Carbon3D's CLIP - truly a breakthrough in 3D printing!

This is truly remarkable. I first heard the news last week from 3DPi (read their comprehensive article here).  Inspired by the T-1000 from Terminator 2, Dr. Joseph DeSimone and his team have come up with a truly revolutionary idea in 3D printing.  Check out this video (at 7x speed). It's so fast, they printed an object (which would take up to 11 hours using traditional 3D printing methods!) DURING the 10 minute TED talk!

They call it CLIP - Continuous Liquid Interface Production.  And it grows  parts instead of printing them layer by layer!  (more on this later) Take a look at the micrograph (right) - the image on the right is a traditionally 3D printed part with layers, on the left - CLIP!  Plus, CLIP is 25-100 times faster than traditional 3D printing.

Dr. DeSimone, CEO and Co-Founder of Carbon3D, says, “Current 3D printing technology has failed to deliver on its promise to revolutionize manufacturing.  Our CLIP technology offers the game-changing speed, consistent mechanical properties and choice of materials required for complex commercial quality parts.”

So, how does Clip work?

For now, I'm quoting right off their website, and will add as we learn more.

CLIP is a chemical process that carefully balances light and oxygen to eliminate the mechanical steps and the layers. 

It works by projecting light through an oxygen-permeable window into a reservoir of UV curable resin. The build platform lifts continuously as the object is grown.

The heart of the CLIP process is a special window that is transparent to light and permeable to oxygen, much like a contact lens. 

By controlling the oxygen flux through the window, CLIP creates a “dead zone” — a thin layer of uncured resin between the window and the object.** 

This makes it possible to grow without stopping. As a continuous sequence of UV images are projected, the object is drawn from the resin bath. Sophisticated software manages the entire process by controlling the variables. 

** We are very interested in learning more about this "dead zone" - it is tens of microns thick and an area where it is impossible for photopolymerization to occur.

Want to learn more?  Check out the Carbon3D website, another article, or (highly recommended) watch the recently-released TED talk below!

 

UPDATE 3.26.15:  3DPrint.com has a story about Gizmo 3D, a company that says they too "are working on a super fast SLA style 3D printer, which may actually one-up the Carbon3D system, as far as speed and print quality go."  Read more here!

Just for fun, here is the Terminator 2 video clip shared in the TED talk. (in Spanish...?)

Check out this video of Chuck Hull, winner of the European Inventor Award 2014.  (You can view videos of the other winners here.)  In this video, he describes his invention of the first SLA 3D printer in 1983!

MINK: 3D Printed Make-up

MINK 3D printer

This printer uses plain printers ink (surprisingly, the maker, Grace Choi, says it is FDA approved) to add colour to a power, cream, or waxy base and create makeup. The printer sells for around $300, and supplies, like boxes and the base, presumably are sold as well. I couldn't find how much these cost, however. To print in a certain colour, you choose that hex colour from any online picture and paste it into a Microsoft Paint or Photoshop file. You send the file to the printer, and it adds that colour to the base. 

Ok, makeup, not that interesting, right? 
But this does show how versatile 3D printing is, and what can be done with printers and common household objects, like ink and a computer. 

Here is an article with a more in-depth explanation of how this works. 


By Jane, 7th grade

Future Trends in 3D Modeling - Smartphones and Google

A Graphic of the phone with the Camera app open

Many major technology companies such as Google, Apple, and Microsoft have all gotten into the 3D scanning game.  

"Giving devices full 3D vision is the next step in the consumer electronics evolution. This began with Kinect for the Xbox, and, although this process is still in its early phase, that is where all the technology giants seem to be setting their sights. Apple bought PrimeSense, the company that makes Kinect, as well as 3D Systems' Sense consumer 3D scanner, " says 3DPI in an article titled "Google Wants to give Your smartphone 3D modeling Capabilities."

A Schematic of the Phone

It seemed as though Google stopped having interest in 3D modeling when it sold Sketchup to Trimble in 2012. However Google is now working on Project Tango - an Android smartphone that can 3D scan objects. You may be thinking that any smartphone can do that with 123D Catch however this would have an extra depth sensor camera in the back and therefore have to take many fewer shots for a higher quality image. 


