My basic overview of 3D printing appears in the current (Fortune 500) issue of Fortune.
This piece lays out some rudimentary basics, but I am currently working on a more detailed piece – on what I call the “crowd manufacturing cycle” (short note on this idea in previous post titled “Objects 2.0”). Also, see a more recent post with my discussion with John Kawola, CEO of Z Corporation. Text on the Fortune / CNN Money website, or scanned printed version with images below.
download higher resolution PDF of Fortune piece on 3D printing
download higher resolution PDF of Fortune piece on 3D printing
Dr Johnny Ryan FRHistS 
Heck, we have 3d Design and Printing at our middle school!
I Need a Fork!”
Today we opened up the first session of the Discovery Charter School North Henry Avenue Annex Design Lab (DCSNHAADL) with a group of students and parents coming by to see what 3D Design & Printing are all about. Even though school has just been “officially” over for a week, we had a workshop full of students and their parents here for a good chunk of the afternoon.
After walking everyone through the software and demonstrating what the printer did and how it worked by printing another well executed Mini Mug, we gave student copies of SolidWorks to everyone and then turned our attention toward creating and printing a design. After a fair amount of fooling around with impossible designs (A flamethrower!) or impractical (A dragon!) we settled on the practical: A fork.
Vernon created the original design on the HP workstation and with some creative support from Amanda, Doug & Riley got the code into BFB, on to the SD chip and thence to the RapMan. It was amazing to watch a group of kids and adults jostle for space around the printer as the fork took form before their eyes. There is something magical about the whole 3D printing process as layer-by-layer an object emerges.
We were all rapt as the RapMan laid down the strands, filled in the spaces and slowly created a very recognizable dinner table item.
Cool!