The organizers of Formnext have announced the finalists for the 2026 Formnext Awards, which recognize achievements in additive manufacturing (AM) across six categories. This year’s shortlist spans new production technologies, applications in textiles, aerospace and medicine, and projects in recycling and education.
Finalists will be displayed at the Formnext Awards Showcase (Hall 11.0, booth F60) during the show, which runs November 17–20. Winners will be announced at 4:10 pm. on November 19 on the Industry & Application Stage (Hall 11.0, booth D72). Public voting is open until noon that day and counts as one additional jury vote.
AMbassador Award
This award honors people and organizations that advance AM through education, training or advocacy. Dr. Michael Kraemer of TU Darmstadt’s AM Center trains 50 to 60 students a year, along with apprentices and industry professionals. Professor Leroy Gardner’s Steel Structures Research Group at Imperial College London is bringing metal AM into construction, including the world’s first 3D-printed steel bridge, built with MX3D. Luan Saldanha of Aditiva Brasil completes the list for mapping Brazil’s AM ecosystem.
Design Award
Maya Kaplan of the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology printed a bra on a desktop FDM machine, with elasticity, support and compression built into its structure. A team at the Levin Center of Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center developed a single-piece titanium implant shaped to the patient’s anatomy for young bone cancer patients. Indian start-up Agnikul Cosmos is shortlisted for a one-piece, 3D-printed Inconel rocket engine that flew in 2024.
(R)Evolution Award
Fyous’s GHOST machine forms temporary molds for dental aligners and retainers using thousands of movable pins. Thought3D’s Drywise dries only the section of filament about to be extruded, rather than the whole spool. Boston Micro Fabrication’s microArch S150 is a desktop printer with 25 µm optical resolution for microfluidic and fiber-optic parts.
Rookie Award
For founders whose companies are less than a year old, or not yet registered, the finalists are cAIclone, which designs AI-optimized printed hydrocyclones for battery recycling; FlexCycle Solutions, which mechanically turns electronics waste into copper powder for AM; and Spaceform, which vacuum-dries a metal-powder suspension before laser processing to create a more stable powder layer.
Start-up Award
Five young companies with market-ready products made the cut: Aumatis, which automates investment casting from printed models; sallea, which prints soluble cores for lightweight composite parts; Hydra Manufacturing and additiveStream4D, both developing hybrid metal and ceramic processes; and QH Build, whose simulation software cut implementation time by 72% in one metal DED project.
Sustainability Award
FlexCycle Solutions appears again here, alongside BMF GmbH, which pairs its blasting systems with a 3D printer so customers can produce plastic spare parts on demand, and Baker Hughes, whose Manufacturing Carbon Platform tracks the environmental impact of AM production from quotation to delivery.
Awards ceremony and voting
Winners in each category will receive cash and non-cash prizes, along with trophies designed by SutoSuto and produced by FKM Additive Manufacturing. Finalist profiles and voting are available at formnext.com/awards.
Join Artec 3D at Formnext 2026
Formnext is the world’s largest event dedicated to 3D technology, and Artec 3D will be exhibiting alongside the award finalists. The company will give the European premiere of Artec Neo, its new tolerance-driven 3D scanner, and show Artec Twins, its recently launched software for 3D scanning large areas, which also features Gaussian Splatting. Visitors can get hands-on demos of the full scanner lineup and see how scanning supports additive manufacturing.
Artec 3D will be exhibiting in Hall 11 at Booth D45. Industry visitors are welcome to contact marketing@artec3d.com for free tickets to the event.
