7 Areas In Which 3D Printing Is Surprising Us All - 3DPrint.com - 2 views
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"When 3D printing was first introduced over 30 years ago it felt like something more likely to appear in a Star Trek episode than reality. Today, more companies than ever are utilizing this technology to take their concepts from the boardroom to the design table in a matter of hours. The first step of every "solid imaging" project - as the name was originally dubbed by inventor Chuck Hull - is using 3D printing software, or computer aided design (CAD) software, to create your digital blueprint and send it off to the 3D printer to have it created layer by layer. The first thing Chuck ever printed was a tiny cup for washing the eye, something boring yet innovative in that it would spawn objects that even good ol' Chuck probably never thought possible. Below is a list of many of these items that can be created by a 3D printer that you wouldn't think would be. These items were selected for this list because you'd probably not think of them as manufacturable items and because some of them cannot be produced with a single process while employing traditional manufacturing processes."