Putting depth sensors on smartphone cameras is not new.  In 2011 HTC released the HTC Evo 3D.  It had one for capturing 3D video and now the HTC One (M8) has one for refocusing a shot after it is taken however Tango would be the first phone to have one made for 3D scanning.


Although we (the BPC Maker Club) have not had much luck getting decent quality out of our Kinect it supposedly can get some decent quality scans. The Kinect was not made for 3D scanning but for movement tracking in video games that don't need high accuracy and therefore this limitation is to be expected.


Apple has not actually released a 3D scanner it did buy PrimeSense, the company behind Microsoft's Kinect 3D motion sensor. This means that Apple will probably come out with some sort of 3D sensor in the future.


- Abe (7th grade)

Will.i.am is 3D Systems' Chief Creative Officer

Well, I am impressed.  Already, will.i.am has used his influence to raise awareness of the FIRST Robotics League, and now he is taking on 3D Printing.  3D Systems just announced that the company is appointing will.i.am Chief Creative Officer!  I think will.i.am has done some fascinating things with his fame and fortune, including his i.am.angel Foundation,which operates i.am.STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math), "an elementary and middle school initiative to provide underserved students with learning and interaction opportunities beyond the classroom..."

Reichental, President and CEO of 3D Systems, in the press release, says, “We’re excited to partner with a pop culture influencer of will.i.am’s caliber who really gets 3D printing and its potential... will.i.am is a global tastemaker who embodies the essence of creativity and entrepreneurship, and we are fortunate to have him as our guide on this exciting journey.”

Pretty smart of 3D Systems, since will.i.am gets "cool" and can certainly move forward 3D System's goal to go mainstream -  one of the many goals 3D Systems has put forth so far in 2014..  Will.i.am's got experience already as Intel's Director of Creative Innovation. Pretty cool gigs!

Watch Avi Reichental & will.i.am discuss the future of 3D printing...

Here's another interview, from the CES floor, including a tough question about intellectual property.

ADDED 1.18.24: And, finally, you should read about all the other stuff 3D Systems has been up to already in 2014... and it's only been 18 days!

3D Systems is going to FIRST Robotics!

For the first time ever, the FIRST Robotics competition sponsored by America Makes, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the U.S. Department of Education is providing 3D printers to its contestants - approximately 450 3D printers in total.  There are several companies on the FIRST Robotics Competition 2014 Printer, Software and Services Donors List, including both 3D Systems and Stratasys!  You can read 3D System's blog post on the "winning" the bid here.

"We see a great potential to expand the use of 3D printing in FRC," FRC Director Frank Merrick said. "From the new options in prototyping to on-demand parts, 3D printing opens up a whole new world of possibilities in engineering, and we're very excited to introduce this capability to our young competitors and see what our participating teams come up with."

3D Systems, in return for the big order, is donating its entire Cubify software design suite, including Cubify Invent, Cubify Design and Cubify Sculpt, to every team participating in the competition, along with some cloud printing coupons. (psst - you can get a copy of this design suite, too, by entering the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards’ Future New Challenge, boosted by 3D System's offer of free software!  Deadline is soon!!)

I learned that FIRST stands for "For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology" and is billed as "the varsity sport for the mind."  If you want to see an interesting documentary on FIRST Robotics, I recommend this 43 minute show - "i.am.FIRST: Science is Rock and Roll" - self-produced by Will.i.am from the Black Eyed Peas.  My favorite quote is when Will.i.am says "If the Black Eyed Peas can play at the halftime at the Super Bowl, we can play at the FIRST Robotics competition"!  (To learn more about this project, check out this news clip.)

MAKE Magazine's Ultimate Guide to 3D Printing 2014 is released! (and we're IN IT?!)

I recently picked up a couple of copies of the long-anticipated Make: Ultimate Guide to 3D Printing 2014.  (You can read the highlights here, but I highly recommend the magazine itself - there is SO MUCH good stuff in there!)

Anyway, during science class one day, a student was flipping through the magazine, when he jumped up and shouted, "We are IN HERE!"  My first reaction was (honestly) "seriously, just calm down" but a split second later it registered - BPC was IN THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO 3D PRINTING?!?!  You can see our picture (from 2011) in the image below - Brook Drumm (in the green and white striped jacket) with all the students crowded around.

