The 2021 R&D 100 Innovation Award, sponsored by R&D World magazine, was announced in Ohio, USA recently. Bluestar Elkem Silicones won the award for its AMSil? & AMSil SILBIONE? range of additive manufacturing/3D printing silicone material application solutions, consolidating the company's R&D strength and market leadership in the field of 3D printing technology applications.

With a history of 59 years, the R&D 100 Innovation Award is an international authoritative award in the field of science and technology. This year, outstanding entries from 17 countries and regions fiercely competed for the award. A jury of nearly 50 industry experts from around the world evaluated the technical uniqueness and industrial competitiveness of each entry to select the world’s most advanced and most promising products, processes, and materials.

The award-winning AMSil? & AMSil SILBIONE? series, using the advanced production process LDM (Liquid Deposition Modeling), can be used to 3D print resilient, 100% silicone high-performance parts. The AMSil? 20000 series covers industrial and food-grade applications such as automotive parts, electronics, and equipment manufacturing, providing a high-quality one-component and multi-component product portfolio for additive manufacturing/3D printing in a more efficient and sustainable way, driving the digital transformation of manufacturing in the era of Industry 4.0. The AMSil? Silbione? 24000 multi-component product portfolio is designed to enhance the quality of medical devices and reshape the quality of human health by combining high performance, durability and biocompatibility of silicone materials with additive manufacturing for orthopedic repair, orthodontics, hearing aid and other medical applications.

Bluestar Elkem Silicones is one of the industry's first high-performance materials companies to enter the field of additive manufacturing/3D printing. Through its additive manufacturing/3D printing application service centers located in Shanghai, China, Lyon, France and York, USA, its global team of experts assists customers in building additive manufacturing/3D printing capabilities using AMSIL? silicone materials.

The company adheres to an open innovation strategy and actively seeks synergies with partners in different fields of 3D printing business. Bluestar Elkem Silicones works with Eriks International Industrial Services of the Netherlands, one of the world's leading manufacturers of high quality pipe and valve components, to jointly develop silicone 3D printing technology for the production of flexible silicone components. The company has established “3d FAB innovation Dynamics Lab” at the University of Lyon 1 to enable academic innovation through 3D and 4D bio-printing for life sciences and healthcare. It has invested in 3Deus Dynamics, a start-up, to develop additive manufacturing processes compatible with a wider range of commercial materials by combining marketing strategies, technological search and laboratory R&D resources

In the future, Bluestar Elkem Silicones will continue to provide advanced material solutions for customers, explore the diversity of different silicone products and the potential of additive manufacturing, promote 3D printing technology, and strive for greater social and environmental contributions.