Scott Crump on 3D Printing

BusinessWeek.com profiled 3D printing this week on its CEO Tech Guide section, and in it, a group of articles and multimedia explores the 3D printing process (also known as additive manufacturing) from several viewpoints. It’s compelling information that discusses the technology's uses, ranging from NASA creating spare parts in space to scientists creating human organs in the lab to children creating toys. There are no limits to how people will create

While Stratasys continues to explore all our...

You’ve heard it before: the advice to innovate to thrive. And in a challenging economy, you may need to innovate just to survive.
 

Nothing gives me a sense of pride more than to hear of a company innovating and thriving with the aid of Stratasys FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) Technology.

An article in the Green Bay Press Gazette profiles Wisconsin Plastics Inc. as a company thriving in a tough economy with some help from FDM. The article refers to the manufacturer’s FDM machine as “the jewel”...

In August, Stratasys announced that England's Loughborough University had completed independent studies on plastic parts created by the FDM additive manufacturing process, using ABS plastic and polycarbonate. 

This may be exciting news for us, but it has greater implications for the design and manufacturing community. We believe this study is the first of its kind, and it offers data often necessary for manufacturing applications and sometimes for functional prototyping.

If additive manufacturing...

By Scott Crump, CEO of Stratasys

Forbes Magazine recently published an interview with Autodesk's VP and CTO, Jeff Kowalski, on the subject of 3D printing and how it will affect manufacturing going forward. Autodesk is the world’s largest CAD software company. Kowalski is in a good position to speak on this subject, his team is charged with shaping Autodesk technology and innovation strategies, developing emerging technologies into customer capabilities, and exploring the big ideas that are...

The United States has led the world for about 100 years but China is projected to surpass the US in total manufacturing output this year. Mark Mills has an interesting article on Forbes.com: “Manufacturing, 3D Printing and What China Knows About the Emerging American Century” that says Manufacturing success in the coming decades will depend more on information-centric technologies such as 3D printing and less upon labor cost than in the past. He says:  “If the future of...

As a teenager learning to waterski at a friend’s cabin one summer, I envied the guys on the lake who could do deep cuts, spraying a wall of water 15 feet high. Yet, afraid to fall down, I was content to safely ski between the dual wakes of water from the boat. That summer, my friend’s dad taught us a valuable lesson. He said we’d never learn to ski like those guys unless we “wiped out” a lot more. “If you aren’t falling,” he said, “you aren’t learning.” He was right. By the end of the summer,...

Introduction by Joe Hiemenz, Stratasys

Once limited to university curriculum, 3D mechanical design is being taught to an ever younger age of students. Today high school and even elementary students are learning how to use CAD and 3D printing technologies. An engineering career can provide a solid future for students and is important to the future of their communities and country.

Starbase Minnesota is a series of special week-long programs in Minneapolis, where inner-city grade-schoolers learn...

On Tuesday, I posted a blog article about the implications of an industry standards initiative and a name change to the term “additive manufacturing.” I hope you've had a chance to read it.

Today, industry analyst, Terry Wohlers discusses in his Industry Briefing revenues from additive manufacturing and his thoughts on the additive manufacturing name change. Terry gives another perspective on the name change for you to consider.

Does our industry need yet another term?
 

Yes!

Have you heard that many players in our industry have agreed to adopt a standard term — “additive manufacturing” — to describe the basic, generic process of creating either a finished good or prototype layer by layer? The most widely accepted alternative had been “additive fabrication” until a recent decision by the ASTM International F42 standards subcommittee on terminology for our industry. Quickly following suit, SME’s Rapid Technologies and...

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,...

Additive manufacturing (or 3D printing) technology has been around for over 20 years, and scores of manufacturers and designers have adopted the technology or plan to.

According to Hewlett-Packard’s Santiago Morera, VP and general manager of the company’s Large Format Printing Business, there are millions of 3D CAD designers using 2D printers that are ready to bring their designs to life in 3D.

I concur. And yet I still often encounter people in the manufacturing world unfamiliar with the...

Monday was a great day for Stratasys.

Hewlett-Packard announced it has entered the 3D printing market, and it introduced two machines.

And Stratasys announced we’ve begun to ship these 3D printers that carry the HP brand name. The printers were developed and produced by Stratasys under HP’s direction.

It’s a sweet feeling to see Stratasys reach this point. I’ve envisioned an event like this for more than 20 years.

By expanding into 3D printing, HP is taking an historic step. It’s the only paper...