1. 3D Printing: Awesome Tech Making in the 21st Century
Cathy Dwyer
Information Technology
Seidenberg School

2. Creates 3D objects one layer at a time
MakerBot 3D Printer
Creates 3D objects one layer at a time

3. What are they saying about 3D Printing?
“next great technological disruption” – Economist Jan. 2013
“new workers are mastering 3D printing, a technology that has the potential to revolutionize the way we make almost everything.” – President Obama, State of the Union Address, Jan. 2013

4. What is 3D Printing?
“Additive manufacturing” where you create a 3D object one layer at a time
Requires a 3D design created by tool such as auto-CAD
Requires material such as plastic that can be melted then put on one layer at a time
Moving build platform that draws each layer of a 3D design

5. Create Digital Design

6. Plastic filament is the raw material

7. 3D Printer builds product by layering one slice of the design at a time

8. How does it work? “Drawing” a traffic cone

9. Some examples

10. Some examples

12. What can you do with 3D printing?Custom fixtures

13. Models for Set Designs

14. 3D Printed Jewelry

15. Invent medical devices

16. 3D Printing If you can imagine it, you can build it
3D printing lowers cost and eases access to manufacturing
Reduces the cost of and decreases the time needed for an innovation cycle
Prototype – revise – prototype – revise: this takes days rather than years

17. Innovation Inventors imagine shapes, products, tools
3D printing gives inventors rapid prototyping and modeling
Revisions and improvements can be added at a fraction of the cost of “traditional” methods
“DIY” – ability to innovate, design, and manufacture has never been easier

18. Your takeaway
Why study technology? Driver of innovation and opportunity.
Why study in a school of computing? Technology is what we do. At Seidenberg, we do cool things with technology every day.
Questions?
Cathy Dwyer Information Technology Seidenberg School
@ProfCDwyer