The Mitsubishi Chemical Group announces the Winner of the 3D Printing FGF Engineering Challenge

MCG’s Growth Garage collaborated with selected industry partners including Alstom, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, CEAD, Adaxis, Fis Robotics and Nedcam. To promote sustainable innovation, the Global KAITEKI Center and the Arizona State University also supported in the Engineering Challenge.

Based on the judging criteria, the expert jury team panel selected the Overall Challenge Winner who will receive $25,000 worth of support in expertise in finding the right 3D Printing material, design, and manufacturing process to grow their business.

Challenge Winner: Testa Seat, USA

The startup from USA, headed by Alexander Geht, has developed an innovative seating solution, the Testa Seat to enhance independence, mobility, and overall quality of life for children with disabilities, ensuring equal opportunities for active participation in daily activities. Their solution employs 3D Printing for a customizable, lightweight, cost-effective full body support device that matches the needs of the user.

Special Recognition

The challenge received several strong submissions, and along with the winning entry, two other submissions stood out.

HELIX, Poland: HELIX, an early-stage startup from Poland, founded by Filip Turzynski, is developing a small, affordable, robust, and universal FGF extrusion system that can be installed on most desktop and professional 3D printers. It enables users to utilize the full range of different 3D printing materials. This technology revolutionizes pellet-3D printing by enabling the printing of small parts with the wide material selection of FGF.

Center Street Technologies, USA

Bala Cherukuri and the team at the startup from USA, have developed an innovation that employs large format additive manufacturing with water-soluble polymers in pellet form. Their focus is on production of cores and mandrels for composite part manufacturing, typically in large scale manufacturing of airframes.

MCG has a wide range of 3D Printing FGF materials, spanning from soft to high-performance properties for various applications. Grades with a low carbon footprint, featuring bio-based components or recycled content are available in the portfolio to enable circular business models.

About Mitsubishi Chemical Group Growth Garage

Growth Garage is the Open Innovation Hub of the Mitsubishi Chemical Group. Its mission is to support and develop new ideas and projects their using advanced manufacturing technologies and Specialty Materials, to help tackle some of today’s biggest engineering challenges. Growth Garage is offering opportunities for engineers, innovators, and entrepreneurs from startups, scaleups and innovative companies to join the community and submit their ideas and projects through the open innovation programs. Successful applications will get exposure and access to Mitsubishi Chemical Group’s network of industry experts, Mitsubishi Chemical Group’s Corporate Venture Capital team and business partners to advance their ideas and projects.