High-Performance Electronic Devices straight from the 3D Printer

Taufkirchen/Germany, 01 July 2021 – Sensor solutions provider HENSOLDT is strengthening its commitment to the future technology of 3D printing: together with 3D printer manufacturer Nano Dimension, HENSOLDT is founding a joint venture under the name J.A.M.E.S (Jetted Additively Manufactured Electronics Sources), based in Taufkirchen/Germany, which will combine the strengths of both companies and further advance the development of 3D-printed electronic components.

The joint venture is led by HENSOLDT Ventures, an independent division within HENSOLDT that implements new technologies and business models for the HENSOLDT Group and brings them to market. Most recently, HENSOLDT expanded its Ventures portfolio earlier this year with the acquisition of data analytics company SAIL LABS.

"Increasing competition and accelerated customer procurement timelines will be one of the biggest challenges for established providers in the future," says Marian Rachow, Head of HENSOLDT Ventures. "Our joint venture not only guarantees the rapid development of technology as a real alternative to conventional electronics manufacturing, but also offers small and medium-sized companies the opportunity to efficiently design new products."

And Yoav Stern, CEO of Nano Dimension, adds: "We will be the largest and most effective high-end electronics design club for data exchange, as well as a marketplace. We could not find a better collaboration partner than HENSOLDT, who contributes the application know-how and market knowledge, while Nano Dimension contributes the 3D electronics-printing technology and innovation. J.A.M.E.S's target market is the global electronics engineering and circuit design community."

HENSOLDT, as a market leader in the field of sensor technology and optronics, expects the closer cooperation with Nano Dimension to accelerate development cycles as well as spare parts production in order to be able to respond to customer needs more quickly and cost-effectively. With the help of special dielectric and conductive nanoparticle inks, it is possible to design electrical components directly via the printer and bring them into a three-dimensional form.

Nano Dimension is a leading manufacturer of intelligent machines for the production of Additively Manufactured Electronics, or AME, and is already producing the first 3D-printed electronics in its Multi-Jet process. AME is a very agile and customized method for developing electronic circuits. This leads to a significant reduction of time and costs in the development process. In addition, AME delivers a verified design before production begins, resulting in higher quality of the final product.

The newly formed 3D printing joint venture focuses on building a cloud-based platform. In the future, other companies and customers will be able to upload a wide variety of electronic components in their usual CAD software and convert them into a new type of AME file on the platform. They will also be able to obtain further designs via the platform described, modify them, add their own form factor and have them printed on-demand.

HENSOLDT has been investing in basic research into digital 3D printing of electronic components for several years in order to make the advantages of this technology available for its own development and production. For example, in collaboration with Nano Dimension, HENSOLDT has already printed the world's first 10-layer printed circuit board (PCB), which carries soldered high-performance electronic structures on both outer sides, using a specially developed polymer ink from Nano Dimension.