3D Printing, and The Future

As an engineer I frequently am excited about new trends and currently at my new job I am working on a new innovative 3D printer. While I can’t get into the details of the current printer I am designing, I would love to talk about how far we have come with 3D printers, and where we will be going in the near future. This is such an exciting field, that I am constantly amazed by how far we have come in such a short amount of time.

3D printing started out extremely basic. Mechanically, the machines could only print out plastic (PLA being the most common). While this did have a variety of uses, it was still pretty limited. Plastic while versatile could only do so much, since people’s creativity sometimes needs to be expressed in other materials. Plastic 3D printing has become extremely accessible in the past decade. Previously it cost a fortune to own or even use a printer, but now you can purchase one for the same price as a regular printer. Some libraries in the states have printers, that you could use for a very low price, schools also often have 3D printers available for students to use. 

While it has gotten more accessible to 3D print, there is now a variety of materials that one could use due to the rapid innovation that has occured. One notable achievement, is how scientists have been able to 3D print organs. While these have yet to be placed inside of a person, it proposes an exciting new frontier in the world of medicine. The machine works by putting down layers of cells. The ability to have organs being easily accessible could change a lot in the organ transplant industry. Currently, we don’t have a large enough supply to meet the demand of organs needed by patients. This not only changes organ transplants, but doctors have been using 3D printing to print medicine, prosthetics, medical instruments, etc. It is safe to say that the introduction of 3D printing could help a lot of people.

Another major frontier in 3D printing is food. In the past decade there has been a notable rise in how much people care about global warming. People are becoming more conscious of their eating habits, by either cutting down or eliminating meat from their diets. 3D printing has stepped in since it has the ability of creating meat without the greenhouse gas emissions.  Whether the meat is made with animal cells or not, this is an incredible step for curving the consumption of livestock across the globe. The attempts to create vegan or vegetarian meat with a 3D printer is interesting since the printer can help give the mixture a more muscular texture that is often not seen in alternative meat products. This will be interesting to see as these products are expected to hit the market in a year.

3D printing has also been able to curb the homelessness epidemic that many cities and countries face. There is a company that has been 3D printing homes in parts of Mexico and the US. The homes take up to 2 days to be printed, and about a week to be assembled. These homes are incredibly cheap at $10,000. And the company plans to bring the cost down to $4000. This fast turnaround and the customizability of the homes, could soom help fix the housing crisis that is being seen all over. The application of this technology is endless, and it could change the lives of many. 

3D printing is such an incredible technological achievement that has the potential to change everyone’s life for the better. The endless applications are at our fingertips, and the accessibility of the machines allow for anyone to express themselves.