It may not be much, but the kids and I feel a little "famous." :)

Here's the original video from when Brook Drumm helped train us on our first 3D printer!  (You can read more about it in this Printrbot post, or this Curriki interview.)

Voice-activated search engine plus 3D printing allow visually-impaired kids to hold the result of their Internet searches

This is incredible.  Yahoo JAPAN has integrated the search function with a 3D printer and developed the “Hands On Search” machine.  This means the item you search for on the internet comes out as a solid object.  This machine was introduced to Special Needs Education School for the Visually Impaired, affiliated by University of Tsukuba. You can see it in action in the video below:

It's a cool idea.  If the item a child searches for does not have an affiliated 3D file, the request will be posted back to the community to provide one.

You can read this article to learn more, or watch this video to see how the 3D search machine was made.

3D Systems Buys The Sugar Lab

Big companies like acquiring smaller companies and the biggest players in the 3D printing field are 3D Systems and Stratasys.  For example, Stratasys recently acquired Makerbot.  Now, 3D Systems has purchased The Sugar Lab, a small start-up by Kyle and Liz von Hasseln, a husband and wife team from Los Angeles that specializes in 3D printing customized, multi-dimensional, edible confections in real sugar.

The Sugar Lab had already been using 3D Systems' own Color Jet Printing technology "to print on a sugar bed using different flavored edible binders that meet all food safety requirements."  See more Sugar Lab photos here.

The Sugar Lab, and now 3D Systems, is not the first company involved in the 3D printing of food.  Currently, NASA is funding a phase I six-month $125,000 study on 3D printing of foods.  And Hod Lipson and Evan Malone of the Cornell University Computational Synthesis Laboratory, was dabbling in food with the Fab@Home project since 2006.  And, let's not forget the grad student and his (attempted?) Burrit0bot.

UPDATE 9.19.13:  Yesterday I attended the Inside 3D Printing conference in San Jose, CA and was able to meet Kyle and Liz von Hasseln, as well as check out their new 3D Systems-inspired creation!

UPDATE 1.4.13:  Here is a recent TEDx talk by Kyle and LIz von Hasseln

Emissions from a 3D printer - are they dangerous?

Like many educators working with kids and 3D printing, my ears perked up when I read this blog post title, Could 3D Printing be Dangerous?

Reading further, I learned that a group had measured total ultrafine particle (UFP) concentrations resulting from the operating of a common desktop 3D printers inside "a commercial office space in Chicago."  (Here's a third article, if you are interested.)

This image was, by far, the "scariest."  You can see that the PLA printers were barely a blip, but when those ABS printers were turned on, the number concentration of particles spiked.

As I glanced from my computer screen to my Makerbot, I had some questions:  What does this scale mean?  Are the UFPs actually harmful, or just present?  Are these particles equal to or worse than the particulate from a busy outdoor street?  Or cooking indoors? In fact, the second article writes, "These emission rates are on about the same order as several other devices and activities known to emit UFPs, such as cooking on a gas or electric stove, burning scented candles, operating laser printers, or even burning a cigarette!"

Many of these questions remain to be answered.

In the journal article itself, the authors state. "One important limitation to this study is that we have no information about the chemical constituents of the UFPs emitted from either type of 3D printer, although condensation of synthetic organic vapors from the thermoplastic feedstocks are likely a large contributor (Morawska et al., 2009). In addition to large differences in emission rates observed between PLA- and ABS-based 3D printers, there may also be differences in toxicity because of differences in chemical composition."

But, some salient points came out of this article:

1.  Ventilation.  "Therefore, results herein suggest that caution should be used when operating these 3D printing instruments inside unvented or unfiltered indoor environments due to their large emissions of UFPs."  How ventilated is ventilated?  Is a classroom big enough?  How about if we keep the doors and windows open?    Can schools afford a ventilation system?  Can schools not afford to have one?

2.  ABS vs. PLA (<< link added later) - both plastics have their pros and cons, but the article did make me think more carefully about my purchase of a third classroom 3D printer.  We ended up going with the Printrbot Jr v2 (link added), which is intended for PLA.

