Designs and research

Manufacturing:

• Because of the versatility of 3D printing, companies across aerospace, automotive, defense, and medical fields have employed it as a means of manufacturing.

• It is more beneficial to 3D parts in house for manufacturing companies, to make the process more efficient and reduce costs

• 3D printing custom tools for manufacturing can be easier and more efficient than waiting on a custom ordered part

• Available filaments include both metals and plastics.

• Research and development departments usually require prototypes, which are typically handcrafted or made from mold, which take a lot of time.

• Using a 3D printed prototype saves designers both time and money, and it also allows them to see their work in action before committing to a full scale model.

• 3D printing also reduces risk for injury and create less waste.

• Companies can start new projects more frequently.

• It is way more efficient than traditional manufacturing. 

• Increase the speed of manufacturing which drive innovation within product lines 

• Products that originally went for higher prices now are more affordable to the masses.

• Less risk of messing up the model, which helps with time management.

• There is more design freedom and precision accuracy.

EXAMPLES:

• General Electric, Boeing, Ford, and Nike use 3D printing in their manufacturing

  • General Electric prints fuel nozzles for jet engines, ribbed gearbox covers for the company’s new turboprop engine, and intricately designed fuel heaters. 

  • The airline company Boeing was an early user of 3D printing, & had made more than 20,000 3D printed parts for 10 military & commercial planes.

    • In January of 2019, Boeing was ready to try out a prototype with engines that had six different parts that were 3D printed.

    • The six parts included turbine blades and fuel nozzles. 3D printing the turbine blades ended up reducing the overall engine weight.

  • Ford has a dedicated 3d workshop in the pilot plant to create tools to make manufacturing of the cars faster, such as making 3D printed car parts that are no longer sold.

    • Ford has also been using 3D printing technology since the 1980s (recently printing its 500,000th part with a 3D printer)

    • Ford also teamed up with the #d Systems Sugar Lab and printed a model made from chocolate and sugar of the 2015 Mustang 

  • Nike and other sneaker companies have focussed on 3d printing midsoles, but in April 2019 they announced the release of their first 3D-printed textile footwear, called Flyprint.

  • Robotics engineers utilize 3D printers for end-of-arm tooling and end-use parts, from fingers to entire robot components. 

  • Food can also now be manufactured using special 3D printers.

Scientists:

• • 3D Printers are used to make animal fossils in museums, skin made with live skin cells, lab and surgical supplies, prosthetic. 

    • Paleontologists uses 3D printing to make dinosaur skeletons complete and to replace clay that would uphold the bones which was price and heavy on the bones. 

  • Scientist have also used 3d printers to make life sized models of the bone structures of animal such as whales.

  • 3D printing has allowed for the reproduction of different experiments relating to evolution and ecology. 3D printed models allow for better analysis of their data and predictions.

  • 3D printers have become "standard equipment" that scientists have in labs.

    • In the medical field, 3D printing has been used to print medical equipment such as "forceps, hemostats, scalpel handles, and clamps."

    • The sterile medical tools can be printed to be very small, so they can fit into tiny areas for operating.

    • It has been founded that 3D printing doubles the strength of stainless steel - researchers found that it strengthens the bonds in the metal.

  • 3D printers are also good for dentistry because it can create teeth, crowns, and bridges. 

    • 3D printing also allows scientists to print jaws and other bones structures. 

  • 3D printers can fix something that is broken and 3D, like a body part. 

  • 3D printing has been used to make do prosthetics, and some people can even print their own.

    • Body Labs has come up with a way to make the prosthetics completely custom to the customer before the actual prosthetic is made. This is done by a system where it scans their limb.

  • Scientists have also began using 3D printers to make replicas of human organisms.

    • Doctors can 3D print replicas of certain organs with cysts or tumors to get a better idea of information about the abnormality before they go into surgery.

  • There is new medical advancement called Bioprinting. 

    • Bioprinting is when scientists 3D print natural tissue cells and organs that can last up to 40 days.

    • In Israel, students used 3d printing to make a heart. 

      • While the heart is too small and does not function exactly like a human heart would, it shows how technology is advancing. Maybe some day soon we will be able to print a functioning heart. 

    • Carnegie Mellon University also 3D printed a human heart.

  • Scientists use 3D printers to quickly and cheaply make tags to track big fish such as sharks and tuna. 

    • The company is a Tech company called CSIRO- they say they will be able to print and shipped to Tasmania over night (where marine scientists are trailing these animals

  • NASA uses a specialized 3D printing system that prints metal parts such as rocket engine components for their "next-generation Space Launch System." 

    • 3D printing on the moon was conducted using local materials (objects made from moon rocks).

