Inside the 3DPI Awards: How the Industry Comes Together

The 3D Printing Industry Awards go beyond recognising categories and winners. They provide a recurring moment for the additive manufacturing community to come together and reflect on progress across the industry. An expert committee and an open, discussion-driven process bring together engineers, founders, researchers, manufacturers, resellers, creators, and long-time industry voices. This collective input helps shape a shared view of what matters most in 3D printing.

This guide takes you inside the 3DPI Awards experience, exploring how the awards work, why they matter to the industry, and what makes them a meaningful meeting point for the 3D printing community, whether you are an engineer, designer, startup, manufacturer, or member of the media.

Table of Contents

• What Are the 3DPI Awards?
• How the 3DPI Awards Are Shaped
• Matrices and Voting: How Does it Work?
• Industry Perspectives on the 3DPI Awards
• 3DPI Awards 2023 Highlights
• How to Take Part in the 3DPI Awards
• Final Thoughts

What Are the 3DPI Awards?

The 3D Printing Industry Awards #3DPIAwards are an annual industry celebration recognising standout work across additive manufacturing. Depending on the year, categories can span hardware, materials, software, applications, and broader contributions that shape the AM ecosystem.

First launched in the late 2010s, the 3D Printing Industry Awards have grown into a well-established annual reference point for the additive manufacturing sector. Over time, the awards have mirrored the industry’s evolution across a broad range of technologies, applications, and industry segments.

How the 3DPI Awards Are Shaped

At the centre of the 3DPI Awards is Michael Petch and the team at 3dprintingindustry.com. His contribution goes far beyond hosting an awards programme. Over time, he has helped build a framework that genuinely brings the 3D printing community together and encourages shared understanding across the industry.

Over my 10 years of experience in 3D printing, I have seen how valuable it is to participate in the expert committee process. These discussions often extend well beyond the awards themselves. At trade shows and industry events, it becomes much easier to start meaningful conversations, even when coming from very different perspectives, such as desktop and industrial systems, hardware and software, or startups and global manufacturers. We tend to share the same interests and overlapping networks. By bringing people together and encouraging open discussion during scoring matrix sessions, Michael plays a key role in making these connections possible.

Matrices and Voting: How Does it Work?

The 3D Printing Industry Awards use a blended approach that combines public participation with expert committee input. In practice, the community takes part through public nominations and voting, while an expert committee supports the process to help ensure categories are evaluated with broader context beyond popularity alone. For the most up to date details, see the official nomination announcement and the expert committee overview on 3D Printing Industry.

Michael Petch, Grant Posner @3DMusketeers, Vicky Somma @TGAW, and I spent a dedicated meeting session reviewing and discussing scoring matrices, debating criteria, and challenging assumptions. These kinds of discussions offer a different perspective on the industry as a whole.

Another valuable aspect is that Michael gathers insights from these sessions and uses them to refine scoring matrices for future awards. By participating in this process, contributors help shape how the awards continue to evolve.

Industry Perspectives on the 3DPI Awards

To better reflect how the 3DPI Awards are perceived across the industry, we asked contributors and industry voices to share their perspective on what the awards represent and why they matter.

“The 3D Printing Industry Awards are a great snapshot of the progress in the additive manufacturing industry, spanning hardware, software, applications, and the key people behind them.

These awards are a powerful way to recognize the standout success stories in the ever-expanding additive manufacturing industry.” Andrew Sink

3DPI Awards 2023 Highlights

Here is a glimpse of the 3D Printing Industry Awards 2023 ceremony in London. The awards ceremony itself was truly spectacular and a highlight of the year. Meeting industry leaders in person, and celebrating achievements together made the event a valuable experience.

Read more: Who won the 2023 3D Printing Industry Awards?

This group photo captures memorable faces from the desktop and consumer 3D printing community, including Joseph Průša, Alan Puccinelli (Repkord), Ellie Rose (CocoaPress), Michael Petch, Ellie Rose’s partner, Zack Freedman with partner.

Moments like this highlight what makes the 3DPI Awards special beyond the trophies themselves. Bringing together familiar faces from the desktop and consumer 3D printing community alongside industry leaders creates an atmosphere that is both celebratory and genuinely personal. Sharing the same space, conversations, and tables reinforces the sense of community. And, of course, events like these are widely regarded as valuable networking opportunities.

How to Follow the 3DPI Awards

For those who want to stay up to date or take part, nominations for the upcoming Awards are announced on 3D Printing Industry’s website and shared across their social channels. You can find the latest update here: Nominations open for the 3D Printing Industry Awards. Following the conversation on social media under #3DPIAwards is also a good way to keep track of key dates, categories, and industry discussion.

Final Thoughts

In a space as broad and fast-moving as additive manufacturing, continuity matters. The 3DPI Awards provide that continuity by bringing the community together and making the industry feel connected, not just technologically, but socially and culturally.