3.  It is important to stay within the recommendations of the manufacturer.  Our Makerbot, for example, is set to 220 degrees Celsius for ABS.  I've heard (see point #4) that ABS particulate is not toxic unless it is heated above a certain temperature, often quoted to me at 260 degrees C.

Many people also complain of getting headaches from ABS printing, but in the 2.5 years I've been working with kids, I have yet to hear of a student making such a complaint.  (And trust me, they can complain about smells: isopropanol, sulfur...)  I am in the room the most, and ABS "fumes" have never bothered me, but I am not particularly sensitive.  Conventional wisdom states that PLA is friendlier, and smells a little like waffles when it's being melted.  (My room often smells a lot like 7th graders, so it can be hard to smell the waffles...) :)

4.  I need to do more research.

I'll keep you posted.

Stratasys Merging with Makerbot

Well, I'll be.  Stratasys, maker of expensive, industrial-quality 3D printers is merging with Makerbot, the leader in accessible, desktop 3D printers.  According to the 6.19.13 news release, Makerbot "has sold more than 22,000 3D printers since 2009. In the last nine months, the MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer accounted for 11,000 of those sales."  Incredible.

It is Maketbot's success in the consumer market that led a recent TechCrunch article to compare Makerbot to Apple:

3D printing isn’t new, just as computing wasn’t new when Apple hit the scene.  Makerbot, like Apple, made it accessible.

3D printing has been around for over 30 years. Stratasys was founded in 1988, just two years after 3D Systems, which is credited as the first 3D printing company.  (The first working 3D printer, designed by Chuck Hull of 3D Systems, used the stereolithography technique - which is where the .stl file type comes from.  He hold the patent for stereolithography... pretty cool, eh?)

Anyway, back the the merger.  The proposed merger has an initial value of $403 million (in stocks).  Right now, it's planned that MakerBot will operate as a separate subsidiary of Stratasys - keeping its brand... and Thingiverse.  For now.  Makerbot already let go of its open-source roots when the Replicator 2 came out.  These machines are reportedly being used more and more by "prosumers" - engineers and other professionals.  It will be interesting where all of Makerbot's loyal "makers" will fit into all of this.

3D printed airway saves baby

Kaiba Gionfriddo was born with a condition called bronchial malacia, a condition in which the walls of the trachea collapse.  From the time he was 6 weeks until the time he was 3 months, he was in the hospital.  His mother says they had to do CPR on him EVERY DAY.

Kaiba's doctors contacted Dr. Glenn Green, who then got emergency permission from the Food and Drug Administration to do a special procedure which, before Kaiba, had only been tried on animals. Luckily for everyone involved, the surgery was a sucess!

"It's magical to me," said Dr. Glenn Green, an associate professor of pediatric otolaryngology at the University of Michigan who implanted the splint in Kaiba. "We're talking about taking dust and using it to build body parts."knew they had to come up with something, or the alternative would be a life on a ventilator.  

The doctors used a laser 3D printer to create a splint to hold open the baby's collapsing airway.  It was a few centimeters long and 8 millimeters wide and made of polycaprolactone or PCL.

When a splint is created using PCL, it becomes a sort of biological placeholder, propping up structures while the body heals around it.

Kaiba is now 20 months old and breathing on his own.  (see cute pic of him here)  Doctors say it will take the implant 3 years to degrade and then, presumably, the trachea will continue growing normally.

It's worth reading the whole article.  Or, you can read the published paper in the New England Journal of Medicine, "Bioresorbable Airway Splint Created with a Three-Dimensional Printer"!

From Figure 1 in the publication...

Panel A shows the airway in expiration before placement of the splint; the image was reformatted with minimum-intensity projection. Panel B shows the patient-specific computed tomography–based design of the splint (red). Panel C shows an image-based three-dimensional printed cast of the patient's airway without the splint in place, and Panel D shows the cast with the splint in place.



UPDATED 6.26.13  This University of Michigan Health Systems article has more detail on this story - well worth a read.  It also includes this video:

Th article clarified for me that the splint was "sewn around Kaiba’s airway to expand the bronchus and give it a skeleton to aid proper growth. Over about three years, the splint will be reabsorbed by the body."

