3D Printing: The Future is Now for FACT

FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology) is the UK's leading media arts centre, based in Liverpool - and is an institution that I've long been interested in. Despite having never visited, I was happy to be invited to write a guest blog post about 3D printing in sync with their most recent exhibition: 'Build Your Own: Tools for Sharing', as part of DoESLiverpool's DesktopProsthetics project.



In this short thought-piece, I embark upon the challenge of briefly explaining what 3D printing technology actually is / does, along with a short investigation into how it is meaningfully being used in the Arts. Technology has almost always played a part in contemporary sculpture, and I attempt to extend that tradition by introducing 3D printing as (simply) a new medium with which artists are exploring their practice, in addition to standing as a tool for desktop makers:


http://www.fact.co.uk/news-articles/2015/11/3d-printing-the-future-is-now.aspx

All3DP: Company Profiling

Despite having worked in the 3D printing industry for a number of years, my latest commission challenged me in a rather unfamiliar way. My work has always focused on the curatorial, creative and investigative side of how additive manufacture is being used - but lately, I've been focusing on the industry itself, and which companies around the world are shaping it.

After jumping into the (slightly daunting) world of freelance, I was delighted to be approached by All3DP to create some really important content for the site. Based in Germany, the industry blog investigates the technology as well as the latest news and updates from the world of 3D printing - and over the last few weeks, I've been profiling the most relevant companies that are helping shape this space.

With facts as well as explanations of what each company delivers and specializes in, feel free to jump on board at All3DP to learn more about which companies you need to know about in order to navigate this exciting industry.

https://all3dp.com/

New Location: Japan

After spending the past few years working on a series of international events from my base just outside London, I'm delighted to be setting up a new, nomadic life for myself over on the other side of the world for a few months: Japan.

The experience of working temporarily within a number of different countries (UK, USA, France, Germany, Spain, UAE) over the last few months has hugely shaped both my interests and my perspective - along with my desire to experience a more varied range of cultural understanding. Knowledge sharing is a beautiful way to transcend barriers between people, and from the (translated) conferences, exhibitions and events I've produced so far in my career, what I've come to love more and more is witnessing connections being made between individuals, industries and cultures.
 
Moving to Japan has not been a difficult decision for me. I have been desperate to experience life and work beyond my own culture for a while now: America and Europe offer a stunning variation of ideas and approaches to art and technology, but it was the mild culture-shock of working in the UAE last month that helped me confirm my decision to cut ties with the UK for a while and leave in search of (my understanding of) stranger places.

I'll be spending the first few months of my Japanese adventure based on the Northern island of Hokkaido - where I will be indulging in one of my real, physical passions in life: powder skiing. From here, I'll be writing freelance while I continue my research into some of Japan's most interesting art/tech institutes - whether that be innovative companies in Tokyo, or arts museums / galleries / bodies elsewhere. I hope to find out more about Japan's arts and academic communities (especially in terms of Digital Humanities), in addition to grappling with the language as much as I can.

All ideas are welcome at this point, so if there's any way I could help with your project, then please do not hesitate to let me know. Please feel free to check up on my personal blog for more posts relating to my travels - and the interesting art, tech and design that I find along the way.

Ze illest Skejdaz

I've moved to Japan!

I'm having a bit of a break from the 9 - 5 to indulge in another of my passions in life: skiing!
Keep up with my other world on my other blog: http://zeillestskejdaz.tumblr.com/ - it's going to be beautiful!

In the meantime, I'm still working on a freelance basis with editorial work specific to the 3D printing industry. If there's any way I can support your business, then please do get in touch with me via email as I'm always interested in collaborations.

Dubai: Hungry for New Technology

Last week I returned from my first trip to Dubai to support the Management team producing one of the largest events I've ever been a part of: The Dubai Airshow. This exhibition has a strong history, and stands as one of the many jewels in the Sheik's crown when it comes to national pride, engineering prowess, and of course, the ability to showcase wealth.

3D printing plays a (currently) minimal part in the Aerospace industry, but looks to transform the way that people build all kinds of machines - including aircraft. Now, what's important to outline is that I am not professionally interested in the aerospace industry - but I was thrilled to have the experience of working in the UAE amongst some amazingly forward-thinking technologists.

