I am enjoying a rare moment of convergence between my two parallel worlds — university technology commercialization and 3D printing. By now, you’ve probably heard about 3D printing. 3D printing technology isn’t new — it’s actually been around for a few decades. What’s new is the fact that in the past few years, a “perfect storm” of converging technologies are rapidly opening up a lot of potential new applications.
Recently several leading Chinese universities and the government invested $80 million to form a Industry Alliance 3D printing innovation center in Beijing. And, did you know that one of the most widely used 3D printing techniques was invented and brought to market by a University of Texas student and professor in the 1980s? Demonstrating the value of federally funded university research, the project was federally funded by DARPA.
To read the full, original article click on this link: 3D printing: the promise and peril of a machine that can make (almost) anything
