among the most important innovations in engineering in Popular Science’s 2017 Best of What’s New.”
For more information, visit www.desktopmetal.com.