Team PRYNT3D Mycelium is Silvia Fernandez Gonzalez, Robin ter Heide, Yuma Langenbach, Poorva Shrivastava and Qianyu Wang from Wageningen University in the Netherlands.
Inspired by the magic of mushrooms, their vision is to upcycle a common biological waste stream into novel customizable products.
The Netherlands, as global leader in mushroom production, creates large amounts of mycelium-inoculated straw waste. From their local mushroom producer, the team saved this waste, processed it further, and grew it inside a customized 3D printed mould.
Mycelium, which is a self-growing, self-assembling biopolymer, and a result of millions of years of evolution, finds a natural ally in 3D printing, which is a flexible, cutting-edge technology.
Combining the versatility of the material and the method opens up the possibility to create customized, fully-compostable products.
To demonstrate this, they prototyped an orthotic insole for one of the team members. The insole perfectly fit the intricate geometry of the the team member’s foot and serves as an illustration of the type of product the team can develop as an alternative to those currently on the market, which are fossil fuels-derived.
Team PRYNT3D Mycelium aspires to improve this process by directly 3D printing the mycelium as a paste. They are researching, developing and rapidly prototyping this novel method.
The proposed manufacturing process is extremely low-energy, incredibly versatile, and can create tailored products for clients. It also contributes to the circular as it upcycles waste streams.