“The material we used is a nice choice for this. It takes about two to three years for the trachea to remodel and grow into a healthy state, and that’s about how long this material will take to dissolve into the body,” says Hollister.

This article also states that severe tracheobronchomalacia is rare: Of the 1 in 2,200 babies born with tracheomalacia, most grow out of it by age 2 or 3, although it often is misdiagnosed as asthma that doesn’t respond to treatment. Severe cases, like Kaiba’s, are about 10 percent of that number.

If you are interested, the University of Michigan Pediatric Medical Device Consortium (M-PED) created a 28-minute video entitled "Innovative Pediatric Manufacturing: Strategies & Solutions - A Guide To Bringing Your Device To Market" which discusses FDA requirements for manufacturing medical devices for children (and adults).

Print Shift Magazine Released by Dezeen

Earlier this week, architecture and design blog Dezeen announced that they have released Print Shift, a 56-page, print-on-demand magazine in collaboration with publisher Blurb.  The magazine "explores advances in 3D printing across a range of topics including fashion, food, design, architecture and even weaponry and archaeology."

As part of the project, they produced this short movie, highlighting "three of the world's leading 3D-printing pioneers."  You can read more about the project here.

I've already ordered my copy. :)  It sounds like it will be a slightly fancier compliment to my currently-owned and well-loved copy of Make: Ultimate Guide to 3D Printing.

Chicago's "The 3D Printer Experience" Opens Monday!

3D printing will soon become even more accessible in Chicago at "The 3D Printer Experience," the "only retail and interactive store of its kind in the Midwest."  Located at 316 N. Clark Street in Chicago, it is set to open next Monday, April 22, 2013.

With over twenty 3D printers in-house and exciting new applications for you to play with, we’re here to introduce you to a very bright future of personal, desktop manufacturing. We are dedicated to helping you down a new path of greater creativity and freedom.

Read more about the opening on this Fox news page (I know, I know) or the store's website.

I will be sure to visit next time I am in town!  I am just excited to meet their printers!

3D Printers Predicted to Drop in Price

While this statement in itself may not be a shock, it is interesting to note that a recent report by Gartner, Inc - the world's leading information technology research and advisory company - predicts that enterprise-class 3D printers will drop under the $2,000 mark by 2016.  I'd love to share the original article with you, but apparently, I would need to pay US$195.00 in order to access it.  So, instead, here is a link to a different (free) article.

An article in TechCrunch (3.29.13) sums up the infantile state of 3D printing nicely,

At this point 3D printing still needs more than just a lower cost of entry. It needs an ecosystem. It needs a retail marketplace where designers can sell professional-level designs rather than just giving them away on Thingiverse. 3D printing needs local retailers and repair shops. It needs to make inroads into lower educational institutions (lower prices will help there). But 3D printing needs to get here. After all, it’s the future.

The original Gartner report also mentions kiosks or print-shop-style services.  Looks like those kids at UC Berkeley are ahead of the curve!

3D Printing Vending Machine Comes to UC Berkeley

Meet David Pastewka, Ricard Berwick and Will Drevno.  These three UC Berkeley-affiliates have created the first (known to me) 3D printing vending machine, which they've nicknamed Dolly.  Cute.

Their company is called Dreambox.  As of late March, Dreambox is open for business, with print costs ranging from $3 to $15. The machine lives in Etcheverry Hall, 2521 Hearst Ave. in Berkeley, CA.


From their press kit,

The Dreambox founding team met in 2011 in a mobile application development class and competition at U.C. Berkeley. After working on various startup ideas for over a year, their personal struggles with inaccessible campus 3D printing and 2-4 week lead times from online 3D printing services led them to the idea for Dreambox: freely accessible 3D printing for all. 

A Dreambox is a 3D printing vending machine. It is the simplest way to have your custom models created. Take away the dozens of hours to setup a 3D printer, take away the weeks of waiting to receive an item from a 3D printing service, take away the need for a full-time operator and you’re left only with 3D printing’s unique manufacturing capabilities. 

