Moscow Polytech Team Wins Gold at International Additive Technologies Championship
The finals of the International Additive Technologies Championship "3D-Profi-2025" took place in Moscow, featuring 30 teams of schoolchildren and students from Moscow, Moscow Region, Tomsk Region, the Donetsk People's Republic, the Republic of Bashkortostan, and Belarus. The "Soft 3D" team from Moscow Polytechnic University, which presented a 3D printer for elastic materials, claimed victory and received the top prize — a Bambu Lab H2S 3D printer.
The "3D-Profi" Additive Technologies Championship traditionally serves as a platform to identify and support talented youth aged 14 to 23. It is organized by the Moscow Department of Entrepreneurship and Innovative Development.
During the championship, teams developed technological projects and prepared their presentations. The program consisted of two main components—intensive training and a competition day. Over five days, industry experts conducted various training sessions covering work with 3D printers and scanners, reverse engineering, intricacies of 3D design, and project refinement.
The Moscow Polytech team included Faculty of Engineering students: Valeria Gorkovenko, Egor Parfinenko, Alexey Dolzhikov, Zoirzhon Kakhkhorov, and Alexander Pinchuk.
In an interview with the Moscow Polytech Press Service, the students discussed their printer's purpose, project development, and championship expectations:
— 3D printing utilizes a wide range of materials. Our team specifically focuses on expanding filament application capabilities. Elastic materials in our case refer to thermoplastic elastomers—typically TPU plastics in the 3D printing industry. TPUs vary in hardness, measured using the Shore scale, ranging from flexible/soft to rigid/hard. Current 3D printing typically uses materials of 95A hardness, sometimes 85A, and rarely 75A. We have identified even softer materials—65A and 55A—that modern printers cannot handle. Our 3D printer is designed specifically for these materials, expanding applications into rubber-technical products in mechanical engineering, medicine, and automotive manufacturing. However, potential uses are limited only by imagination. Additive manufacturing enables small-batch production and custom items like orthopedic insoles and elastic coupling components.
— How long has development been underway, and who comprises the team?
— We've been developing this 3D printer for two years. It began when Egor and Valeria joined the "3D Printer for Elastic Materials" project together. The core team consists of "Innovatics" (Additive Technologies) students, supplemented by students from other Faculty of Machine Building programs, plus students from the Faculty of Information Technology and Faculty of Urban Studies and Municipal Management.
— What is the current development stage?
— We're currently testing the prototype, which involves configuring machine mechanics and kinematics, firmware development, printing with highly elastic materials, and property testing. Next steps include prototype refinement, pilot testing preparation, and patenting our key innovation—the print head.
— Did you expect to win the championship?
— We were determined to win from the outset, having placed third last year as Team CookieSoft. This time we were more serious and brought a more polished project. Competition tension mounted—we worried any mistake could impact results given the strong competition. The final victory provided a gratifying conclusion to our hard work and generated tremendous positive emotions.
— What benefits come from such competitions?
— The championship let us validate skills gained through studies and project work. Project exhibitions and expert interactions provided valuable industry feedback, offering fresh perspectives and improvement opportunities. For our project, the key benefit was presenting to a broad audience, while victory signifies progression to implementing innovation in industry.
Naturally, first place also brought welcome additions: a new 3D printer, merchandise, and internship opportunities.
We congratulate the team and project supervisor Elena Zhikhareva, instructor at the Center for Project Activities.
