Welcome to The D3D 30, our round-up of 30 new technologies from around the world that we firmly believe could give your product development work a major boost
The D3D 30 is our annual round-up of 30 new technologies that we believe have an important role to play in the product development processes of our readers.
Chosen from companies around the world, our hope is that you find something here for your own personal toolbox, to make you more productive in 2026.
Some of these technologies are from start-ups that we’re excited to see take their first steps out of stealth mode. Others come from established companies that continue to develop new capabilities within existing systems or launch brand-new tools to take customers in new and thrilling directions.
We’re delighted to showcase this illustrious group, selected entirely on merit. Our listing includes new takes on modelling, innovative ways to tackle big data challenges, fresh approaches to 3D printing and more – all with the aim of helping our readers design and build the products and systems of the future.
Our previous lists in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 have highlighted new technologies that we’ve watched grow in terms of capability and adoption. Speaking with readers, we know that many of them have since been adopted in businesses around the globe and become vital to your workflows.
We have faith that the Class of 2026 will offer you many more such candidates – and hopefully, you’ll have the chance to get hands-on with many of these in the months to come, including at our free, single-day conference and exhibition, DEVELOP3D LIVE, which returns to the UK on 24 March 2027.
| ARTEC 3D NEO |
AUTODESK AUTOTIMELINE + AUTOASSEMBLE |
BAMBU LAB R1 LASER CUTTER |
| CAD ROOMS CAD ROOMS PLATFORM |
DASSAULT SYSTÈMES LEO |
DELL ULTRASHARP 52 |
| DELL PRO PRECISION 7 |
FIBRESEEK FIBRESEEKER 3 |
FORMLABS FUSE X1 |
| HESTUS AI AUTOCOMPLETE |
HOLOLIGHT STREAM |
HP |
| INFINITFORM INFINITFORM PLATFORM |
LENOVO THINKSTATION P4 |
MAXON CINEMA 4D MCP SERVER |
| NOVINEER NOVINEER SUITE |
NVIDIA DGX SPARK GB10 |
PANOPTIMIZATION PANX FOR EOSPRINT |
| PTC CREO AI ASSISTANTS |
PTC ONSHAPE FEATURESCRIPT MCP |
SAMSUNG P9 SSD |
| SHINING 3D EINSCAN TRAK SYSTEM |
SIEMENS |
SIMSCALE |
| SNOWX SNOWPOD |
SPHERENE SPHERENENXT |
STRATASYS F870 |
|
TOFFEEX |
UPTOOL |
VOXSHELL CHOPMESH |
ARTEC 3D
NEO
Swiss Army Scanner
Neo marks a new breed of wireless 3D scanners – equipped with both the target-led laser detail capture and the speed of blue light handheld units in one system. Neo uses targets as for its 0.025 mm accuracy where tolerances are critical; AI algorithms maintain tracking across the rest of the scan through geometry, texture, and colour.
Costing roughly £30,000, it’s a heavy investment, but the versatility it offers – full colour, 0.05 mm resolution to document surface condition at its fastest setting, and QA-ready 0.025mm detail in the places it matters – means it’s well ahead of the handheld alternatives out there.
AUTODESK
AUTOTIMELINE + AUTOASSEMBLE IN FUSION
Automate this
Autodesk’s AI abilities within Fusion are being added thick and fast as it looks to automate more processes and free up users to be more creative. Building on the existing AutoConstrain tool, Autodesk has added AutoTimeline, which converts imported geometry into editable parametric parts, and AutoAssemble, which brings those parts together into assemblies.
For users moving data from other CAD systems into Fusion, AutoTimeline speeds up interoperability with the AI outlining and adding the modelling operations to the lower Timeline bar after import. AutoAssemble defines assembly relationships for components greatly reducing the amount of manual effort needed to build workable assemblies.
BAMBU LAB
R1 LASER CUTTER
Laser detail
While its grasp on the desktop FDM 3D Printer market is unrelenting, Bambu Lab is expanding into other workshop hardware. The R1 laser cutter and engraver has a 600 × 300 mm working area that can extend up to 3m with the Conveyor accessory, while a 55W CO2 laser will slice through card, wood, clear acrylic and leather, and engraving glass, stone and coated metals.
