Arenas and other large venues rely on high-tech displays to produce the best show possible for an audience. The show must go on, as the saying goes, so reliability is paramount.
AUBURN, AL—GE Aviation is investing $50 million to bring 3D printing technology to its assembly plant here. The company plans to use high volume 3D printing to mass-produce components for jet engines.
CHICAGO—Sciaky Inc. has received a purchase order from a major aerospace parts maker to provide an electron beam additive manufacturing system. The system will help the manufacturer save time and cost when producing large, high-value metal parts.
Soft and cuddly aren't words used to describe the plastic or metal things typically produced by today's 3D printers. But, a new type of device developed by Carnegie Mellon University and Disney Research Pittsburgh can turn wool into teddy bears and other fuzzy fabric objects. The device looks something like a cross between a 3D printer and a sewing machine and produces 3D objects made of a form of loose felt.
When a special effects company in Hollywood needed to produce a suit for the latest “RoboCop” movie, they turned to additive manufacturing. A 3D printer played a leading behind-the-scenes role in the production of the iconic RoboCop suit, including the helmet, visor, chest armor and boots.
Depending on who you listen to, 3D printing (or, as it’s more formally known, additive manufacturing) is either the biggest thing to hit the manufacturing world since the screw or the biggest tech fad since the fax machine. It’s actually a little of each.
