Call for Participation: Re-imagining the futures of 3D printing in society – Scientific symposium and expert scenario workshop

March 23rd – 24th 2021 – Virtual event

This international symposium brings together leading experts on 3D printing in the social sciences and humanities. 3D printing changed imagining future production and consumption, technological capabilities and use-cases advance, mature, and diversify. Many promises have already been fulfilled, others keep motivating research and development, despite setbacks. Now, after the great hype, it is time to review the paths of research and assess novel scenarios – both in their way of portraying societal issues and regarding their potential impact. However, the social imagination of 3D printing in society needs to diversify as well. Our aim is to foster the international debate on viable and desirable futures by taking stock of and re-imagining 3D printing in society. We are looking forward to debates about the social shaping, political governance, and ethics of 3D printing and to discuss scenarios with experts for social, ecological, economic, ethical, and political dimensions. In addition to presentations and workshop formats, the symposium will entail a public event.

Speakers: Carla Alvial-Palavicino (Utrecht University), Aaron Bastani (Novara Media), Kean Birch (York University), Thomas Birtchnell (University of Wollongong), Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld (Brandeis University), Angela Daly (Strathclyde University), Alan Gershenfeld (E-Line Media), Neil Gershenfeld (MIT), Armin Grunwald (KIT), Phoebe Li (Sussex University), Alfred Nordmann (TU Darmstadt), Ulrich Petschow (IÖW Berlin), Jan-Felix Schrape (University of Stuttgart), Peter Troxler (Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences), Niki Vermeulen (Edinburgh University)

Preliminary program:

http://www.itas.kit.edu/veranstaltungen_2021_re-imagining_futures_of_3d_printing.php

Call for participation: We invite researchers of all stages in their career to take part in the online symposium by way of a poster presentation. Please send an email together with a brief abstract on how your research addresses societal futures of 3D printing.

Participation without presenting a poster is also possible. In this case please send an email with a few sentences detailing your interest and motivation to join.

Please write to Mariana Leshkovych (mariana.leshkovych9@kit.edu) until 15th January 2021 due to a limited number of participants.

The symposium is organized by the project “Vision assessment of scalable 3D printing” which is part of the Cluster of Excellence “3D Matter Made to Order”, a joint initiative of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and Heidelberg University. The main task of the Cluster is to take 3D Additive Manufacturing to the next level. The symposium is funded by the Hector Fellow Academy. The project Vision assessment of scalable 3D printing is funded by the Carl Zeiss Foundation.