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Examples & Applications of 3D Printing
Applications include rapid prototyping, architectural scale models & maquettes, 3D printed prosthetics and movie props.
Other examples of 3D printing would include reconstructing fossils in paleontology, replicating ancient artifacts in archaeology, reconstructing bones and body parts in forensic pathology and reconstructing heavily damaged evidence acquired from crime scene investigations.
Education
Educators and students have long been using 3D printers in the classroom. 3D printing enables students to materialize their ideas in a fast and affordable way.
Primary & High Schools
3D printer manufacturers have taken up a more direct role in education. Companies often undertake programs to promote technologies. These programs serve as a cheaper way for schools to make 3D printers available for use in classes.
Programs such as Create Education Project enable schools to integrate additive manufacturing technologies into their curriculum for essentially no cost. The project lends a 3D printer to schools in exchange for either a blog post about the teacher’s experience of using it or a sample of their lesson plan for class. This allows the company to show what 3D printers can do in an educational environment.
Similarly, certain companies provide lesson plans to schools, teaching kids how to use (and sometimes build) them. This is important as many schools may not have anyone on staff with abundant experience in this field.
Similarly, many educational companies such as Kidesign partner up with printer manufacturers to create projects like Kiddeville with very specific aims in mind. This project is a collaborative design project where students designs elements of a scale model of a city. Over the course of these kinds of projects, teachers guide them through research, development and printing. Such programs give a much more specific goal and a level of focus that regular classes don’t have.
Universities
While additive manufacturing-specific degrees are a fairly new advent, universities have long been using 3D printers in other disciplines. There are many educational courses one can take to engage with 3D printing. Universities offer courses on things that are adjacent to 3D printing like CAD and 3D design, which can be applied to 3D printing at a certain stage.
In terms of prototyping, many university programs are turning to printers. There are specialisations in additive manufacturing one can attain through architecture or industrial design degrees. Printed prototypes are also very common in the arts, animation and fashion studies as well.
Research labs in a diverse range of vocations are employing 3D printing for functional use. While most studies are still employing the printers for models, medical and aerospace engineers are putting them to use in creating new technologies. Medical labs are producing all sorts of bio-printers and designs for prosthetics. Engineers are, similarly, incorporating printing into designs automobiles and airplanes.
Workshops & Online Courses
The educational environment is not only limited to institutional and schools. There are a great deal of other ways one can learn about additive manufacturing. One of the increasingly popular ones is to do it online. To supplement online studies, many companies offer discount deals for 3D printers and related tech. One such deal comes packaged with Coursera’s online classes.
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You can also teach yourself for free by watching YouTube videos. Many YouTubers and online tutors make a living off of assembling 3D printers and creating free tutorials.
Metal printers are expensive and require some training before you can operate them. This requires in person workshops like those offered by 3DMT. Aerospace / Defense, Power Generation, and Electronic manufacturers attend two days of in-depth instruction and receive a detailed overview on 3D printing technologies, followed by an intensive, hands-on curriculum on how to use metal printers in prototyping and production. Courses like this are more professional and often cater to businesses as opposed to only individuals. They can be a great place to learn to use equipment that is ordinarily out of the regular consumer’s reach.