Many
years ago I was given the opportunity to design my first product.
The terms rapid prototyping, 3D printing, and 3D prototyping were foreign to me.
Although I felt confident in my abilities to design a complex piece
of equipment, I was ill-prepared when it came to making the parts I
needed.
We had a large in-house machine shop and I was assigned a
machinist to build my prototypes. I would bring him a drawing of a
part I’d worked on all day. He would bring me the part and I would
find an error...
The Department of Defense STARBASE
youth program recently placed a large order – roughly $1 million –
with Stratasys for another batch of 3D printers. DOD STARBASE
locations nationwide now have more than 100 Dimension and uPrint 3D
printers being used as classroom technology. 3D printing or
rapid prototyping with FDM technoloogy helps the
program raise kids’ interest in science, technology, engineering
and mathematics (STEM) subjects and careers.
At year-end there are always a ton
of “Top 10” and “Best of” lists. At Stratasys, we’ve compiled our
“Best of 2011 Webinars” list too. Whether you’re looking for
inspiration to maximize your existing additive manufacturing
equipment or justification to present your case for securing a
rapid prototyping system, grab a cup of coffee and spend a few
minutes with a few of Stratasys’ webinars
from 2011. We'd love to hear what other webinars you might like
to see -- leave your comments below.
As
additive manufacturing is used more frequently to
produce short-run production parts and manufacturing
tools, like jigs and fixtures, engineers need to consider how
well the parts hold their dimensions over time. The main
controlling factor in assessing dimensional stability is the
production material.
A Stratasys white paper, entitled "The
Accuracy Myth: Don't Make the Mistake of Confusing Resolution with
Accuracy" addresses the question of long-term stability of parts
produced by additive...
What could you do in the time it takes to brew and drink a
pot of coffee?
Nestlé Nespresso S.A. can pour out a new iteration of
its highly-designed single-serve espresso machine with caffeinated
speed thanks to its Diminsion 3D rapid prototyping
machine.
If you're an espresso afficianado, then you know the care,
craftsmanship and attention to detail that goes into each tiny cup.
More than 20 years ago Nestlé Nespresso developed a home-brewed
option that rivals the pours of trained baristas. The...
As fall kicked into high gear, students and teachers sharpened
pencils and revved up their 3D printers. Find out how one Minnesota
middle school added heft to its pre-engineering curriculum
with the
Dimension uPrint Personal 3D Printer.
Read more.
Would you trust the stability of that cup of coffee you grab for
the road to a 12-year old? You would if that middle-schooler had an
assignment from Peter Grimm, an industrial technology teacher at
Southview Middle School in Edina, MN.
Grimm challenges his eighth and seventh grade pre-engineering
students to find a solution for the problem of ill-fitting cup
holders in older vehicles. By incorporating the educational power
of 3D printing, students’ creative ideas are easily brought from a
CAD...
Put
a group of 16- to 18-yar old high school students in a room with a
Dimension 3D printer and you'll be surprised at what
transpires.
"We believe in using 21st century technology in the
classroom to best prepare students for success in the field of
engineering," said Mike Bruggeman, IT instructor at Chico High
School. Several opportunities with local business, however, are
teaching his students even more.
Two former students, now part of the successful Kleen Kanteen
company, sought Bruggeman's...Read More »
Last year, we sponsored Monroe Community College in their
Engineering Science Association Competition. The school has a
Dimension 3D Printer and uses it to quickly produce 3D models
for their competition pieces, among other things. They love
the FDM technologybecause of the durability of the ABS plastic and the ability
to produce accurate parts in a matter of hours. This has been a
distinct advantage to the school in their competitions. One
instructor said to me, "One of our great advantages...Read More »
The first known mention of the proverb “measure twice, cut once”
dates back back to 1591 when John Florio published Second
Frutes. He could not have dreamt how relevant his words would
still be to companies developing products in challenging economic
times more than four centuries later. Here’s an excerpt from a
recent editorial by 3D printer maker, Stratasys CEO, Scott
Crump, who applies it to rapid prototyping. Over the next
four weeks we will publish brief excerpts from the article.
While many of us fantasize about that
perfect sports car, Swedish supercar creator, Christian von
Koenigsegg
is busy designing them – with help from true-to-life prototyping
with a Dimension 3D
printer.
