Tyler Kirsch
Abstract
The capabilities and Real-life applications of 3-D printing from now to the future
Paradigm shift
Future of 3-D

Introduction
Today’s world is fast paced and everyone wants everything right now. Although productivity has been increasing exponentially since the industrial revolution, we humans have invented a new way of building. As of now, we build things with our hands using material we purchase from a hardware store, which in turn was made in a factory. Now, we have created the 3-D printer. The 3-D printer is a machine that can create an object by solidifying material (usually powder or liquid) in very thin layers on three axis’s, using a selective laser sintering process, to build the work piece. (Encyclopædia Britannica, September, 2014a)
Summary of Key Findings
The 3-D printer has the ability to change the way we manufacture our everyday essentials. We could potentially be printing out our own kitchenware, decorative figurines, vases, and essentially parts the can connect together to give you a much more intricate piece. Having a 3-D printer also opens up a world of opportunities everyone, even those without degrees in drafting and designing. Businesses could drastically increase production rate as well as make more precise manufacturing specifications to fit consumer needs. Production has also reached the point of portability, providing businesses to the ability to physically take their workshops to the site and have the customer’s request printed directly where it’s needed. This also takes away the need of having a large crew work for several days to complete a project.
Manufacturing has reached a whole new level. The 3-D printer can produce many things from our daily life ranging from tools, appliances, and even weapons. Industries have been playing with the idea of 3-D printing for over two decades now when the first one was made by scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1993 (Encyclopædia Britannica, September, 2014b). Industries have also taken to much larger scale printers to mass produce more aerodynamic vehicles that are more fuel efficient and a lot less toxic to the environment. Companies around the world have taken it one step further by creating more efficient homes that are printed using a large scale 3-D printer over a small foundation to build complex buildings quickly. Three dimensional printing though not only has the ability to make people’s lives easier but have also been used to save them.
Being able to print at such small scales provides a unique ability to help save lives. Medical and engineering specialists have teamed together to create better ways for people to heal as well as get rid of potentially harmful conditions. A few things specialists have been able to come up with are specially made casts that use a technology that can speed up the bone healing process, prosthetics for people who have been wounded and needed limbs removed, as well as extremely small internal stints to help from blockages in the veins. It’s so fascinating what people have been able to come up with when discovering the 3-D printer. From simple shapes like blocks to complex pieces like organs for doctors to practice surgery’s on, nothing seems to slow this industry down, except for a few concerns from governments, corporate companies and some public consumers.
Conclusion
All in all, in 20 years this industry has great potential. Just a few things some people are concerned about, and with good reason, is the basic abuse of the printer. People come up with all kinds of ways to destruct other and use anything for something other than its purpose. Governments are concerned of major criminals expanding their already larger counterfeit productions and believe it may end up uncontrollable once the use of 3-D printers increases and becomes easier. And even though having less people involved in a project can make for less mistakes, many are concerned it could take too much away from the working force and leave millions of people without jobs. The greatest concern a lot of people are having though is the ease of creating a gun that is undetectable by any metal detector or scanner and made of plastic that has the ability to shoot multiple shots. Of course, many creations turn out to have flaws once they’re implemented for consumer use. In this case, it is mainly a matter of the person using the 3-D printer and the wrongful ways they use it, that’s the flaw. It may take a while for this industry to kick off, but my expectations in 20 years, is that these are used in our everyday lives and in everyone’s home.

References

3-D printing. Encyclopædia Britannica, September, 2014a & b
Can be found at http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.proxy.itt-tech.edu/eds/detail/detail?sid=4860d11c-ea2e-4a79-acd8-26c442e4ee2f%40sessionmgr112&vid=1&hid=103&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPXVpZCZzaXRlPWVkcy1saXZlJnNjb3BlPXNpdGU%3d#db=ers&AN=87324109