Press Release

Paris, France. October 5, 2015. Materialise NV (NASDAQ: MTLS), a leading provider of Additive Manufacturing software, sophisticated 3D Printing solutions and certified manufacturing services, is collaborating with optical company SEIKO Optical Europe for the Xchanger sports eyewear collection. The collection, introduced at the leading optics fair Silmo 2015 in Paris and made in collaboration with Hoet Design Studio and Materialise Engineering Services, won the Silmo d’Or award for excellence in optical innovation in the Sport Equipment Category.

With the new SEIKO Xchanger collection of sports eyewear, SEIKO offers sports enthusiasts the ability to combine performance, comfort and aesthetics. Extremely light and resistant, with a stylish and modern design, SEIKO Xchanger frames represent the best of traditional eyewear design and the unparalleled advantages of advanced Additive Manufacturing technologies. The certified material used for SEIKO Xchanger frames has a silk-like molecular structure that is stronger than acetate and lighter than titanium.

The collection features functionality and customizability beyond that of regular frames, owing to the engineering and design freedom offered by 3D Printing: special features include a validated anti-fog ventilation system, an integrated lens-change mechanism, and high-curvature lenses for wider viewing angles. With a vision towards enabling personalization and adaptability, SEIKO Xchanger frames are designed with a choice of three inclination angles and multiple frame-sizes and temple-lengths. The modularized frame design makes it possible to choose between several color options for each of the frame’s components, with the customizable variables adding up to endless possibilities.

In order to guarantee the quality and repeatability demanded, the SEIKO Xchanger collection is manufactured on dedicated machines, which will use Materialise’s proprietary Additive Manufacturing Control Platform (AMCP) and be tuned specifically for 3D printing eyewear. The AMCP enables full control of the printing process and integrates into Materialise’s software platform, which is used for the entire production process from design to finishing, ensuring that each set of frames is traceable through each step of manufacturing.

Materialise earlier this year announced its achievement of certifications for the manufacturing of end-use parts, suitable for the aeronautics and aerospace industries. This marks Materialise, with their capacity of more than 120 3D printers and wide variety of available technologies, as one of the most advanced and mature additive manufacturing production facilities in the world. Every day, over 2,000 parts are produced and shipped to customers all over the globe.  

For more information, please contact:

Vanessa Palsenbarg

Corporate Communications Specialist, Materialise

Phone: +32 16 39 66 37

Fax:    +32 16 39 66 00

Email: Vanessa.Palsenbarg@materialise.be

Twitter: @belgiancanuck or @MaterialiseNV

Visit: www.materialise.com

About Materialise

With its headquarters in Leuven, Belgium, and branches worldwide, Materialise is a provider of Additive Manufacturing (AM) software solutions and sophisticated 3D printing services in a wide variety of industries, including healthcare, automotive, aerospace, art and design and consumer products. Materialise has been playing an active role in the field of AM since 1990, through its involvement in AM for industrial and medical applications, by providing biomedical and clinical solutions such as medical image processing and surgical simulations and by developing unique solutions for its customers' prototyping, production, and medical needs. For additional information, please visit: www.materialise.com.

About SEIKO Eyewear

SEIKO Optical Europe GmbH (Willich/Germany) is a subsidiary of the Japanese SEIKO OPTICAL PRODUCTS CO. LTD., one of the leading manufacturers of high-tech spectacle lenses and frames worldwide. SEIKO Optical Europe develops, produces and distributes – among others – the spectacle lens brands SEIKO as well as the frame collections SEIKO Titanium and S2. From Willich SEIKO Optical currently serves over 50 countries in Europe, Africa and the Near East. Eight branches support these EMEA markets with an excellent service to the customers’ benefit. In Japanese SEIKO means precision. And this is what SEIKO OPTICAL is committed to. It is among the very successful companies of the Group and is renowned for its precise watches and time measuring systems used at international sport events. Particularly among the target groups relevant for ophthalmic optics, the familiarity of the SEIKO brand is as high as 75%. For more information, see www.seiko-eyewear.com.