EASYUNI Ultimate University Guide 2013 Issue 6 | Page 47

E XC L U S IVE F EAT U RE

Need a part for your
lawn mower? At present,
you would need to get
it from your repairman,
who in turn orders it
from a distributor, who
got it shipped from a
country where they
are mass-produced in
thousands. In the near
future, which we might
already be experiencing,
you will simply 3D-print
the part right at home
from a CAD file you
downloaded, and if

you do not have the right
printer you could just
print it at your local 3D
printer’s office.
3D printers use a variety
of additive manufacturing
technologies, but they
all share one core thing:
they create a threedimensional object by
building it layer by layer
until it is complete. It is

much like printing in two
dimensions on a sheet of
paper, but with an added
third dimension from a
digital file.
Applications of 3D
printing include design
visualisation, prototyping
or computer-aided
design (CAD), metal
casting, architecture,
education, healthcare and

entertainment. Other
applications would
include reconstructing
fossils in paleontology,
replicating ancient
and priceless artefacts
in archaeology,
reconstruction of bones
and body parts in
forensic pathology and
reconstructing heavily
damaged evidence
acquired from crime
scene investigations.

A Huge and Fast-growing Market
The first wave of consumer 3D printers have been in high demand, taking the
market by storm as their potential to transform business and work as we know
it is mind-blowing. It is almost certain that 3D publishing will usher in the next
industrial revolution.
Experts estimate that by 2025, at the pace the industry is moving, 10 percent of
consumer products will be created using a 3D process. Although 3D printing is
not poised to take over the world quite yet, it has gone beyond being an industrial
prototyping and manufacturing process as the technology has