Like its 3D printers, it has bypassed flaws found in incumbents. Its toolhead algorithms allow for even movement, meaning smoother cutting, while direction change and speed are synced to laser power to avoid burns over slow sections.
CAD ROOMS
CAD ROOMS PLATFORM
Organised fun
Cloud-based PDM (Product Data Management) and Workflow management form CAD Rooms’ platform. PDM brings a lightweight PLM platform for engineering and hardware teams, with some added bonuses for easy collaboration.
Maintaining a single, authoritative version of every design file, its check-in/check-out system means team are prevented from overwriting each other’s work with files locked during edits, putting an end to endless duplicate file names.
Workflow offers a long list of integrations and APIs to manage changes, reviews and releases across a long list of software from CAD to MS Office. It does the simple things well while enterprise-grade security (with regional hosting an option) keeps everything safe.
DASSAULT SYSTÈMES
LEO
The Da Vinci Effect
Dassault’s family of ‘virtual companions’ grew this year, and the brightest spark of the bunch might just be Leo. Working with Solidworks, Delmia and Catia, recent updates have seen it take advantage of Nvidia’s physical AI libraries.
Developed for co-creation with the user still firmly in the loop, examples such as building an entire validated water tower in Solidworks from a few simple requirements and adjusting the entire construction on the fly, proved its impressive practical reach.
Its uses extend beyond generating designs, but often it’s the ability to quickly work through the chores of the workflow – generating BOMs or translating 2D drawings into 3D CAD – that makes it a potential workhorse for designers.
DELL
ULTRASHARP 52 THUNDERBOLT HUB MONITOR
Screen time
Serious monitor envy kicks in with this massive 52-inch 6K display. The curved IPS Black panel is designed to replace a multi-monitor setup, so you get more screen with less clutter. At 129 PPI, fine lines, dimensions and text stay crisp, which helps when you’re zoomed out on a large assembly.
The 120Hz refresh rate makes navigating models feel smoother, a boon for 3D work. You can connect up to four PCs at once, split the screen picture-by-picture, and control them with a single keyboard and mouse. A single Thunderbolt 4 cable delivers up to 140W to charge your laptop.
DELL
PRO PRECISION 7 16 WITH NVIDIA RTX PRO 3000
Back for good
This 16-inch mobile workstation is one of a handful of models marking the return of Dell’s long-standing Precision brand. Powered by Intel Core Ultra 9 Series 3 processors, it delivers the high clock speeds CAD users love, backed by 64 GB of memory for mainstream assemblies.
The Nvidia RTX Pro 3000 Blackwell GPU steps up from the RTX Pro 2000 in the Dell Pro Precision 5 16, bringing extra visual firepower for GPU rendering in tools such as KeyShot, albeit in a slightly thicker, heavier chassis. Premium touches include a haptic trackpad, aluminium palm rest, 8MP camera and gorgeous 120 Hz Tandem OLED display.
FIBRESEEK
FIBRESEEKER 3
Strong lines
Even in the packed FDM desktop 3D printer market, an open material, continuous composite fibre (CCF) 3D printer for $3,500 is capable of grabbing the headlines. Single-thread continuous composites routed through a part dramatically increase its strength, putting polymer parts on a par with machined metals and, at this price, letting studios test and iterate rapidly from the desktop.
A dual nozzle setup – one for the main material, another for the CCF – prints via a modular 350°C printhead onto a 300 × 300 × 245mm build area. An oversubscribed, $4M Kickstarter campaign has set the scene for the brand’s ambitions with more industrial products in the pipeline.
FORMLABS
FUSE X1
Packing a punch
When industrial SLS and PBF 3D Printers typically start at $250,000, Formlabs pricing its first industrial machine at $85,000 was already likely to cause waves in the industry.
Despite the low price, the Fuse X1 is packed with ability, targeting higher throughput and larger parts than incumbent machines. The 330 × 330 × 565mm build volume can manage 30%+ part packing per build and is overseen by Formlabs’ new Adaptive Thermal Control for SLS that run 13 independent thermal zones to provide stable temperatures from the first layer to the last. Compact, it can fit through a standard door, run on single-phase power and operate without need for specialised HVAC.
