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The Materialise Group
With its headquarters in Leuven, Belgium and branches all over the world, the Materialise Group is best known for its activities in the field of rapid industrial and medical prototyping. Apart from having the largest capacity of rapid prototyping equipment in Europe, Materialise enjoys a worldwide reputation as provider of innovative software solutions. As such, Materialise has acquired the position of market leader for 3D printing and Digital CAD software in addition to being a major player in medical and dental image processing and surgery simulation. Moreover, through its unique .MGX division for design products, Materialise is currently opening the market for customized Rapid Manufacturing. The customer base includes all large companies in the automotive, consumer electronics and consumables sectors. Its medical and dental products are used worldwide by famous hospitals, research institutes and clinicians. Unique design shops all over the world rely on Materialise.MGX. The group has several subsidiaries in Europe, Asia and the USA, and employs over 700 people in its 4 divisions.
Materialise Industrial Services offers a whole range of technologies to assist product developers in designing the perfect product. Prototypes have become the basis for the entire process that precedes a product's introduction to the market. The past decades have witnessed a need for new manufacturing technologies that build parts on a layer-by-layer basis (3D printing). These 3D printing techniques reduce manufacturing time for parts - even the most complex ones - from days, weeks or months to hours. We don't call it RAPID for nothing. Rapid prototyping has revolutionized the product development sector, and Materialise is one of the prime movers behind that revolution.
Materialise has an extensive experience in medical imaging software, in which it provided surgeons with the most detailed and precise virtual 3D models available. Implant placement and surgery simulation packages offer increased opportunities for developing state-of-the art techniques for minimally invasive procedures. Clinicians around the world use rapid prototyping models and templates created by Materialise software to assist them in the most complex surgical cases.
Today's designers dream of the challenge of watching products transform from the intangible existence of virtual imagery into material reality. Materialise manufactures products derived from 3D graphic animation software. Thanks to advanced mathematical modifiers, this software enables designers to realize complex forms never before achieved in CAD. (Designers gain even more freedom through dismissal of the usual production requirements.)