Check out in this video to learn how it works:

You can read more about Dreambox in Gizmag, Discovery News, or in this great, detailed KQED article.

Engaget Expand: 3D Printing Goes Mainstream

Engaget hosted their inaugural event, Engaget Expand, in San Francisco on March 16 and 17.  There were many wonderful things to see there, but I was most excited to see the presentation, "3D Printing Goes Mainstream" with Hod Lipson, Professor of Engineering at Cornell University, Max Lobovsky, Co-Founder, FormLabs, and Avi Reichental, President & CEO of 3D Systems. 

After the talk, I even managed to get my picture taken with Avi Reichental.  I would never want a picture with a pop culture celebrity, but c'mon... this was the CEO of 3D Systems!  I think he was flattered. 

Anyway, I've since learned that 3D Systems was founded in 1986 in Valencia, California, by Chuck Hull, the inventor and patent-holder of the first stereolithography (SLA) rapid prototyping system.  In 2003, Hull was succeeded by Abe Reichental, current CEO. In 2012, both Reichental and Hull were listed among the most influential people in rapid technologies by TCT Magazine.  (It's worth reading the TCT Top 5 Talk Back.)

Here is a link to a January 2013 interview (video included) with Abe Reichental at CES, discussing the promise of consumer 3D printing.

From the talk itself, I found the following noteworthy:

• The first consumer computers were mainly used for gaming, so it's OK that 3D printers, as a gadget, are there right now.  Eventually, PCs became so easy to use; everyone had one.  We are just not there yet with consumer 3D printing.
• Currently, there are 62 companies in the consumer 3D printing field. (Here are just a few!) The speakers believe that these companies mostly represent replication, not innovation - yet innovation is where the opportunity lies (esp. in terms of the user experience).  Reichental said that when the software for 3D printing becomes as easy to use as Word, PowerPoint and Adobe software, then it will become relevant.
• Comment about gamifying CAD... hmm.... I am just starting with middle school kids and 3D printing myself.  Will CAD prove engaging enough on its own?
• One hurdle for the 3D printer is that not everyone likes making things... unlike a 2D printer - basically everyone needs to print documents at some point or another.
• Professor Lipson said the next big thing will be the multi-material printer.  He likened it to the revolution of color printing following black and white.
• And, in case you are holding your breath... 3D Systems is considering a consumer 3D chocolate printer.
• Why are people drawn to 3D printing?  The panelists point out that people have an "inherent desire to personalize and customize."  They pointed out the extend folks will go to to personalize their clothes, their cars, their hair....
• Of course, there was discussion of copyright - a virtually unexplored aspect of 3D manufacturing at the consumer level.  One panelist argued that our current copyright system needs to be congruent with current speed of ideas in regards to patents & copyright.
• Finally, and perhaps most striking for me was the statements that "with unimaginable, comes the unintended."  Isn't that always the case with technology, whatever it may be.  Already, the industry is dealing with controversy around guns and 3D printing.  As fast as controls are put in place, there are people ready to circumvent them.

Don't just take my word on it, you should watch the video:

Will 3D Printing Change the World?

Nice overview video by PBS Off Book, a "web-original series from PBS Arts that explores cutting edge arts and the artists that make it."  It hits all the interesting highlights, including medical 3D printing and the complexities of 3D Printing and copyright.

3D-Printing gets a mention in the State of the Union address!

From CNN,

The shout-out in Obama's State of the Union address was perhaps the biggest public endorsement so far of a technology that has its roots in the 1970s, but has recently begun to boom on two fronts -- as an increasingly accessible consumer product and an industrial one that advocates say could change the face of manufacturing.

Obama's exact words were:

Our first priority is making America a magnet for new jobs and manufacturing. ... There are things we can do, right now, to accelerate this trend. Last year, we created our first manufacturing innovation institute in Youngstown, Ohio. A once-shuttered warehouse is now a state-of-the art lab where new workers are mastering the 3D printing that has the potential to revolutionize the way we make almost everything. There’s no reason this can’t happen in other towns. - NYTimes  (Or you can listen to Obama's words starting at 15:50 in the video below.) 

The funny thing was, immediately after he said these words, my email and phone blew up*, since I am everyone's "3D Printing friend."