HESTUS
AI AUTOCOMPLETE
A step ahead
What if your existing CAD package was more intuitive, faster and used AI to help you to work through your workflow as you sketch, rather than ask for clunky prompts? Hestus has built its Autocomplete to do just that, with nothing new to learn, export or deal with.
Available for Autodesk Fusion and with a release for Dassault Systèmes Solidworks coming up, Hestus watches the sketch while you draw it, and offers suggestions – the most logical next step being first – dramatically reducing the amount of mouse travel and clicks around the screen.
HOLOLIGHT
STREAM
Pixel perfect
Working with any head mounted display, Hololight Stream is designed to be a better user experience with the performance standard for enterprise XR streaming. With end-to-end latency that stays under 50ms, Stream delivers ultra-high display resolution to each headset, with refresh rates of up to 90 fps.
Ray tracing, realistic lighting and reflections run on external Nvidia RTX hardware and stream to the headset in real time, meaning photorealistic scenes reach the device exactly as rendered, regardless of the headset’s own processing limits. Paired with Hololight Hub, users can collaborate in XR from any device where engineers can load models, configure scenes and prepare sessions from a laptop or tablet.
HP
ZBOOK ULTRA G3A
Max power
This 16-inch mobile workstation is so sleek, you’d assume it was light on performance. Think again. Its AMD Ryzen AI Max Pro processor delivers the goods for mainstream CAD and visualisation, but the real party trick is its ability to allocate up to 160 GB of memory to the integrated GPU. That allows it to run large open-weight AI models right on the machine.
Add a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server software and you can chat with your CAD tool to automate workflows. And your sensitive data stays on device rather than drifting off to the cloud. No pay-per-use cloud fees means predictable costs, too.
INFINITFORM
INFINITFORM PLATFORM
Made good
InfinitForm looks to break the traditional design loop with a foundational AI model that unifies design, simulation, manufacturing, procurement and supply chain. It’s a heady task, but instead of handing work from one step to the next, it weighs project requirements, structural physics and production constraints to automatically generate designs in minutes optimized for both performance and manufacturability.
Set project constraints and priorities and InfinitForm returns ranked, production-ready designs for your available manufacturing technologies – CNC machining, die casting, injection moulding, extrusion or additive manufacturing. Teams can then evaluate options side by side and choose their best option with confidence before committing to production.
LENOVO
THINKSTATION P4
All in one
Lenovo was first with Threadripper Pro, and now it’s beaten its workstation rivals again with Ryzen Pro in this new desktop tower. Core counts run from 6 to 16, but it’s the Ryzen X3D variants that really stand out, with far more cache than other chips in their class.
That extra cache should pay off in workloads like engineering simulation, where fast data access matters. Top-end models add liquid cooling. The P4 also keeps life simple for IT managers as they can cover a broad spread of work from CAD and CAM to simulation and rendering with a single machine.
MAXON
CINEMA 4D MCP SERVER
Visual process
Built to offload chores, automate routine tasks and streamline workflows, so that users can focus on the creative work, Cinema 4D MCP Server allows AI assistants to securely operate in its workflow. Letting the user leverage their AI assistant of choice, including Claude and ChatGPT, users can choose which groups of Cinema 4D tools their assistant is permitted to use.
Users can also control Python execution, providing an additional safeguard for workflows where code execution is not required. Access tokens, configurable permissions and audit logging give the visibility and oversight for teams to run AI without fears of it breaking studio and client security requirements.
NOVINEER
NOVINEER SUITE
Quick smart
An AI-powered suite of tools, it’s a powerful option for reverse engineering polymer AM parts – with even more up its sleeve. NoviVision quickly generates an editable CAD model from a few smartphone photographs, replacing specialist 3D scanning hardware and manual reconstruction.
NoviPath simulates polymer AM parts to check the design’s strength and failure spots before printing, and NoviDesign completes the suite with generative design tools. Unlike many AI tools, it has a real focus on its key users – contract manufacturers – and the challenges they face.
NVIDIA
DGX SPARK GB10
Your local force
This tiny desktop computer has big ambitions. Powered by the Nvidia GB10 Grace Blackwell Superchip and Nvidia’s AI software stack, it runs AI models and autonomous agents locally, reducing reliance on the cloud, making costs more predictable and keeping sensitive data in-house.
