The 3MF Consortium recently announced its latest volumetric design extension for encoding geometrical shapes and spatially diverse properties through a volume-based description. The organization, which seeks to advance a universal specification for 3D printing, is currently calling for public feedback before the new extension reaches 1.0. I spoke with Luis Baldez, executive director of 3MF, to learn more.

Baldez has a background in electronics and software, with the bulk of his career spent at Hewlett-Packard. After being introduced to the world of 3D printing in 2008 and observing the growth of HP’s 3D printing business unit, Baldez saw the need to implement better design tools and file formats for capturing what engineers were trying to design and send to 3D printers.

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