Formnext celebrated its tenth birthday with a bang at this year’s event. The showfloor was full of new products designed to inspire fresh solutions to long-standing engineering problems.
To shine a spotlight on the technologies that truly capture the show’s pioneering spirit, Formnext once again held its annual awards ceremony. This year, there were six categories recognizing the best start-up, rookie, design, sustainability, (R) Evolution, and the AMbassador Award.
3D Mag was live on the showfloor throughout the event and we attended the Formnext Awards ceremony to give the winners our applause! Let’s take a closer look at the nominees and prize winners for this year’s show. You can find our full Formnext 2025 launch round-up here.
AMbassador Award
We’ll start with the AMbassador Award – an honor designed to recognize organizations or people that have made a significant impact on the 3D printing industry. This year, Irena Heuzeroth won the prize for her course taught at Würzburg-Schweinfurt Chamber of Industry and Commerce and the SKZ, which covers the full additive manufacturing workflow.
According to Formnext organizer Mesago Messe Frankfurt, the jury were impressed by the practical nature of her tuition. Given the tough macroeconomic climate, manufacturers are now harder to convince about the benefits of switching to 3D printing. In this context, well-trained AM specialists are vital to ensuring smooth adoption, making Heuzeroth a worthy winner!
Design Award
This year’s Design Award was hotly contested with many interesting 3D printing applications on the shortlist. Honorary mentions include The Limb Kind, a prosthetic customization initiative that began in Kenya, and has since expanded into Sri Lanka and Zambia. Similarly to Artec 3D’s Rwanda project, these medical devices are customized with a form of 3D data capture.
Alongside these impressive MJF-3D printed prosthetics (pictured below), IKM Flux, EOS, and ToffeeX were nominated for a flux vaporizer that measures heat with far greater accuracy. Among other things, this is said to be made possible by thermo-fluidic topology optimization.
The overall winner was The Hochschule für Gestaltung Schwäbisch Gmünd’s “Grabbit” hand therapy device. Featuring TPU lattice structures built on a PA12 and ash wood base, the design comes in various formats, each for retraining the hand in case of weakness or injury.
Jury member, Technical University of Darmstadt’s Prof. Oliver Tessmann, is said to have been especially impressed by the quality and diversity of this year’s entries: “The submissions for this award fascinate me every year because the entrants really run the gamut, from large corporations to up-and-coming designers. In the end, it’s the most exciting and relevant idea that counts, and the field is always open.”
(R)Evolution Award
The standout application in this year’s (R)Evolution Award category won the big prize! Laempe Mössner Sinto has developed a unique technology for automating the production of sand cores at industrial foundries. Now in operation at the BMW Group, this workflow covers the full value chain, allowing for the binder jet 3D printing of 1,100 cores per day with greater sustainability.
Given that it’s all about added-value for the user, this award had a worthy winner – especially considering that its approach is already being applied by a major automotive OEM!
Rookie Award
Each year, Formnext’s Rookie Award celebrates those who have either not yet founded a company, or they did so less than a year ago. This makes it a great opportunity for newcomers to show what they’re capable of – and generate positive coverage before they hit the market.
The winner of the 2025 edition was “3DMyMask,” a project that combines 3D face scanning with silicone 3D printing to create custom masks for treating respiratory disorders. As you can see in the slightly bizarre display (pictured below), the masks can be scaled to fit patients ranging from babies to full-grown adults. Designed by neonatologists, engineers, and entrepreneurs, all of whom are involved in the IAM3DHUB, it could find widespread medical use cases.
“The quality and diversity of this year’s submissions are a striking demonstration of how AM is driving innovation across industries and thereby opening up more and more new industrial applications,” explained Dr. Sascha Schwarz, CTO and Managing Director of Additive Manufacturing at TUM Venture Labs, as well as a jury member for the Formnext Rookie and Start-up Awards. “The Rookie Award finalists represent the next generation of marketable innovations that are only possible with AM. They offer a compelling combination of pioneering technologies, entrepreneurial spirit, and a clear vision for the future of production.“
Start-up Award
As always, Formnext had a huge Start-up Area, where freshly founded companies could meet and discuss the potential of their 3D printing businesses with industry heavyweights. It also provided the perfect opportunity for newcomers to showcase their latest technologies.
Among the many exhibitors, including Allonic, with its robot tissue-braiding technology and Osseolabs, which promoted 3D printed surgical planning solutions, Fluxo Technologies was crowned the winner. The start-up’s Volumetric AM process cures entire layers simultaneously for faster 3D printing. On the quality of this year’s entries, industry stalwart Alex Kingsbury praised them for “laying the groundwork for meaningful change” across industries.
Sustainability Award
Finally, moving from newcomers to industry leaders, EOS was crowned winner in the final category for 3D printing lifecycle sustainability. Specifically, the company’s Electro Optical Systems were praised for neutralizing reactive metal 3D printing byproducts. Showcased at Formnext, the technology turns hazardous particles into safely disposable metal oxides.
Protecting the environment while improving efficiency at the same time, the process is a shining example of how eco-friendly advances can help drive 3D printing forwards. Previous 3D Mag contributor, AMGTA Executive Director, and award jury member Sherri Monroe hailed the viability, variability, and impact of all entrants, describing them as “very strong” efforts.
