This Week in Charts 7-14-22
~ This article is a transcript of a Youtube video which provides a deep dive into the issues. ~
Hello kings and queens, and welcome to the latest edition of This Week in Charts. You are power, you are energy, and your focus of that energy is the path of the future. Nothing, and I mean nothing is written in stone, and your actions today echo in eternity. Now, enough motivation. Let’s see what’s in the news:
In Corporate Charts, we’ll see:
Credit risk analysis in the wake of the pandemic;
Categorized emissions from chip manufacturing;
And infrastructure spending by the US Government.
In 3D Printing News, which will be the bulk of our show today:
Leadership turnover at a major additive player;
Texas A&M pioneers printing with hempcrete… yes hempcrete;
Additive integration by the US Navy.
And breakthrough plasma-printing technology in microgravity.
Only two stories in Financial Technology this week, and they are:
How Web3.0 firms are relabeling their HR Department;
And some insight into the world of livestream shopping.
Corporate Charts
Banks across the globe saw a rise of increased credit risk exposures (stage 2 assets) and in expected credit losses as the COVID-19 pandemic wore on. On the left side, this uptick in stage 2 proportions indicates a perceived drop in borrower resilience, according to a recent report by the European Banking Authority. And as pandemic-related measures such as moratoria on loan repayments expire, asset quality is likely to be affected. I’ll also direct our attention to the bars on the right, which show changes in expected credit losses, or impairments. As before, stage 2 assets are growing increasingly unstable, nearing 20% of total credit issued.
Last week we discussed the search by chip fabricators for eco-friendly systems. Today we focus on the manufacturing processes for semiconductors which emit gases that enter the atmosphere and persist there for years—or tens of thousands of years. Semiconductor producers can consider four abatement levels, such as alternative chemistries and gas recycling, that may help to reduce process-gas emissions. Notable outliers include sulfur hexafluoride and nitrogen trifluoride which can contribute nearly 24,000 or 18,000 times the emission as CO2 respectively. Perflouromethane leads emission lifetime categories with a whopping 50,000 years in the atmosphere.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law directs $470 billion in new federal spending toward state and local governments. Of that amount, $180 billion (approximately 38 percent) is dedicated to competitive grants—funds that are provided through a process in which the strength of application is the determining factor for grant allocation. The next $240 million includes non-competitive formula grants, and the remainder is generally allocated to “new-program spending”.
3D Printing News
Leadership Turnover at Evolve Additive
Evolve Additive, which has been evolving for over 14 years, gaining significant traction with powerhouse investors in 2018 and the sale of its first commercial machine in 2021. Now, founder Steve Chillscynz transitions to the role of CTO, handing off the position of CEO to industry veteran Joe Allison. Allison brings over 25 years of experience in 3D printing and should help Evolve better develop its mass manufacturing methods.
3D Printed Hemp-crete
Last month, the US Department of Energy awarded over $3 million to a team at Texas A&M University for their research of additive construction with hempcrete. Not only will this application provide affordable residential and possible commercial buildings, but it also explores the potential to accentuate reductions in emissions. As team lead Dr. Sideris points out, hempcrete is a “net-carbon negative material which can provide major environmental benefits”, and stands up well as environmental resilience. In the event that the US government legalizes cannabis at the federal level, the use of hempcrete would be a logical way to upcycle large amounts of industry waste. Food for thought!
US Navy Integrates Additive
Back in 2014, the USS Essex became the first US Navy vessel to install an onboard 3D printer: Xerox’s ElemX Liquid Metal Printer. The Navy acknolwedges that this represents the passing of an enormous threshold, as Maintenance Officer Lt. Cmdr. Batista comments that “the capability of the 3D printer will enable Essex to become more self-sufficient… and it’s evident that it will provide a greater posture in warfighting efforts… that contribute to our Surface Competitive Edge.” Certainly this application leverages additive manufacturing’s competitive advantage by providing precision and intricacy in remote fabrication. The US military is building more roles, like Additive Manufacturing Technician to all branches, conveying that 3D printing has built intself a permanent niche for itself not only in the maritime sector, but across the military industrial landscape at large.
Plasma Printing Electronics in Microgravity
Speaking of remote environments, it seems that I can’t do this weekly show without discussing an application of additive manufacturing in space. Having spun off from NASA’s Ames Research Center, startup Space Foundry has created a plasma-based 3D printing process for creating electronic components without heat or UV curing, a significant differentiator from competitors. Where other organizations can 3D print electronics using several systems for pre-processing, printing, and post-processing, Space Foundry’s plasma system establishes a “one-step process” without worry about cleaning or post-processing. Further, Space Foundry has successfully tested the system in microgravity, proving that they can perform this complex fabrication process off-world. This is huge, surpassing competitors who have only 3D printed basic thermoplastics in microgravity.
Financial Technology
presented by the Fintech Collective
Web3.0 Redefines Community Roles
NFT startups already represent a strange corner of the corporate world, but the newest trend to reach the perpetually online Web3.0 audience seems to be supplanting traditional community and culture development titles with the aptly named role “Chief of Vibes” or “Director of Vibes”. Startup Fractional’s director of Vibes Deeze comments, “It has been crazy to see people realizing that maybe there is a need for a role even though the title is silly at first glance.” Certainly maintaining a community for employees and customers is critical to any organization, and curating vibes is the latest iteration of that outreach.
Amazon Leans Into Livestream Shopping
Amazon has increasingly invested in their influence platform Amazon Live, a spin-off launched in 2019 as an attempt to grab a slice of the growing market. Competing with big names like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, Amazon’s goal is to establish itself as the main destination for live online shopping to leverage their dominant online storefront.
That’s all the news we have today. Thanks for watching and be sure to like, subscribe, and share our content.
~ fin ~
