Since the inception of 3D printing, an evolutionary process has taken place where specific user and customer needs have crossed paths with the capabilities of a growing number of machines to create value added businesses. Even today, over 30 years later, the growth of 3D printing and its utilization for the good of society is often limited by the various users' understanding of the technology for their specific needs. This paper presents an overview of current 3D printing technologies and shows numerous examples from a multitude of fields from manufacturing to education.
Trevor Snyder, Mark Weislogel, Peter Moeck, Jennifer Stone-Sundberg, Derek Birkes, Madeline Paige Hoffert, Adam Lindeman, Jeff Morrill, Ondrej Fercak, Sasha Friedman, Jeff Gunderson, Anh Ha, Jack McCollister, Yongkang Chen John Geile, Andrew Wollman, Babak Attari, Nathan Botnen, Vasant Vuppuluri, Jennifer Shim, Werner Kaminsky, Dustin Adams, John Graft, "3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing: 3D Systems Technology Overview and New Applications in Manufacturing, Engineering, Science, and Education" in Proc. IS&T Int'l Conf. on Digital Printing Technologies and Digital Fabrication (NIP30), 2014, pp 146 - 151, https://doi.org/10.2352/ISSN.2169-4451.2014.30.1.art00037_1