* I fully recognize I am too old to use this kind of slang but, hey, I teach middle school.

Introduction to 3D Printing

(Originally posted on December 21, 2011, this was the post that started off our 3D printing adventures here at BPC.)

A recent (12.10.11) article in the Economist couldn't come at a more perfect time. It's the start of Christmas break, I have free time to read it, and I have been the proud owner of a 3D printer for exactly one week. From the article:

[At] EUROMOLD, a big manufacturing trade fair held in Frankfurt from November 29th to December 2nd [2011], ... 300 or so exhibitors working in three-dimensional printing (or “additive manufacturing” as they prefer to call it).... Some of their 3D printers were the size of cars; others were desktop models. All worked, though, by building products up layer by layer from powered metal, droplets of plastic or whatever was the appropriate material.

I learned about many manufacturers who are using this process to imitate nature. For example:

• an artificial hip made by Materialise, a Belgian firm (see cool video featuring them)
• a load-bearing column constructed from filaments of concrete, imitating the basic design of plant stems, and printed by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• heat exchangers, whose best design resembles a fish gill (more surface area!), by a British firm called Within Technologies
• light, geodetic structures imitating a “cytoskeleton” of fibrous proteins that holds a cell in shape. The work is being done at Southampton University in Britain, where researchers have printed an  unmanned aircraft from laser-sintered nylon (sintering is a way of making objects by heating powders, important for one of the videos below!) OMG - they PRINTED A PLANE!

That ability to create light, strong structures which have complex internal shapes may well turn out to be additive manufacturing’s killer app. The layering of powders or droplets that are then sintered into solidity, or cured with heat or ultraviolet light, allows spaces to be left inside the product. And if such a space would otherwise collapse, it can be filled with a powder that remains intact during curing and is  then washed out or blown away. Even moving parts, like clock mechanisms, have thus been made in one go in a 3D printer.

*****

If you'd like to have your own 3D designs printed, there are companies like i.Materialize and Shapeways that will do it for you. Other folks have printed musical instruments, food, blood vessels (?!) and - in the case of this innovative San Francisco company - stylish prosthetics.

But, I've been much more interested in printing 3D objects myself. Preferably with my students, who are much more fearless with technology than I am.

*****

Back in 2008, I first became intrigued with 3D printers when I saw a RepRap at Maker Faire for the first time. They had me at "self-replicating machine." Apparently, if you built one printer, it could PRINT a second set of parts (minus the electronics, metal, etc) for you to build a second machine. This amazed me. Every year since, I have been back to gawk at their booth.

Years later, a student sent me a link to the video demonstrating one of ZCorp's 3D printers. Incredible! (If you want the very technical details about how this works, you can watch Michael Mock's explanatory video.)

Still, not something inexpensive enough for the classroom, although DIY 3D printers were coming down in price. At the 2011 Maker Faire, some 3D printers were selling for as low as $800. Some students and I got to brainstorming fundraisers, and I started looking for grant money.

In the fall of 2011, I attended the NextGen Science Fair and, not surprisingly, hung around the RepRap booth. There, I met Brook Drumm and learned about his plans to create Printrbot, an affordable 3D printer that "can be assembled and printing in a couple of hours." One of his goals is to get 3D printers into the hands of kids!

Fast forward to December 2011: The first Printrbots are ready (you should definitely read all about his Printrbot Kickstarter Project) and Brook came to our school to set up and train us on our very own 3D printer! What will we print? We will be able to use ready-made designs from Thingiverse, or design our own objects using the free programs Google SketchUp or Tinkercad. (One of my students has his gummy bear design ready!) As long as the design can be exported to a .stl file, and is within the boundaries of the Printrbot, we should be able to print it!

Check our the Printrbot and my middle school kids in the video below. The printer is quite new and we have a lot to learn, but it is tantalizing with its possibilities.

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Now, if you are still reading, you probably find 3D printing as fascinating as I do. Here are some other incredible videos:

3D Metal printing

Markus Kayser Solar Sinter

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And finally, as with all new technologies, there are new issues to consider. Affordable 3D printing brings up new considerations with copyright. Should be interesting to see how it all pans out.