Engineer Keith Curtis is with Microchip Technology Inc., a semiconductor manufacturer based in Arizona.  The company often needs prototypes to show customers how small items, like some plastic car parts, might work when attached to a larger unit.  He says that the ability to produce an object in the office has enhanced the design process.

Before they had a 3D printer, Curtis says that crafting these objects was complicated, often involving a third-party.

Curtis and his team use one of the least expensive 3D printers, a $1,500 model that requires assembly by the user.  He says learning how to build and best use the machine were the difficult parts, and since then it has operated without malfunction.

Some 3D printers can run into the tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.  Smaller models, like the one Microchip uses, can fit on a desktop, while others span several feet in width and height.

Purple Platypus, a 3D distribution company based in California, carries several printer models.  Its founder, David Cox, says that regardless of their size or expense, most of these printers operate under the same principle.

Inside each printer on display at Purple Platypus, a mechanism feeds extremely thin layers of material, mostly plastic and rubber, back and forth over a base.  Often within several hours, the printer turns a computer-designed image into a 3D prototype from the bottom-up.

Cox says these 3D printers offer several advantages.  First, sending a design to a third party production team usually requires days of waiting for one object.  Second, for businesses with a high demand for prototypes, these in-house machines and their materials are more cost effective.

Current 3D printers do not offer consumers much beyond prototyping, but research into 3D printing technology extends far beyond plastic models.  Joel Johnson is a reporter who has covered rapid prototyping for Gizmodo, an online technology guide.

Bio-engineers are currently researching the machines’ ability to print organic tissue while some inventors are looking into ways to produce large-scale objects for more long-term use.

While many industries are looking into the future of this technology, for the moment 3D printers offer a unique tool for design application.

Via:  www1.voanews.com

Launched in 2007, the Connex500 represents the first-ever system to allow 3D printing of several materials with different mechanical and physical properties simultaneously. Its patented PolyJet Matrix™ Technology jets materials in ultra-thin layers, immediately curing each layer with UV light – a process which yields models that closely emulate the look, feel and function of an exceptionally wide variety of end products. In addition, the system allows users to create composite materials that have pre-set combinations of mechanical properties, also a first for the industry. Today, the only other 3D printer offering these capabilities is Objet’s Connex350™, unveiled in June 2009.

About Instituto Tecnologico Y De Estudios Superiores De Monterrey (ITESM) Tecnológico de Monterrey was founded in 1943 thanks to the vision of Eugenio Garza Sada and a group of businessmen who established a non-profit association called Enseñanza e Investigación Superior, A. C. Tecnológico de Monterrey is a private, non-profit institution independent of and not related to any political party or religious group.

The work of the Tecnológico de Monterrey and of all of its campuses is supported by civil associations made up of a large group of outstanding leaders from all parts of the country, who are committed to quality in higher education. Each year, the trustees of these civil associations meet to establish the goals which will guide the important decisions needed for the Tecnológico de Monterrey to achieve its mission of becoming an engine for the development of local communities and the country.

Tecnológico de Monterrey enjoys the support of the national community, which participates in the lotteries the institution organizes to expand the scholarship program and the investment in infrastructure. To function as an educational institution, the Tecnológico de Monterrey operates under the statute of a Free University.

Via: objet.com

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Via: modelin3d.com

A 3D printer used to take a long time to build an object, but with recent developments, printers are starting to craft objects which are being completed in only a fraction of the time.  Their output is only sure to increase.  The depth of these objects is also starting to improve, as you will get a fully three-dimensional object which will have working parts that you can use.  A variety of materials can all be used to put one single object together, helping you to expand the function of this item.  You can now also get objects of varying size, helping you to put together a prototype order that fully meets all of your needs.

The size of the printer itself is going to be another important factor to consider.  The size of the unit will determine how large of a prototype it will be able to make, but it will also determine if you can fit the printer itself into the space that you have available.  If the model is too large, you will have to pass on purchasing that one.

Another factor to consider will be the materials that the printer can work with.  Some 3D printer can use different materials to construct the prototypes and if you are going to put together various types of objects, you will want to have this handy.  All in all, there are a lot of factors you need to consider when buying a 3D printer, as you’ll want to make sure that you get the right one for your needs.

3D printing, rapid prototyping, as it is often known, is not new. I first heard about 3D printing sometime in late 1980s while still a student. However, these devices, which have featured in TV shows such as CSI, could soon be coming to a workshop near you and may represent the biggest shift in commerce and manufacturing in decades. The Fab@Home wiki has more information on the technology, but 3D printing, essentially, turns a digitized representation of a solid object, which you might download, email, or create, into a real solid object. It using a vat of uncooked starting material (plastic, metal or alloy) and a laser, or other device, controlled by computer holding the digitized information to build up the object layer by layer.

Source: www.sciencebase.com