Browsing articles from "February, 2013"
3D Printing
Feb 18, 2013
3DPrintingNews
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3D Printing gets Presidential seal of approval.

Last week during his annual State of the Union address, US President Obama not only mentioned 3D Printing, he earmarked it as a key strategy for the re-invigoration of the US manufacturing Industry.
In August 2012 Obama initiated early testing of this strategy through the funding of a National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute in Youngstown, Ohio. Youngstown represented the heart of steel manufacturing within the US and has been one the areas hardest hit by the American recession, today a once shuttered off warehouse is home the a state of the art lab where workers are mastering the 3D printing process.
With a vision to create a 15 node 3D printing network across the US it is clear Obama has faith in the potential for growth presenting by 3D printing technologies. Obama announced the launch of three more of these manufacturing hubs “where businesses will partner with the Departments of Defence and Energy to turn regions left behind by globalization into global centers of high tech jobs”
Some argue that the potential for 3D printing to revolutionize American manufacturing is greatly over hyped due to high labour and logistics costs within the US. Only time will tell if Obama’s policy will have the desired impact however for 3D printing advocates his mere mention of the technology in one of the the most widely listened to public speeches is likely to further strengthen public interest in 3D printing technologies.
Rapid Prototyping, Stereolithography
Feb 14, 2013
3DPrintingNews
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King Tutankhamen replicated with Rapid Prototyping

On the 16th of February 1923, Archaeologist Howard Carter opened the fourth and final chamber in the Tomb of Tutankhamen, revealing the sarcophagus and remains of the then little known young Pharaoh.

Now a world famous icon of Ancient Egypt King Tut’s remains permanently rest at his tomb in the Valley of the Kings, while an exact replica of the Mummy can be viewed outside of Egypt thanks to Rapid Prototyping and the work of historical model maker Gary Staab.

Commissioned to produce a replica model of the world famous mummy in advance of the final stop in the second  Treasures of  Tutankhamen world tour Staab turned to Rapid Prototyping to speed up the development process.

CT scans of the mummy were imported into proprietary 3D software which created an exact 3D CAD file of the actual mummified remains. This file was then hollowed out to reduce build times and weight of the final Stereolithography model. Once hollowed the file was fixed to ensure the model was “water tight” prior to sending to print.

Once built support structures were removed before the 3D model of King Tut traveled to the Staab Studio. Gary Staab then set to work developing the colour and texture until the monochrome model was transformed into a realistic replica model of the mummified Pharaoh.

3dprinting
Feb 4, 2013
3DPrintingNews
Comments Off on Mobile goes 3D as Nokia release 3D Development Kit for Lumia 820

Mobile goes 3D as Nokia release 3D Development Kit for Lumia 820

While 3D printing for mobile device development is nothing new Nokia are embracing the growing consumer interest in 3D printing technology with the Lumia 820 3D printing community.

A simple concept the 3D printing community will allow users replace the removable mobile shell with a range of Nokia made casings capable of enhancing user experience, from special ruggedized shells  – for those demanding a more robust mobile casing to shells adding a wireless charging capability allowing chatterboxes to talk for longer.

In addition to these product add on’s the team at Nokia have realised that with 3D printing it will now be possible to take customer experience and the desire for individuality even further with 3D templates available online for users to build their own unique shell casing.

Nokia Community and Developer Marketing Manager, John Kneeland  believes that the future for mobile phones lies in more modular and customizable products, with the hope that some day Nokia will sell some kind of phone template allowing entrepreneurs the world over to build a local business on developing phones specifically tailored to the needs of his or her local community.