Thursday, May 11th

What a day! This afternoon we headed to the red light district that features a famous bridge in Amsterdam. The bridge is a 3-D printed bridge created by MX3D. This bridge is the world’s first ever printed bridge. It is made out of stainless steel rods with welding gear. 3-D printing technology can lead to more efficient structures which use less material and help with sustainability.

After getting to see the bridge we took a pretty long train ride to the company MX3D (who created the bridge). We got to meet the junior business manager, Pierre who taught us about 3-D printing as a whole and about projects the company has worked on. We learned a lot about the benefits of 3-D printing, which includes flexibility, speed, end to end, easy to use, intelligent automation, and continuous monitoring. 3-D printing allows for an extremely efficient way to create and fix things that before would have taken so long to complete. MX3D has created a solution that gets users through the complete additive manufacturing workflow. For each project there is an exact path and hardware control system that is followed. Starting with design then print feasibility, print parameter, tool-path planning, metal printing, process control, print report, final product. The company also has many printing strategies , including single walls, multi-walls, and different solid in fills. These allow users to easily start printing with existing presets. This visit although was mostly focused towards engineering it was cool to see the different ways they decide to market their products and increase awareness of 3-D printing.

Following the visit we had some free time in the area which was interesting to say the least. There was not really much to do in the area, so we tried to find a bakery to hangout at, but we ended up a facility that processes baked goods… whoops! We then ended up at Burger King for a quick snack. We then headed to this restaurant that focuses on Dutch cuisine and boy… I was not expecting that food. The flavors were very prominent which was not my favorite, but I am glad we had that opportunity to try some of the dishes that are traditionally Dutch. Overall today was an interesting adventure, but I love continuing to grow closer with everyone on the trip!

Now off to the city of Rotterdam!!!!