2026 3D Printing Industry Awards open public voting on finalists in over 20 categories

The 3D Printing Industry Awards have named their 2026 finalists, and readers can now vote. The shortlist covers industrial metal and polymer systems, desktop printers, software, materials, start-ups, research teams, applications in aerospace, mobility, energy and medicine, and people active in the community. The awards began in 2016 and the publisher is releasing nominee profiles during the nomination period.

Which categories can readers vote on?

The shortlist covers people, products and projects. Community Advocate finalists include representatives of the 3MF Consortium, CECIMO, Materialise, Additive Manufacturing UK and Mobility Goes Additive, plus the maintainer of the Klipper firmware. Hardware is split into desktop FFF, desktop non-FFF, enterprise polymer and enterprise metal printers, and company awards are split between personal and enterprise markets. Separate awards exist for materials companies, start-ups, 3D scanning and metrology firms, resellers and designers.

What does the sustainability shortlist show?

Nominees address resource use and material recovery. They include conversion of polymer powder waste into filament, reclaimed metal powders, scrap recovery together with Siemens Energy, a recycled-content PA12 powder, and a powder made from recycled aluminium feedstock. Applications include Equinor's digital inventory with local spare-part production, recycled-plastic construction trusses and passive data-centre cooling.

Which technologies and applications are in the running?

Software finalists range from CAD and build preparation to simulation, AI-assisted design and procurement platforms. Research nominees come from institutions such as Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Lawrence Livermore, Loughborough and KU Leuven with Materialise. Application categories cover aerospace and defence parts, rail spares from Deutsche Bahn, Formula 1 power-unit components, wind and nuclear energy, and medical products such as patient-specific knee components and shoulder guides.

What it means

Award shortlists are not a quality test, and public votes say little about suitability for a given production task. They are still a quick map of where the sector sees momentum: powder recycling, spare-part workflows, process simulation and quality data feature prominently. For small and mid sized EU manufacturers, the application nominees, such as rail spares and energy components, are more useful than the hardware lists, because they show use cases with a business case and qualification path behind them.

Frequently asked questions

When did the 3D Printing Industry Awards start?

The awards were launched in 2016 and recognise companies, individuals, technologies and applications in additive manufacturing.

Who can vote in the 2026 awards?

Readers are invited to review the finalists and vote across the categories now that voting is open.

Does the shortlist include industrial metal printers?

Yes. The Enterprise Metals category lists systems from vendors including EOS, Nikon SLM Solutions, Renishaw, Meltio and Freemelt, alongside several others.