These 3-D printers can print in color and with multiple materials

Dive Brief:

HP launched its Jet Fusion 300/500 series of 3-D printers that can print in full color and with multiple materials at the same time, reported Digital Trends.
This technology will allow manufacturers to produce engineering-grade, functional parts in full color or in black and white with voxel control, according to a statement from HP. A voxel is a 3-D pixel the printers use to create objects and voxel control is what allows the printer to change the material being used to produce the final object.
In an effort to boost its Open Platform, HP is working with partners such as SolidWorks to develop different materials the printers can use at the voxel level.

Dive Insight:

Despite 3-D printing having been around since the 1980s, it wasn't until much later that scientists and researchers embraced its capabilities. The medical field was among the first to adopt 3-D printing through innovations such as synthetic scaffolds of a human bladder, miniature kidney, prosthetic leg and blood vessels using human cells.

Fast forward to today and other industries, including construction, are exploring ways to use 3-D printing. NASA's Centennial Challenge tasks competitors with creating a 3-D printed habitat for Mars. In 2014, NASA installed a 3-D printer at its space station to test-print satellite components. It successfully produced a printhead faceplate engraved with the names of organizations that collaborated on the demonstration.

The technology also is pushing itself to new heights. In December, the California Energy Commission awarded a $1.25 million grant to RCAM Technologies to develop and test 3-D printing so that concrete turbine towers can be constructed onsite. The proposed towers would be 140 meters high, a sizable increase from the standard 80-meter-high towers, and would allow for energy production to increase by more than 20%.

Last year saw several announcements coming out of Europe about new 3-D printed structures. The world's first 3-D printed concrete bridge, produced by Netherlands Eindhoven University of Technology engineers, is a 26-foot-long structure intended for cyclists. It uses 800 layers of reinforced, pre-stressed concrete material that took three months to print. A month later, Denmark-based Printhuset completed the continent's first 3-D printed building; the walls took only 50 hours to print onsite. After finishing touches are complete, the building will house office and hotel space.

According to a July 2017 report research and consulting company MarketsandMarkets, the 3-D printing market will reach a value of $32.78 billion by 2023 at a CAGR of 25.78% between 2017 and 2023.