  • DIY Computer hardware. Certain pieces of computer software are very expensive, and scientists have discovered that they can 3D print parts opf hardware for a fraction of the cost.

  • Creating a lunar base is something that scientists are trying to figure out and using a 3D printer can help by using local materials. 

  • 3D printing allows for accurate Buckminsterfullerene which can help science teachers to teach.

  • Students who are exposed to 3D printing software early are more likely to succeed in the future of 3D printing

  • Scientists are using 3D printers to deliver safer medicine tablets for children. 

  • Researches the the University of Toronto have come up with a new way of making skin using the 3D printer, where the printer dispenses live skin cells instead of plastic filament 

• Medical professionals

  • They are used to make tissues and organs (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4189697/)

  • used for making prosthetics, implants, and for medical research for drug dosage forms, delivery, and discovery(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4189697/)

  • 3D printing is good because it lowers the price of prosthetics and implants and it is costumed-made for people (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4189697/)

  • helps with rapid production of medical devices (https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jhe/2019/5340616/)AH

  • Bioprinting tissues and organoids (https://www.medicaldevice-network.com/features/3d-printing-in-the-medical-field-applications/)

    • Good because instead of having a something that is not quite the "right fit" we can now print with our own DNA and "re-grow" our own (https://www.medicaldevice-network.com/features/3d-printing-in-the-medical-field-applications/)

  • Surgical students and residents can practice on a fake (3D-printed) instead of having to go in without experience or know what to do in the situation (https://www.medicaldevice-network.com/features/3d-printing-in-the-medical-field-applications/)/(https://www.lpfrg.com/blog/3d-printing-in-the-medical-industry/)

  • Soon we will be able to print specific pacific organs (i.e. liver, heart) though this is in early stages of testing/development (https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/3d-printing-medical-devices/medical-applications-3d-printing)

  • 3D printers can handle different materials (https://www.lpfrg.com/blog/3d-printing-in-the-medical-industry/)

    • For example the Bolt Pro can print soft tissue and bones (https://www.lpfrg.com/blog/3d-printing-in-the-medical-industry/)

  • The Bolt Pro can print at different temperature so the print can be serialized (https://www.lpfrg.com/blog/3d-printing-in-the-medical-industry/)

  • 3D printing can be used for dental doctors too, to print patient-specific "braces, dental restorations, castable crowns, dental bridges, and denture frameworks and bases" (https://all3dp.com/2/3d-printing-in-medicine-the-best-applications/)

  • To turn medical images into 3D models. 

        http://www.healthtechzone.com/topics/healthcare/articles/2019/08/07/442906-why-3d-printing-perfect-medical-applications.htm

• 3D printers have changed the way tat medical professionals plan their procedures-have made it easier. 

• Predicted that the wait list for medical implants will decrease thanks to 3D printers. 

• Cure process-changing in consistency to make successful end product. 

• https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jhe/2019/5340616/

• Some researchers are working on 3D printers what would be able to make drugs by making chemical compounds and molecules (https://3dprintingindustry.com/news/12-things-we-can-3d-print-in-medicine-right-now-42867/ ). 

• Personalized sensors are used to create the model of organs doctors can print. They would use a sensor to monitor and "photograph" the organ then 3D print the organ (https://3dprintingindustry.com/news/12-things-we-can-3d-print-in-medicine-right-now-42867/ ). 

• Not only can advanced organs be 3D printed, but also simple or complex medical equipment and devices can be 3D printed to reduce cost (https://3dprintingindustry.com/news/12-things-we-can-3d-print-in-medicine-right-now-42867/ ). 

• The most common 3D printer technologies in medical fields are selective laser sintering, thermal inkjet projection, and fused deposition modeling.  (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4189697/ )

• The ability to make custom size and shape medical products and equipment through 3D printing is a huge plus.  (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4189697/ )

• 3D printing can be faster than the traditional methods of making and receiving prosthetics and implants (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4189697/ )

• Surgical implants require complex and organic structures to be accepted by the host tissue. These structures are usually expensive with traditional manufacturing methods, but a 3D printer can create them with no additional cost. http://www.healthtechzone.com/topics/healthcare/articles/2019/08/07/442906-why-3d-printing-perfect-medical-applications.htm  

• 3D printers give users the freedom to choose different designs, forms, sizes, colors of their protheses. 

https://www.lpfrg.com/blog/3d-printing-in-the-medical-industry/ 

Students

• Can print out copies of historical artifacts, body parts, cells, etc to examine and have a better understanding of the objects AB

• Math students can print out 3d objects to use for problems AB

• Beneficial for students to learn how to use them, and how they work

• teachers more comfortable with teaching with technology; since its becoming a very important thing and a main source of many things

• 100% 3D printing activities in school involved a huge percentage of students that engaged in the activity

• Fun way to learn

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