Visitors were pleased with the 21st Rapid.Tech 3D thanks to its proven high quality and a new level of networking. Around 170 exhibitors and speakers from Germany and abroad presented the latest developments and applications in additive manufacturing (AM) to an interested audience from May 13 to 15, 2025.

For exhibitors, speakers and visitors, it is the mixture of congress, exhibition and networking formats that characterizes the Erfurt trade event and ensures a high level of expertise on both the scientific and user side. The networking between the lecture rooms and the exhibition hall, which was even closer this year, was particularly well received.

Formats such as the Technical Deep Dives tours and the expert tables made a particular contribution to this networking. During the Technical Deep Dives, participants were given brief and in-depth insights into new technologies and applications directly at the exhibitor stands. At the expert tables, the role of 3D printing in the dental trade, additive manufacturing in implantology, tool and mould making, the challenges of large-format PBF/LB-M printing and issues of standardization were discussed in small groups.

The topics from the keynotes were explored in greater depth in the specialist forums Aerospace, AM4industry, Science, Electronics & Components, Chemistry & Process Engineering, Mobility, AI, Software & Design, Energy Technology and Hydrogen. The Innovations in AM forum offered special sessions on AM in defense technology and medical technology.

The high quality of the program was ensured not least by the renewed cooperation with the conceptual sponsor VDMA Additive Manufacturing and the cooperation partners Dechema and 3-D MID e.V.

Top-class awards presented

This year, several top-class awards were presented at Rapid.Tech 3D. The international design competition 3D Pioneers Challenge, which has been held for ten years, selected the Pioneer of the Decade to mark the anniversary of the show in Erfurt. The award went to the team from the Dvirs Lab at Tel Aviv University for a 3D-printed, beating heart made from stem cells.

Dr Dieter Schwarze and Dr Matthias Fockele also received awards. The physicists are pioneers of metal 3D printing, which is now one of the most widely used metal AM processes under the name LPBD. They received the Big Five Award 2024 for outstanding achievements in additive manufacturing.

The “Best Paper Award” was presented for the first time. The scientific review committee of rapid.tech 3D awarded this premiere prize to Stefan Brenner from the University of the Federal Armed Forces in Munich. His paper dealt with the production of vacuum-tight high-frequency cavities using multimaterial PBF-LB/M, which are used as key components in linear particle accelerators.

Change at the top of the advisory board

The long-standing chairman of the advisory board, Michael Eichmann, has stepped down. The manager at Stratasys has helped build and shape the Erfurt event from the very beginning as a passionate designer and advocate for the development of 3D printing. He will remain associated with rapid.tech 3D as honorary chairman of the advisory board.

Michael Eichmann’s successor is Dr Karsten Heuser. The additive manufacturing expert is responsible for AM activities at Siemens Digital Industries. He is also a member of the board of the Additive Manufacturing Working Group at VDMA and other committees dedicated to the industrialization of additive manufacturing. Dr Heuser will lead the advisory board together with Prof Dr Seidel from Munich University of Applied Sciences, who has held an advisory board chair since 2023.

The next rapid.tech 3D will take place from May 5 – 7, 2026 in Erfurt.

Further reading: A successful premiere in the world of quantum photonics, wileyindustrynews.com, 16 May 2025 • “Bringing together what belongs together”, wileyindustrynews.com, 18 June 2024