Canada Makes 3D Challenge Trophy, Concept to Product

The trophy was recently awarded to the team of Lisa Brock and Yanli Zhu from the University of Waterloo and their design of biodegradable packaging made from mushroom roots. canadamakes.ca/canada-makes-ann…eam-3d-challenge/

The award was presented during the first Conference of NSERC Network for Holistic Innovation in Additive Manufacturing (HI-AM) at the University of Waterloo.

WINNING TEAM OF YANLI ZHU AND LISA BROCK OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO WITH FRANK DEFALCO OF CANADA MAKES

Students were asked to focus on creating innovative tools or products that reduce our environmental footprint using additive manufacturing in tandem with conventional manufacturing approaches.

Lisa Brock and Yanli Zhu proposed the design of biodegradable packaging made from mushroom roots and agricultural waste using binder jetting additive manufacturing. The packaging design was created by optically 3D scanning the object. Approximately 10% of materials used in additive manufacturing can be recycled into new plastics, and the rest are disposed. The options for disposal are landfills and incineration, both of which increase the amount of greenhouse gases. Therefore, new biobased biodegradable materials must be developed to decrease the negative environmental impacts of these additive manufacturing plastics. https://youtu.be/XKU-BHKuGZI