Only one and a half week until Material Xperience 2018! The annual material trade fair will take place in Rotterdam Ahoy, the Netherlands. This year, we show you materials and special items from the world of architecture, interior, fashion & workwear, products, mobility, and graphic & packaging. In the upcoming weeks, we’ll give you a preview of what you can expect in each sector and how to get a free ticket. This week: meet the future of Mobility!

Ambassador of the sector Mobility
Our ambassador for the sector Mobility this year is Erik Tempelman, associate professor Design Engineering at Technical University of Delft, the Netherlands. Tempelman has been working with design, innovation and materials for more than 20 years, both in industrial and academic settings. Recently completed projects include the Nature Inspired Design collaboration and the EU-funded Light.Touch.Matters project. He is also known for his work on manufacturing and design, together with Cambridge University and Studio Ninaber.

Exhibition pieces
At Material Xperience, you can enjoy various innovative mobility related exhibition pieces. Below, you’ll find a small preview.

3D printed ship’s propeller
This propeller is 3D printed from stainless steel, and was created by RAMLAB (Rotterdam Additive Manufacturing LAB), the company that made the world’s first 3D printed ship’s propeller, the WAAMpeller.

Dutchfiets
The Dutch start-up Dutchfiets created a bicycle entirely made from recyclable plastic. The plastic (PE) used for the bicycle is easily recyclable and energy efficient to produce. In addition, it is a very cheap and light material, and it doesn’t rust, unlike steel.

Mokumono
Dutch start-up Mokumono wants to bring the production process of bikes back to The Netherlands. To do so, they created a fully automated production process that makes strong and lightweight aluminium frames from sheet metal.

Lecture programme
Tuesday afternoon 13 March, the lecture programme “Meet the Future of… Mobility” takes place in the Material Xperience theatre. Speakers are Erik Tempelman (Associate professor Design Engineering at TU Delft), Adriaan Beukers (AB Composites Consultants), Tom Schiller (Mokumono), Jeroen Droogsma (Vripack) and Rene de Vries (Aito-Touch). For the full programme, click here.

Materials from the Materia collection
As always, Materia will also showcase the most innovative materials. Which materials can you expect for the sector mobility? Here is a little preview:

Press mouldings (ONA692)
Natural fibre moulded parts are produced by high pressure moulding on the basis of a prepreg (a nonwoven fabric impregnated with thermosetting binder). From the prepregs, any three-dimensional free-form surfaces can be produced, as long as they meet certain geometric requirements.

Micromoulded biocomposites (ONA700)

Designer Bas Froon developed a ‘micromoulding’ machine that makes it possible to locally change material qualities from a soft material into a strong and lightweight plastic. The micromoulding process makes uses thermoplastic composite materials: natural fibres or recycled textiles combined with biobased plastic like PLA.

Structural veneer (WOO366)

Structural Veneer consists of thin-gauge Grip Metal mechanically bonded to wood veneer in a corrugated structure. Grip Metal is a patented stamping process created to modify sheet metal, applying an array of micro-formed hooks that can physically adhere with other materials without the use of traditional adhesives.

Want to see more? Click here for the newest materials in our collection!

Visit us
Ready to submerge in material innovation? Material Xperience 2018 takes place from Tuesday 13 March until Thursday 15 March, in Rotterdam Ahoy, the Netherlands. For more information, updates, and a free ticket, click here!