It supports all sorts of AI workflows, including letting users interact with CAD software through natural language via MCP servers, while the CAD application runs on a connected Windows workstation. Dell, HP and Lenovo also DGX offer systems based on the same platform, giving engineering teams more choice for local AI deployment.
PANOPTIMIZATION
PANX FOR EOSPRINT
Hot stuff
PanX can be used as a standalone thermo-mechanical simulation tool alongside any metal 3D printing system, but its EOSPrint integration brings its abilities directly into the build prep workflow of a key industry player. Build setup data plus some extra details from the EOSprint API are brought into PanX.
Once the simulation is complete factors like optimised dwell times, laser powers and compensated geometries are automatically written back into an .openjz file that can be used on EOS and AMCM 3D printers. Cutting turnaround from days to hours and making it accessible to more than just dedicated simulation experts, thermal management is optimised and more builds are successful.
PTC
CREO AI ASSISTANTS
Triple A
Advise, Assist and Automate form Creo’s ‘Triple A’ of AI tools rolling out this year. Advise is a chatbot, drawing on knowledge and best practices, plus open standards, rules and legislations, it guides users through the day-to-day work.
Assist, understands the model you’re working on and able to extract information from it to then offer assistance or input based on that data.
Automate takes this even further. Expected to reach users before 2027, users will be able to ask it questions to optimise their model – for flow, heat or acoustics for example. AI changes take place in a sandbox environment protecting the original design, maintaining user control.
PTC ONSHAPE
FEATURESCRIPT MCP
Build your own
The FeatureScript MCP Server capability allows users to create custom CAD features by describing them to AI agents as text prompts. AI helps build, test, debug and refine the custom feature in FeatureScript until it works as intended autonomously on its own. Users can then quickly automate repetitive design tasks, create custom design tools tailored to their existing workflows and capture the engineering knowledge through the process. The Onshape Labs initiative has continued to push out some interesting features, over the year, but this latest ability is both a democratising and powerful step for the CAD software.
SAMSUNG
P9 SSD
Every second counts
If you wrangle massive datasets, from simulation results and 3D scans to AI models, this portable SSD could save you from staring at progress bars. Rather than dragging files across the network, the Samsung P9 transfers them in a fraction of the time. Powered by USB4, it delivers sequential read speeds of up to 4,000 MB/s and writes of up to 3,800 MB/s, roughly double those of its predecessor, with capacities up to 8 TB.
You’ll need a 40 Gbps USB4 or Thunderbolt port to hit those speeds: a good excuse to upgrade your laptop! AES 256-bit hardware encryption secures confidential data.
SHINING 3D
EINSCAN TRAK SYSTEM
Multitasker
Designed to simplify large-scale 3D scanning workflows, the Trak System is a versatile feature-packed dual set-up system for less than £8,000. With its optical tracking system engaged, a wireless, spherical housing coated in targets allows the crossed 19+19 blue laser lines to capture large parts without need to apply markers to the part.
The handheld unit can also be released from the housing for more focussed capture using 7 parallel laser lines, or a single high detail laser for holes with a 1:4 diameter-depth ratio. The tracker is also equipped with 5MP cameras that can add extra spatial capture.
SIEMENS
INTELLIGENCE CENTER X
Low code hero
Rather than experimental R&D efforts using disparate parts to try and bring AI into a company, Siemens Intelligence Center X allows users to build AI tools with real purpose that can be used alongside their current tech stack. It connects enterprise data, workflows, and machine learning models into a single governed system without creating extra data silos.
Key to this is the low-code Mendix platform that lets companies build their own AI agents in-house that are natively integrated across the Siemens CAD, simulation and PLM portfolio – letting AI access intelligence and work with it cleanly, precisely and securely, with institutional insight, guardrails and security.
SIMSCALE
ENGINEERING AI AGENT
The equaliser
The goal has long been to make simulation so autonomous that any designer can use it routinely, and SimScale’s Engineering AI Agent looks to have closed that gap. Through natural language prompts the agent can configure complete simulations without the user having to navigate the UI.
