Future

3D printing is a relatively new technology and its uses continue to grow. A look into the future can help provide an understanding why 3D printers will be an important technology for society and an imperative for present and future engineering students to learn.

Medical Use

There is great interest in using 3D printers to form organs from living tissue. The goal is to use 3D printers to create a functioning organ that matches the patient’s genetic code so that it will not be rejected as foreign due to activation of the patient’s immune system. This would allow patients with damaged or failing organs to have organs created when needed, as compared to the present situation where the patient’s organ needs to reach a certain level of deterioration before the patient is placed a list and then has to wait for a suitable donor organ, which may never be available. Printing organs is an interdisciplinary field that requires engineers, biologists and chemists to work closely together. 3D printers could also redesign current technologies, such as the cochlear implant. 3D printers would integrate tissue engineering with electronics. An external ear would be created from live tissue and a bionic ear would be encased within it (3D printer churns out bionic ear). 3D printing can solve the major problem that the medical field has in replacing failed organs, finding enough suitable organs to transplant. A study by the University Of Missouri describes the challenges that 3D printed organs face.
__________________________________________________________________________________________

[youtube=http://www.ytube.com/watch?v=JRBa9YifVTY]

Culinary Use

Another up and coming use for the 3D printer is in the food industry. Our food could be made upon demand anywhere in the world with a 3D printer. NASA believes that 3D printed foods would solve a major issue for astronauts in space, as healthy balanced meals could be printed when needed. Printing food is not just useful for its health aspects. It could help alleviate starvation. It could provide a solution to relieving famine in parts of the world. 3D printers could be transported to remote geographic areas and create nutrient rich food much easier than transporting tons of food supplies to that remote region. 3D printing could also allow culinary artists to create food art masterpieces. This has been the focus of Cornell University. Using food paste, desserts in various shapes, can be created after imaging them on a computer. Another intriguing tissue engineering food opportunity is 3D printed meat that does not harm or kill animals
__________________________________________________________________________________________

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6WzyUgbT5A]

What Lies Ahead

3D printing has an endless amount of potential uses. To predict what will be created on 3D printers is almost impossible. 3D printers are even now being used to produce parts for NASA’s rockets. What we do know now is that this technology will revolutionize the way both businesses and consumers will create products. Whether it is a personalized ring, a Boeing 737, a car or a house, the way products are constructed today will not be the case in the future. This is the reason that it is vital for students to understand how this process works and understand the impact that this innovation will have on society in a variety of contexts.

Related articles