Women in 3D Printing (Wi3DP), a non-profit champion of female participation in additive manufacturing, has published the agenda ahead of its second annual TIPE 3D printing Conference.
Set to be held online from January 18-20, 2022, the event will feature contributions from over 170 global industry insiders, on 3D printing technology, as well as the wider sector and the people that drive it. Like last year, TIPE 2022 has also assembled an all-women keynote speaker lineup, with innovators from the worlds of fashion, architecture and coding expected to provide their inclusivity-driving insights.
“I’m excited to join Women in 3D Printing’s TIPE Conference to highlight real challenges women encounter within their careers,” said Reshma Saujani, CEO of Marshall Plan for Moms and Founder of Girls Who Code. “It takes an entire community like Women in 3D Printing and Marshall Plan for Moms to make change and close the gender gap within companies.”
Closing 3D printing’s gender-gap
Founded in 2014, Wi3DP is an organization dedicated to promoting the role women have to play in the additive manufacturing industry. According to the group, only 13% of those working in the sector are female, thus it’s currently deprived of the insight provided by rich workforce diversity. In order to rebalance this gender-gap, Wi3DP has therefore set out to raise women’s participation in 3D printing to 50%.
To drive further awareness of its goals, the organization has held numerous events at its individual chapters around the world, building up a community of 10,000 members across 23 countries along the way. In the initial stages, these ‘#3DTalk’ events focused on lending a platform to those women blazing a trail in 3D printing at some of the sector’s biggest events like RAPID + TCT and America Makes’ TRX.
Since then, Wi3DP has stepped up its diversity-driving efforts, by holding its first TIPE 3D printing Conference in 2021. Featuring the first all-female lineup of speakers and panelists of any 3D printing event, the two-day show, which was designed to provide a platform on which women could share their experiences, expertise and visions for the sector, gained a lot of traction and backing from leading AM firms.
“The impact of TIPE 2021 was unprecedented,” said Mara Hitner, VP of Strategic Partnerships at TIPE platinum sponsor MatterHackers. “After months of seeing the same case studies, research, and points of view in virtual conferences, it was a blessing to the industry to have a conference proactively searching for different perspectives to spark new conversations.”
“My favorite and most frequently heard bit of feedback was that attendees loved seeing fresh faces and hearing from voices they had never heard from before.”
TIPE 2022’s female-led lineup
Headlining this year’s TIPE Conference are Anouk Wipprecht, Julia Koerner and Reshma Saujani, three prominent female figures working to advance womens’ role in 3D printing. As a ‘fashtiontech’ designer, Wipprecht has worked with the likes of Materialise and Shapeways to establish a portfolio of ‘tech couture garments,’ experience she will no doubt draw upon to provide a glimpse into fashion’s future.
Koerner, on the other hand, is an award-winning designer specializing in the convergence of architecture, robotics and 3D printing, whose work has been featured by National Geographic and Paris Haute Couture among others, while Saujani has founded two organizations and authored a book, dedicated to helping advance the movements that fight for women and girls’ economic empowerment.
Saujani’s Girls Who Code initiative is particularly active in promoting the latter. Having found that just 24% of computer scientists today are women, the organization has now taken action by launching clubs, summer programs and university networks for female students at various academic levels, which offer support to those seeking to learn to code.
In addition to these esteemed presenters, industry leaders from firms like HP, Desktop Metal, Carbon, Henkel and Stratasys are also set to speak at the event, as are prominent figures from the wider manufacturing sector, ranging from Stanley Black & Decker and Pratt & Whitney, to aerospace-focused organizations like NASA and Lockheed Martin.
Wi3DP unveils its TIPE 2022 agenda
Ahead of this year’s TIPE 3D printing Conference, Wi3DP has now revealed the event’s agenda. Broadly set to follow four tracks: Technology, Industry, People and Economics, the conference is expected to include discussions led by leaders and innovators from across the aerospace, medical, consumer, automotive, industrial and non-profit sectors.
Although the event’s agenda is subject to change, Wi3DP’s initial outline has shown that sessions will cover topics ranging from boosting diversity and driving down the cost of metal 3D printing on its first day, to the technology’s in-sourcing benefits on its second, with speakers present from the likes of Xometry, Skuld LLC and AMT.
On its third day, TIPE 2022 is also scheduled to hold a Virtual Career Fair. Following hot on the heels of its first such event in mid-2021, which attracted 15 companies and more than 300 job seekers, this year’s is set to host several leading industry hiring firms, including 3YOURMIND, DMG MORI, Fast Radius, H.C Starck, AON3D, EOS, GE, Mantle, MatterHackers, Würth, Nexa3D, Link3D and more.
Backed by platinum sponsors SME, TRUMPF, GE Additive, MatterHackers and Stratasys, this year’s conference is expected to take place from January 18-20, 2022, starting at different times across its three days between 7:30 am and 11:30 pm PST.
Those interested in taking part can register to attend here.
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Featured image shows the TIPE 2022 3D printing Conference logo. Image via Wi3DP.
