plast2026 – test innovators

PLAST 2026
Where Ideas
Take Shape

9-12 June 2026
Rho Fiera Milano
Hall 22

Become a protagonist of the next frontier in additive manufacturing!

At the heart of PLAST 2026 (Milan, June 9–12), a unique space is emerging: a square dedicated to the minds redefining the future of manufacturing, materials, and design.

A highly visible 20 x 20 meter exhibition area where research, experimentation, and industry converge to give physical form to the most advanced ideas in additive manufacturing.

A global selection - A unique platform

Following a global mapping of over 1,000 innovators, we are selecting the leading voices shaping the evolution of this field.

If you are here, it is because your work stands among the most relevant contributions to this transformation.

Four dimensions of innovation

The exhibition will be structured around four key areas:

MATERIALS ➔ new matter, new performance
TECHNOLOGIES ➔ advanced processes and machines
CONSTRUCTION SYSTEMS ➔ applications and building systems
DESIGN TECHNIQUES ➔ methods and design approaches

One project will be awarded in each category.

From research to impact

PLAST2026 ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING is a platform to translate research into real-world impact.

Each selected Innovator will deliver a talk and present a prototype on-site, fostering discussion and exchange around emerging directions in additive manufacturing.

Each prototype will be accompanied by a clear and compelling narrative, highlighting its distinctive qualities, implications, and potential.

Innovators

The Innovators featured in PLAST 2026 represent a curated group of researchers, designers, and technologists working at the forefront of additive manufacturing. Coming from leading universities, research centers, and pioneering organizations worldwide, they bring forward experimental approaches, advanced materials, and novel processes that challenge conventional production paradigms. Through their work, they not only showcase cutting-edge prototypes but also contribute to shaping new visions for how additive manufacturing can impact industry, sustainability, and everyday life.

Jochen
Mueller

Jochen Mueller is Assistant Professor in the Whiting School of Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA. His research combines additive manufacturing, functional materials, and computational design to create architected and multifunctional structures with capabilities difficult to achieve by conventional fabrication. His work spans fundamental innovation to practical translation and is informed by industry experience.

Zhang
Ze

Ze Zhang received his PhD in Modern Mechanical Engineering from Waseda University - Tokyo, Japan - and is a researcher at the Next Generation Robotics Institute. His research focuses on additive manufacturing, biosignal processing, and intelligent diagnostics, with an emphasis on integrating advanced manufacturing and brain computer interface technologies for wearable sensing and intelligent systems. His recent work includes hydrogel electronic skin, EEG signal analysis, and high performance 3D printed materials and structures.

Giulia
Grassi

Giulia Grassi is an additive manufacturing expert and computational designer specialized on thermoplastics and 4D printing. Her work explores stimuli-responsive materials and programmable behaviors through additive processes. During her research at Politecnico di Milano, she developed large-scale 3D-printed systems, including a façade for Expo 2020 Dubai. She is currently Technical Specialist at Desktop Metal.

Arif
Rochman

I'm a creative researcher with a passion for research and over two decades of experience in polymer engineering. My research focuses on polymer materials, design, processing, and testing, as well as additive manufacturing. As principal investigator and coordinator, I had led past projects such as MALTI3D, REO3D, and CONFORM as well as have been leading several exciting funded projects, such as VacuUM/VENTO, SPELL3D, and AMBER, a few of which have already had positive impacts on research and industry.

Taylor
Hayden

Serena
Graziosi

Pouyan
Ghabezi

Giulia
Pelliccia

Mateusz
Barczewski

Andrea Detry

INDEXLAB_PLAST2026-SPEAKER_Andrea-Lorenzo-Detry

Matthias
Leschok

Kostas
Grigoriadis

Maciej
Haranczyk

...

Apply now!

If you believe you have developed an innovative 3D-printed thermoplastic prototype, apply by completing the following profile form: https://forms.gle/Qajo5VvhaTrXgjGM8 or write at info@indexlab.it

Selected applicants will be contacted with further details about the initiative, including participation modalities and exhibition opportunities at PLAST 2026.

Key dates

April 16, 2026 — The announcement of participating innovators is now open: as we receive final confirmations, profiles are progressively being published.

