Top 5 Videos: 10 Dates that Changed 3D Printing

This week we found the top 5 videos about 3D printing and the way additive manufacturing is changing production. The technology has infiltrated many sectors, from medical to automotive: check our selection of the week to keep up with the innovations! If you enjoy these, you can view even more 3D printing videos on our Youtube channel. Hope you’ll enjoy and have a great Sunday!

TOP 1: 3D Printing Day: 10 Dates that Changed 3D Printing

This week, on the 3rd of December, we celebrated international 3D printing day! Charles Hull developed the first 3D printing technology, stereolithography, only compatible with photosensitive thermoset polymers, in order to facilitate the production of prototypes. Not long after, Hull printed the first ever 3D printed object, an eye wash cup. Today, after over three decades of rapid growth, development and innovation, 3D printers are capable of far more, from printing houses, parts for cars and rockets, meat alternatives, to a miniature functioning human heart. 3D printing is changing the way products are manufactured worldwide: minimising waste; maximising sustainability; and permitting mass customisation to cater to specific consumer needs. Additive manufacturing has had, and will continue to have, an unprecedented impact on medicine, transport, commerce, and society as a whole. Watch our compilation of 10 of the most important moments that changed 3D printing.

Top 2: AM Micro-robots: the 3D Lithography Research Revolutionising Medicine

These 3D printed micro-robots are so small that they can manoeuvre through our blood vessels and deliver medications to certain points in the body. Researchers have been pursuing this goal for years. Scientists at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich finally succeeded using a new manufacturing technique, underpinned by the expertise of ETH Professor Salvador Pané’s work. Using 3D lithography, a high-precision 3D printing technique that produces complex objects on the micrometre level, the scientists are able to print metal and plastic with such precision that the two materials are interlocked as closely as links in a chain. These micro-robots will one day revolutionise the field of medicine.