Class Summary

This week’s class brought us even more examples of 3D printing in the real world. We heard from two individuals heavily involved in 3D printing, in completely different worlds. One was seeking how 3D printing could be used in business, the other in human biology.

First, we heard from Alan Amling at UPS. I thought it was really cool to see 3D printing being used to drive big businesses in the real world, today. Alan spoke of many of the challenges he faces in trying to implement this technology into the business. He noted that his greatest challenge is convincing firms that they won’t be sacrificing any of their intellectual property by making the switch to 3D printing, which confirms the challenges we have previously discussed in class.

Next, we had the opportunity to learn from Dot Silverman’s journey through biohacking and 3D printing. Dot opened my eyes to the possibilities that 3D printing can have on humanity beyond business. Being a business major, I often only think of things from a certain perspective. Dot showed us that 3D printing can change how we live – with the potential to custom print pieces of the human anatomy. Transplants will become much safer as 3D printing will allow some of these transplants to take place without the need of another human being. There is even a 3D printed heart that actually pumps blood. It seems like the possibilities that this technology can bring the world of medicine are endless.

Towards the end of class, our team came up with several ideas for what we want to make for our project. Overall, there was a definite theme of practicality to each of our ideas. We thought of a headphone untangler and a steering wheel attachment before settling on a grocery bag holder that looks something like this:

This holder will allow someone to simply slide the bags onto the little slot and hold from the top, grey grip. This would allow one to easily carry several bags at once.

In the News

Miami University Researchers Work Together to 3D Print Better Bones

This article dives into more of the discussion on 3D printing and bones that Dot detailed in her talk. The article describes how broken bones are being mended with the use of 3D printing through ‘scaffolds’ and ‘bridges’ that better mend the broken bone.

This video outlines how 3D printing can create human tissue in an easy-to-follow way. I thought it broke down the process of printer to person quite well and the speakers were quite engaging.