April 23, 2026 — An interactive global map showcasing the geographic distribution of the innovators will be released.

April 30, 2026 — A detailed collection of innovations, presented as technical sheets, will be published. [*]

[*] Examples:

Proven success stories ↓

Superframe Cobra
Where 3Dprinting meets quadrangular simplicity.

A project by INDEXLAB – Politecnico di Milano in collaboration with GIMAC and eXgineering.

Cobra is the installation that, for the first time, showcases the use of the Superframe system to discretize a double-curved surface into quadrangular panels. The Superframe system’s uniqueness lies in the connections between the panels, which are formed by 3D-printed structural frames attached to the back of the panels. These frames serve as both the joints and the structural support, seamlessly integrating the components into a unified whole.

Superframe addresses a key technical challenge: the torsions and stresses typically encountered when approximating curved surfaces. This is achieved through advanced material extrusion technology, which prints the frames along paths designed to accommodate and resolve these distortions.

The system is produced using RAM (Robotic Additive Moulding), a process that employs recycled plastic to create 3D-printed frames, making it an innovative and sustainable solution. These frames can be paired with any cladding material, whether for interior or exterior applications, offering limitless design possibilities.

New01Bike
The 1st 100% recycled 3D printed polycarbonate bike frame.

A project by INDEXLAB – Politecnico di Milano in collaboration with GIMAC and eXgineering.

Currently on display at the Design Museum in Munich (Pinakothek der Moderne) as part of a selection of 70 bicycles spanning from the late 1800s to 2022 (THE BICYCLE CULT OBJECT - DESIGN OBJECT), New01bike represents the latest evolutionary link in the history of the bicycle. It exemplifies how design, technology, and materials combine to create a contemporary product that is in line with the most advanced design and production techniques.

New01bike is conceived in the form of an algorithm to be produced through a non-planar 3D printing process. Personalization is in its DNA, allowing it to adapt to different sizes and aesthetic-functional features. The frame of New01bike is the first 100% recycled and recyclable polycarbonate frame. Utilizing technologies that involve robotic manufacturing and computational design processes, the New01bike’s first working prototype takes approximately eight hours to manufacture from start to finish, including printing, milling, and assembly.

https://www.new01bike.com/

One line two coils

Robotic manufacturing transforming armchair design.

A project by Ron Arad, developed by INDEXLAB, GIMAC and eXgineering.

The One Line Two Coils armchair, designed by Ron Arad, showcases how robotic additive manufacturing can transform furniture design. It introduces a novel approach to producing double-curved, complex geometries that are traditionally challenging and costly to manufacture.

The One Line Two Coils armchair is produced in conformal printing by eXgineering and Indexlab, using an industrial robot, and a Gimac extruder as end-effector. The nozzle has a diameter of 5mm, extrudes a blend of post-industrial recycled polycarbonate pellets and 30% short carbon fiber. The adaptive layer height 3D printing technique allows to create a layer variation from 0.15mm to 3.3mm, with which to produce the variable geometry of the chair, which is printed on a reusable mould, also 3D printed. The double-curvature of the chair makes it complex and very expensive if not impossible to produce it using an injection molding technique, while through robotic 3D printing production costs are considerably reduced and the material can be recycled up to 4 times for the same chair without losing its mechanical characteristics.

HoloArmor

Smart safety wearable for human-robot collaboration.

A project by INDEXLAB – Politecnico di Milano in collaboration with GIMAC and eXgineering.

HoloArmor is an advanced wearable device developed specifically for use in 3D printing industrial settings, designed to enhance safety and efficiency through its seamless integration of innovative materials and technologies.

Equipped with IMU sensors and integrated with a vision-based tracking system, HoloArmor captures precise human posture and movement data, utilizing digital twin models of robotic arms to calculate spatial relationships. This enables its chest-mounted array of eight haptic actuators to deliver directional and distance-based tactile warnings in real time. Additionally, its onboard gas sensors monitor critical environmental parameters, including CO₂, VOCs, PM2.5, PM10, CO, temperature, and humidity, providing immediate hazard detection. Looking ahead, HoloArmor aims to incorporate radiation detection, fatigue monitoring, physiological analysis, and predictive risk assessment, establishing a new standard in intelligent safety solutions for industrial human-robot collaboration.