Activity Detail: From "Shaping" to "Functionality": Our Team at Formnext Asia Shenzhen 2026

From August 26 to 28, we brought our self-developed functional 3D printing materials to the Shenzhen World Exhibition & Convention Center (Bao’an New Venue) and stood on the stage of Formnext Asia Shenzhen as first-time exhibitors. From the flight out and booth setup to the final teardown, every step carried the mark of our team’s hard work together.

Preparation: Making Functional Materials Visible

To help visitors experience the materials firsthand, we started preparing weeks in advance: print adaptation and repeated testing of our two core materials—long-afterglow luminescent and thermochromic—printing and polishing a batch of samples such as glowing collectible figures, thermochromic models, and functional structural parts, plus booth design, marketing materials, and packing. Everyone contributed their weekends and late nights—these samples are not just exhibits, but the fruit of many rounds of trial and error.

The 48 Hours Before Opening: Flight, Freight, and Hard Hats

Everything packed, we boarded the flight to Shenzhen. On the plane, laughter kept circling back to the same question: “Will visitors like our materials?” For a first-time exhibiting team, nervousness and excitement were split fifty-fifty.

After landing, there was no time to rest—human-powered logistics began: boxes, samples, and materials, one trip after another.

Hard hats were required on setup day, so on they went. Then someone dug a Teletubbies hat out of the luggage, and things quickly went from construction site to team-building party.

Sample by sample onto the shelves, display piece by display piece into position—the pink lion, jars of pellets, and colorful printed keepsakes slowly gave the booth its face. When the booth finally passed inspection, all the exhaustion felt worthwhile.

Opening Day: Here We Come

On the morning of day one, we took this full-team group photo at the convention center entrance—a debut, and the start of a real-world test of our research in front of the market.

As a leading professional trade fair for additive manufacturing in Asia, this year’s Formnext Asia Shenzhen was the largest ever, covering about 20,000 square meters with 330 exhibitors across the entire industry chain, from materials and equipment to software, inspection, and post-processing.

Three Days at the Booth: Translating Parameters into Product Language

Our booth stayed busy throughout the exhibition. Again and again we demonstrated and explained, turning laboratory performance parameters into product language that visitors could understand: engineers asked detailed questions about the response temperature range and cycling durability of our thermochromic materials, and professional visitors from the 3D printing industry chain talked with us about custom colors, functions, and co-development.

For three days the booth never ran out of visitors—“steady streams of guests” described it perfectly.

The most popular moment was “letting the light speak for itself” — when we dimmed the booth lights and the long-afterglow samples slowly lit up in the dark, gasps followed. Fellow engineers stopped by to ask about the hard numbers: luminance and afterglow duration.

In one corner, pellet jars and filament spools lined up in a row—from a single pellet to a spool to a glowing print, the journey of our material was told in full on this little stage.

Over the three days we also welcomed international visitors, discussing printing stability, thermochromic responses across temperature ranges, and application design for specific products — every question was a real frontline need.

Learning from Peers: Other Highlights of the Show

Walking the aisles was learning in itself. Other exhibitors’ displays were impossible to walk past: exquisitely finished models and imaginative large-format prints. Every stop offered a new answer to “what else can additive manufacturing become”—and fresh inspiration for what our materials could grow into.

The Happiest Moments: Our Youngest Visitors

What delighted us most were the young visitors. The little girl who refused to let go of her glowing bear, the kids leaning over the booth, completely absorbed—this was the most direct proof of “materials with warmth.” The curiosity of the next generation is exactly why this industry, and our team, keep investing in what we do.

A Day at the Booth

Our daily routine for three days went like this: open the doors in the morning, rotate through quick lunch breaks at the booth, run non-stop demos and explanations through the afternoon, and debrief after the last visitors left. Photos between shifts and a cup of milk tea were the best recharge.

There was a surprise moment too—the lucky visitor who won first prize in our raffle took home the pink lion and a photo with the team.

Takeaways: Real-World Validation and Next Steps

Over these three days, we gained more than attention. The stability of our luminescent materials on standard printers and the intuitive visual performance of thermochromic effects were “field-tested” and recognized by visitors. More importantly, frontline feedback from equipment makers, print farms, design teams, and brands will become key input for the team’s next stage of R&D and productization. Turning material capabilities into product possibilities is exactly why we exhibited.

Final Words

With teardown done, what we hauled away from the booth was more than exhibits—it was a truckload of gains. At last, everyone sat down for the first proper meal in three days—the moment we raised our glasses, every bit of hard work found its reward.

From “shaping” to “functionality”, we took a solid step forward. Thanks to every teammate who contributed during preparation, setup, and the exhibition days: you gave the materials warmth and gave the booth its story. On to the next journey—together!

(And as for the teammate who changed into a “sorry, I need to feed my cat” T-shirt — great job at the show, your cat is waiting. 🐱)