Materialise to Implement 3-matic STL for Additive Manufacturing in the Altair Partner Alliance

TROY, Mich., June 4, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Altair Partner Alliance (APA) announced that 3-matic STL by Materialise will be available through the program in 2014. This software enables design modification, remeshing, and the creation of 3D textures, lightweight models and conformal structures, all on STL level. 3-matic STL is used to quickly prepare computer-aided design (CAD) files from topology optimization, as well as to clean them up for 3D printing.

"We are very pleased to join the Altair Partner Alliance. We believe that our technologies are complementary and thus strengthen each other," said Lieve Boeykens, Brand Manager for Materialise. "We are happy that we can offer Altair's customers a more complete solution when they are working with topology optimization, and look forward to welcoming them as our own customers. Together, Altair and 3-matic STL offer a complete toolbox to materialise topology-optimized files into real parts."

With 3-matic STL, design modifications may be made directly on the STL, the scanned model or the CAD data. Rough STL files can be smoothened, reconstructed and simplified, creating a cleaner part.  Making changes at this level ensures that the file is immediately ready for further finite element analysis or 3D printing. Additionally, 3-matic STL can add lattice structure to the design, saving even more material.

"The combination of topology optimization and additive manufacturing methods not only creates expanded possibilities for design but also introduces interesting new challenges," said James Dagg, Chief Technology Officer at Altair. "By working as partners, Altair and Materialise can help the engineering community overcome these challenges, drive innovation and leverage the full potential of additive manufacturing."

Belgium-based Materialise will be visiting Detroit for the upcoming Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) RAPID Conference and Expo, taking place June 9-12 at Cobo Center. The conference is the longest-running exposition dedicated to additive manufacturing and rapid prototyping, including 3D printing and scanning.

Materialise teams up annually with SME to host an evening networking reception during RAPID, to which Jim Scapa, Altair's Chief Executive Officer, has been invited as a guest of honor in 2014. During the reception, Materialise will host a slot car competition to promote 3D printing and the Motor City. Altair's solidThinking team will participate with an entry developed using solidThinking Inspire® software.

Materialise will also be sponsoring the 2014 European Altair Technology Conference taking place in Munich, Germany from June 24-26.

3-matic STL is expected to be made available through the APA program for Altair HyperWorks® users later this year.

About Materialise

With its headquarters in Leuven, Belgium, and branches worldwide, Materialise has been playing an active role in the field of Additive Manufacturing (AM) since 1990. In addition to having the largest single-site capacity of AM equipment in Europe, Materialise also enjoys a stellar reputation as a provider of innovative software solutions. They have used their experience and expertise to create a better and healthier world through their involvement in AM for industrial and medical applications, and by providing bio-medical and clinical solutions such as medical image processing and surgical simulations. Materialise has developed unique solutions that make a world of difference for its many customers with their prototyping, production, and medical needs. These customers range from large companies in the automotive, consumer electronics, and consumables sectors; to famous hospitals, research institutes, and clinicians; to individual consumers interested in bringing their own unique creations to life through i.materialise or who want to purchase a celebrated .MGX design.

About the Altair Partner Alliance

Altair's HyperWorks® platform applies a revolutionary subscription-based licensing model in which customers use floating licenses to access a broad suite of Altair-developed, as well as third-party, software applications on demand. The Altair Partner Alliance effectively extends the HyperWorks platform from more than 20 internally developed solutions to upwards of 60 applications with the addition of new partner applications. Customers can invoke these third-party applications at no incremental cost using their existing HyperWorks licenses. Customers benefit from unmatched flexibility and access, resulting in maximum software utilization, productivity and ROI. For more information about the Altair Partner Alliance, visit www.altairalliance.com.

About Altair

Altair is focused on the development and broad application of simulation technology to synthesize and optimize designs, processes and decisions for improved business performance. Privately held with more than 2,000 employees, Altair is headquartered in Troy, Michigan, USA and operates more than 40 offices throughout 20 countries. Today, Altair serves more than 5,000 corporate clients across broad industry segments. To learn more, please visit www.altair.com.

SOURCE Altair Engineering