Media cover event showcasing world’s largest 3D printer, 3D-printed boat

The Associated Press, Maine Public, News Center Maine, Bangor Daily News, Portland Press Herald, WABI (Channel 5), WVII (Channel 7), WAGM (Channel 8 in Presque Isle), HotHardware, Q-106.5, and I-95 (95.7 FM) reported on the University of Maine’s unveiling of the world’s largest 3D printer and largest 3D-printed object. More than 250 federal and state officials, business executives, University of Maine System leaders and community members were on hand to witness the UMaine Advanced Structures and Composites Center receive three Guinness World Records for the world’s largest prototype polymer 3D printer, largest solid 3D-printed object, and largest 3D-printed boat. The boat, called the 3Dirigo, is 25 feet long, weighs 5,000 pounds and was printed in 72 hours, media reported. “This new printer is going to allow us to innovate so much faster by having prototypes made faster than in the past,” Habib Dagher, executive director of the UMaine Composites Center, told the AP. U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King attended the event. “I was delighted to join UMaine’s celebration unveiling the world’s largest 3D printer and largest 3D-printed object,” Collins said in a press release. “The future of the [UMaine] Composites Center is bright, thanks to the excellent working relationship between UMaine, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and many other federal agencies, which will support next-generation, large-scale additive manufacturing with biobased thermoplastics.” Collins added that by working together, UMaine and Oak Ridge will strengthen environmentally responsible advanced manufacturing throughout the country, as well as Maine’s forest-products industry. “Maine is the most forested state in the nation, and now we have a 3D printer big enough to make use of this bountiful resource,” King said. Boston Herald, The Washington Post, Miami Herald and Military News carried the AP report, and Sun Journal published the Press Herald articleWMTW, Mainebiz, Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors, US Harbors, rrstar.com, 3D Printing Industry, Biofuels Digest, Nerdist, Ubergizmo, CompositesWorld, Scuttlebutt Sailing News, The Maritime Executive, The Maine Edge, The Additive Report, MobyGeek.com, Composites Manufacturing Magazine and SuperyachtNews.com also reported on the world’s largest 3D printer and the 3D-printed boat, which is the largest printed object in the world. The Association of Public & Land-Grant Universities included the news release in the “Members in the Spotlight” section of its homepage. VillageSoup also mentioned the technology in a report about Front Street Shipyard working with Navatek LLC on an advanced planing hull for the U.S. Navy Office of Naval Research. Navatek, which worked with UMaine on the 3D-printed boat, plans to continue to use the 3D printer for boat molds, the article states. Mashable, which features “innovations that will change our everyday lives in the future,” posted a video of the 3D boat being printed and the unveiling of the boat. And Army Technology wrote that UMaine’s “new 3D printing capability will enable the rapid production of products and prototypes for the US Army.”