Critically, it works from intent and not rigid scripts – with the AI inspecting the CAD model and flagging anything out of place before it starts. With the agent and solver both running in the cloud, users can start another project or a second agent without slowing down their own computer.
SNOWX
SNOWPOD
A metals MakerBot?
A subsidiary of Chinese WAAM 3D printing company Rongsu – SnowX has developed a 200W fibre laser SLM system, capable of building 316L Stainless Steel parts on your desktop.
The design has been optimised for the small form factor. Sealed material cartridges load directly into the 80 x 80 x 100mm build chamber, meaning no loose powder handling, and a transfer box keeps the part enclosed during retrieval. The separate plug-in NitroPod generates nitrogen on demand, while monitored air filtration runs continuously.
The full system is expected to cost sub-$10,000 – while its Kickstarter is offering earlybird pricing at half that amount.
SPHERENE
SPHERENENXT
Filled in
Building on its Adaptive Density Minimal Surfaces (ADMS) infill technology for 3D printing, Spherene has launched its software platform to optimise AM parts with complex internal designs and metamaterials. Using its own spherical ADMS infills, or a catalogue of other gyroid and lattice types, peak performance (thermal, energy recovery, flexibility), weight optimisation and production efficiency can be achieved.
Available as a browser-based platform or as a CAD plugin for Fusion, nTop and Rhino3D, models are validated for printability, with an advanced meshing algorithm producing small files for export as optimized STL or 3MF files straight into your chosen 3D print slicer.
STRATASYS
F870
Lights out
While every FDM 3D printing company has mastered big parts, the new goal is automated repeatability and is shows with the F870. Storing four giant material spools in its humidity-controlled bays (each capable of printing 4,100 cm³) an automated changeover system, the latest machine in the Fortus family can manage up to two weeks of non-stop printing.
Stratasys expects the fully heated 1,000 x 610 x 610mm build chamber to build giant polymer tooling, jigs and fixtures and end use parts, while its 95°C environment helps avoid warping. With MTConnect compatibility and built-in mobile monitoring, Stratasys’ engineers have made every effort to make the F870 ready for lights-out manufacturing.
TOFFEEX
GENERATIVE DESIGN FOR THERMAL MANAGEMENT
Cool stuff
With more industries needing to dump heat quickly, creating custom heat exchangers can result in lengthy workflows. ToffeeX is combining physics simulation and topology optimisation to build optimal thermal management designs. A streamlined workflow, users set their goals and constraints, and the physics designs the parts – often resulting in novel forms that no human would have envisaged.
Typically, this has meant organic forms unmanufacturable except for with advanced 3D printing technologies. ToffeeX steps round this, adapting to the users manufacturing constraints and budget – producing designs that can be built with traditional machining, stamping and chemical etching.
UPTOOL
AI QUOTING
Side hustle
Designed to bring small- and medium-scale manufacturing ‘shop operations into the modern era, Uptool’s AI quoting software can be implemented in an hour with no upfront costs. Users can cut the time spent quoting jobs down from hours to minutes, resulting in winning more business and increasing productivity. AI automatically extracts and organises emails, CAD, engineering drawings, BOMs while material and operations calculators provide estimates.
With design and engineering companies bringing more manufacturing hardware inhouse, Uptool might be the solution to build it out as an external offering and profit from any downtime.
VOXSHELL
CHOPMESH
Monster mesh
A meshing software built for tackling implicits, it can make the often super detailed and data-packed models applicable for downstream CAD, 3D printing and simulation tools. A spinout from Cranfield University, it uses implicit signed-distance methods to ingest complex 3D and lattice geometries without requiring hours of manual fixing, defeaturing or error repair.
High-fidelity simulation meshes can be generated in as little as five minutes per part using minimal user parameters, with exports ready for most standard simulation formats, A connector that works within the nTop UI is available.
DEVELOP3D is a publication dedicated to product design + development, from concept to manufacture and the technologies behind it all
To read the 2025 D3D 30 List, click here
To read the 2024 D3D 30 List, click here
To read the 2023 D3D 30 List, click here
To read the 2022 D3D 30 List, click here
To read the 2021 D3D 30 List, click here
To read the 2020 D3D 30 List, click here
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