Today, there is a 3D printing process that shapes products according to the required designs and geometries, even the most complex, using recycled plastic through Robotic Additive Moulding (RAM) technology, which combines materials of different natures and types-rigid and soft, conductive and insulating, colored and transparent-offering different configuration possibilities and giving designers unparalleled creative freedom.
“We help designers to realize what they have imagined and also to save money on materials,” explains Simone Maccagnan, CEO & Founder of eXgineering, a start-up that combines materials science, precision mechanics and a long experience in the field of microextrusion, an industrial manufacturing process that produces parts with a constant cross section and without welds (tubes, sheets, rods, etc…), with very low material volumes, able to avoid mechanical and thermal degradation.
Exgineering was born within Gimac, your family-owned company based in Castronno (Varese, Italy), manufacturer of polymer processing equipment systems for biomedical and pharmaceutical devices.
We are known worldwide for our precision capabilities in the production of catheter and balloon tubing components; our niche has always been 100% medical.
How and when did you decide to get into 3D printing and design?
Back in the early 1980s, my father developed a system that made it possible to build eyeglass frames using minimal amounts of material and with very little waste, thanks to a machine that we could call the first 3D printer. The problem was that he was too early, because at that time the goal was to consume, certainly not to save and reuse as we are trying to do today. So about ten years ago, together with CNR, I took up his idea and started down the path of additive manufacturing.
Over the years, important architects and designers have turned to you for their projects.
One of the first to believe in us was Tiziano Vudafieri, for whom in 2019 we created the Wilhelm Lamp, a novel reinterpretation of the German designer Wilhelm Wagenfeld’s vase: on that occasion, as eXgineering, we developed a 3D printing technology that starts directly from plastic granules and makes the object out of recycled polycarbonate. Also for Vudafieri, we then created a series of lampshades for the Paradiso restaurants in Cannes (2020) and Abu Dhabi (2022), as well as the large counter at the Terrazza Aperol in Venice. In 2023, however, it was time for Ron Arad’s One Line Two Coils: an armchair characterized by a line and two spirals produced by additive molding. In collaboration with a research laboratory at the Politecnico di Milano, we used a mixture of recycled polycarbonate with the addition of 30% carbon fiber and useful additives to ensure elasticity and resilience. Finally, at the Museo di Scienza e Tecnologia in Milan, an air purification tower designed for the Urban Lounge structure, with which Pininfarina participated in the international RoGUILTLESSPLASTIC project by Rossana Orlandi at the Salone del Mobile 2021, is now on display.
Compared to other industries, how is it to work with the design world?
We like the comparison because there is a mutual and continuous exchange between engineers and designers: through design, the engineer knows that he has the opportunity to create something beautiful as well as functional; with the support of technology, the designer feels that he can really do whatever he wants. And so, in the end, the labels are lost: the engineer turns out to be a bit of a designer, and vice versa.
Have you ever worked with public institutions?
Yes, but especially with schools and universities, I prefer to collaborate without ‘receiving’. For example, with the Scholastic Center for Artistic Industries (CSIA) in Lugano, we have just launched a new initiative that will involve eight students from the Product Design course at the Scuola Specializzata Superiore d’Arte Applicata, who will be asked to develop a system composed of semi-finished products (planks, panels, shelves, etc.) and connecting elements, designed to be easily modified and independently reproducible with domestic 3D printers. The final product will have to meet two main requirements: to democratize the production of furniture solutions, allowing the user to choose what to buy, produce and eventually customize; and to extend the life of furniture and objects thanks to the principle of modularity, thus also reducing waste. In this respect, the support of LATI, one of Europe’s leading manufacturers of technical thermoplastics, will be crucial in the search for materials that are not only better suited to the project’s requirements, but are also more sustainable and, if possible, derived from recycled raw materials.
Do you want to become a full-fledged design company in the future?
No, that wouldn’t be right – I like inventing and designing, but I’m not a designer. Besides, most of those who become designers in their 40s or 50s don’t last long! I think everyone should keep their position without burning their reputation by getting too ‘greedy’…