In terms of interest in the tech, I was surprised by how few people attended the conference tracks that I had created. Curated towards the Engineering / Aerospace professional, it seemed as though attendees either already knew all about the topic, or knew and cared very little for a discussion of 3D printing. In all honestly, I was disappointed by how little interest was shown, but I was fascinated to learn more about Dubai's attitude towards innovation and new technology in generally: it's basically very, very important to them. One other huge benefit of the trip was that I was invited to the Gala Dinner for the event on its closing night - which consisted of a huge silver service, black tie party for 2,500 guests at the Palm, Atlantis, with none other than Katy Perry as the evening entertainment. If that's not the height of UAE hosting, then I don't know what is.

Goodbye to 3D Printshow from me

After an incredible experience working full time for nearly two and half years (directly after graduation), I'm finally saying goodbye to 3D Printshow.

I wrote a post on Linkedin about my thoughts and experiences - which has had an overwhelming reaction. Please feel free to have a read via the link below:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/3d-printshow-unforgettable-journey-faith-robinson?trk=prof-post

After more than two and a half years, today marks my last day as Content Curator for international tech event, 3D Printshow.

I can't quite believe it! It's been an absolute pleasure working with this community all around the world - and from our flagship events in London, right through to our European, American and UAE shows, the people I have met and worked with have been consisently wonderful.
The generosity of knowledge, along with a genuine excitement and passion for progressing this world-changing industry continues to make our community a very special place. I feel privaleged to have taken this journey with so many of you: the established and start-up companies whose businesses have grown in sync with our event; the artists and fashion designers who have continued to create more and more stunning 3D printed work since I first met you as an intern here; the press and journalists who continue to drive public excitement for the tech; and of course, the attendees and delegates who always inspired me with their enthusiasm to learn as much as possible within my conference tracks. In addition to all of this, I'm lucky enough to have been heavily involved in creating Disruptive Magazine - with a team of exceptionally experienced individuals. This was and still is a dream come true.
For me, the focus of my work has always been to create a platform for 3D printing as a way to educate, inspire and innovate. As curator, I do not physically produce anything - I still find it difficult to get my head around CAD programs, materials as well as the specifics of the hardware. Yet I feel as though I have contributed to a very special industry, and I hope the relationships (business and otherwise) that so many of you have found at 3D Printshow continue to produce brilliant ideas and products for many years to come.

There's still a lot more coming from the 3D Printshow team in the next few weeks (along with a very special new event structure and image for 2016), so keep your eyes out.
In the meantime, I'll be working freelance on a range of relevent production, content and editorial projects in and around the 3D printing industry - whilst ticking off a few exciting destinations from my bucket list on the way. I'd be delighted to hear from you if you have any ideas about how we could work together, and wherever in the world you happen to be based, it would be my pleasure to connect and potentially collaborate.
So finally: thank you to everyone who has made my experience within the 3D printing community so special. It truly has been an unforgettable journey, and I can't wait to see what we all achieve next.

Follow me on twitter to keep in touch: @faith__robinson - and if you've enjoyed working with me, then please feel free to write a reference / endorse me on my Linkedin profile.

3D Printing in Paris

My third annual trip to Paris to produce a platform for creativity and education at Le Carrousel du Louvre went just as well as expected. Within the context of culture and heritage that is the museum itself, I was delighted to put together another five conference tracks over two days, which hosted presentations and panel discussions about 3D printing for numerous sectors.

My role at 3D Printshow requires me to produce sessions exploring topics like Industry and Healthcare - but for me, the opportunity to create a Design track was the highlight of my work. In order to focus on a France / European 3D printing community, I was thrilled to work once again with Arthur Mamou-Mani, fresh back from California on a school trip to Burning Man, along with the inspiring individual that is Patrick Baudisch from Germany's prestigious Hasso-Plattner Institute. Seperately, their investigations - both in a design and an academic sense - into 3D printing for modular and conceptual design are stunningly beuatiful, and I'm convinced that they are leading this area of innnovation towards some incredible results.

Creating platforms for discussion and knowledge sharing is a huge passion of mine, and at Paris this year, I certainly felt a few "wow" moments in which I knew I'd created an extremely special moment of conversation. I was especially proud of the event, and look forward to my next (and final!) job for 3D Printshow in Dubai a little later this month.