As technology progresses, companies and inventors are found wanting a better way of developing cheaper prototypes (as well

as finished products) in a more expedient manner. Until 1984, when Charles W. Hull designed the first 3D printer, all prototyping was done by hand, by drafters and machinists (Moscaritolo). This process took quite a long time, and was rather expensive, as expensive materials had to be used to construct the prototype. After the creation of the 3D printer, all of that changed. Companies now were able to rapidly design and construct something out of a cheaper material, and in far less time than it took for the traditional form of prototyping. 3D printing is changing the face of manufacturing and design in ways that will affect the economy, medicine, and construction. After the creation of the 3D printer, and its adoption for use in rapid prototyping, there were many attempts at creating a printer that could be used in the home. One of the first printers designed for this purpose was the RepRap Project, which was created in 2006 and released in 2008 (The History of 3D Printing). An interesting aspect of the RepRap Project is that it is the only 3D printer that is designed to be self-replicating. And, on May 29, 2008, it achieved that goal (Torrone). Shortly after the RepRap was released, another fabricator was created, called the Fab at Home, which was the first printer that was able to print in multiple medias, such as silicon, cake frosting, cement, and cheese (The Printers). Other printers soon followed, such as the Makerbot Cupcake and the Ultimaker. One thing that these machines have revolutionized about the consumer economy is the ability for any household with a printer to make something that cant be bought elsewhere. It can be customized to meet the needs of a single user, and not just a single product for a variety of needs. Or, if something breaks, and the parts are either too expensive or too hard to find, one can simply scan the part using a 3D scanner and have the replacement part printed in a few hours for much cheaper than buying it. For example, when Jay Leno needed a part for a car that was no longer manufactured, he scanned the model of the part using a 3D scanner, and imported the dimensions onto a milling machine where the part was made for him (Leno). Yet another application of 3D printing technology is utilizing printers to print objects that can be used in the medical field. Recently, in their 9th Breakthrough Awards, Popular Mechanics awarded a spot on their list to Glenn Green and Scott Hollister of the University of Michigan. In February 2012 pediatric surgeon Glenn Green and biomedical engineer Scott Hollister from the University of Michigan were researching a way to create custom 3D printed tracheal implants, when Green got a call from a surgeon in Ohio. The team got emergency clearance from the FDA and used a CT scan of the 6-week old boys trachea and bronchi to print a custom splint. The boys breathing normalized immediately after it was implanted (Ward 67). This is an excellent example of just one of the uses of 3D printing technology. A growing field of research is that of printing organs themselves. Recently, a group of scientists from the University of Pennsylvania have solved the problem of printing arteries into the organ by creating a scaffolding out of sugar (3D-printed). The applications for 3D printed organs are enormous. A person needing a heart transplant can have the exact heart he or she needs printed for them within a few hours. This

technology has the capability of revolutionizing the medical field to an extent that is relatively hard to imagine. The third major topic of 3D printing is the construction industry and the impact that it could have on it. A company called Contour Crafting has a printer design that they say can print an entire 2500 square foot house out of a special type of concrete in as little as 20 hours (Neal). The machine works by printing two concrete walls in parallel with air space between them, which is left there for insulation purposes. The machine will occasionally stop to pick up electrical and plumbing conduits with another arm and connect them together, then resume printing. When the walls are finished, the other arm will pick up roof panels and place them on top of the walls, which will then be printed over for extra support. One aspect of this technology that places it above conventional construction techniques is that it can quite literally print any architectural design, including curves and arches. There are some ethical questions to be dealt with, however. One that was presented was that with this new construction technology, millions of construction workers would be put out of jobs. Director of Contour Crafting, Behrokh Khoshnevis doesnt think so, as he compares it to the early 1900s when people feared that agriculture technology would ruin the economy by putting farmers out of work. Less than 1.5 percent of Americans are farmers today, but the world did not come to an end (Neal). As 3D printing technology keeps growing, it keeps getting more and more impressive. Imagine what the future could hold for this kind of technology. It has already been shown that the public has an interest in printing, so why stop at simple home-based printers? Why not provide them with the ability to print their own houses, but keep the printer? Or choose if they want better organs, which are more optimized for their body type? There could be a new type of 3D-printed car that homeowners can design and create at home. The possibilities are almost endless. With all of the new technologies coming out of the 21st century, 3D printing is one of the fastest growing, and is rapidly changing the face of manufacturing both now and for the future.