More than 300 parts make up each high-tech
car with design and testing taking weeks. With a Dimension 3D
printer in-house and accessible to each engineer, testing now races
throughout the development cycle, with high-density plastic models
and parts designed, printed and available within
hours.
June Prototyping and Digital
Manufacturing Conventions and Trade Shows
Book your flight and update your Outlook
Express -- there are a number of events that showcase digital
manufacturing and prototyping this summer across the country. Learn
more about Dimension 3D
Printers, Fortus 3D Production Systems and
other products on display. Plus, check out sample parts from a wide
range of additive manufacturing applications.
Learn more about how prototyping and rapid manufacturing can be an
asset to...
A coworker told me about this interesting documentary about
design, called Objectified. The
main reason it tweaked my interest was he said that they
showed our Stratasys' Dimension 3D printers building some
rapid prototypes for a few seconds. So I made this my very
first iTunes rental to watch on my new iPad.
Here is the movie trailer:
I really got into the movie and definitely started to look at
physical objects in a different way. Most of us take for granted so
many products in which you don't...
It's
back to school for many countries after a long summer
break: a great time to show gratitude to
teachers for developing outstanding curriculum, opening doors
to new possibilities and supporting the futures of our kids
and communities.
This month we'll be sharing with you how educators in the US
and around the world have implemented an additive
manufacturing curriculum by incorporating 3D printing into their
classrooms from elementary through college graduate. It's very
exciting to see so...
In May of this year I was able to travel out to New England to
visit some schools interested in adding rapid prototyping to their
curriculum, as well as visit with some schools that
already have 3D Printers and other prototyping systems in their
classes. Three of the schools that have Dimension 3D Printers that
I visited were New England Institute of
Technology (NEIT), Harvard University and
Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT). I will talk about MIT and Harvard
in more depth in future...Read More »
When consumers stop spending, retailers stop stocking. During
slow economic times, consumer product design firms like Tape Wrangler report a
significant decrease in the quantity of inventory that retailers
are willing to carry. As a result, manufacturing products the
traditional way has become harder to do without breaking the bank.
When you need thousands, or hundreds of thousands of parts,
using steel injection-molded tooling is an easy choice, because the
cost of the tool is easily absorbed...
I was at Skills USA last month which was a great event. I've said
it before that I really enjoy the variety of competitions that the
high school and secondary students can compete in. I spoke to
students participating in T-shirt making, extemporaneous speaking,
nail design, mechanical drafting, architectural drafting, CNC,
robotics, and even engineering design. Those are just a few of the
events that were showcased.
We must have shown the Dimension 3D Printer to 2000+ people in the
booth and more...Read More »
When
I think back on the 20 years Stratasys has been in business, it is
striking how fast the time has gone and how far we have
traveled.
Our
team has been busy with scores of initiatives that divert our
attention from the passing time. Although incremental change never
looks impressive, when I stop and take stock of where we have
been and where we are, it is gratifying.
When
you look at projects like the full-scale turboprop engine model for
Autodesk or customers' rapid manufacturing projects,...
Many
years ago I was given the opportunity to design my first product.
The terms rapid prototyping, 3D printing, and 3D prototyping were foreign to me.
Although I felt confident in my abilities to design a complex piece
of equipment, I was ill-prepared when it came to making the parts I
needed.
As
additive manufacturing is used more frequently to
produce short-run production parts and manufacturing
tools, like jigs and fixtures, engineers need to consider how
well the parts hold their dimensions over time. The main
controlling factor in assessing dimensional stability is the
production material.
Would you trust the stability of that cup of coffee you grab for
the road to a 12-year old? You would if that middle-schooler had an
assignment from Peter Grimm, an industrial technology teacher at
Southview Middle School in Edina, MN.
Put
a group of 16- to 18-yar old high school students in a room with a
Dimension 3D printer and you'll be surprised at what
transpires.
is busy designing them – with help from true-to-life prototyping
with a 
It's
back to school for many countries after a long summer
break: a great time to show gratitude to
teachers for developing outstanding curriculum, opening doors
to new possibilities and supporting the futures of our kids
and communities. 
When
you look at projects like the full-scale turboprop engine model for
Autodesk or customers' rapid manufacturing projects,...
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