The Future in 3-D

Several years ago, I worked on a magazine for customers (and potential customers) of a company that created software for infrastructure engineers. The editor who hired me is a good friend (proving once again that it is not necessarily what you know, but who you know) and she tried to fill each issue with a mix of articles including industry trends, trade news, and interesting customer projects. Management preferred content that featured the company’s products, so convincing them to publish articles of general interest to the readership (that could lead to increased circulation by engaging the readers, and, hopefully, elevating the company’s profile—at least that was the theory) was always a bit of a challenge. Therefore, the content mix of each issue was a trade-off between soft-sell general interest and hard-sell features.

Early on, the editor included an article on laser mapping of Machu Picchu, a topic that management never quite understood why were covering. (Heck, it was Machu Picchu—if that was cool enough by itself, using 21st-century technology to study the infrastructure of an ancient site was way cool. And using 21st-century technology to study Machu Picchu was ever cooler.) So when she later proposed an article on the then up-and-coming subject of 3-D printing, the powers that be (or, as is the case, the powers that were) really didn’t see the point. Both the editor and I thought that 3-D printing was an unbelievably exciting topic, and, even if there wasn’t a super clear connection to the current needs of the company’s client base, it wasn’t too much of a stretch to see the potential that 3-D printing would have.

Fast forward a few years and 3-D printing is everywhere. Okay, not really everywhere, but in lots and lots of places. And is being used in ways that a few year’s ago would have been considered science fiction (for a quick run through of the uses of 3-D printers, here is a handy list of 20 things you may not know about 3-D printing from Discover Magazine). Rarely do a few days go by that I do not see an article online about the potential uses and groundbreaking impact of 3-D printing. 3-D printers are helping animals like homeless kittens (okay, I admit I listed that first because I am a sucker for any feel-good cat story), disfigured toucans, and hurt tortoises. Maybe even helping to save rhinos. And if a 3-D printer can restore fertility in mice, can a similar breakthrough for humans be far off. From the potential to customize medical implants and revolutionize organ transplants to the already available ability to create custom prosthetics that among other things have enabled a young girl play the violin, 3-D printing is changing the future and the future of engineering.

The editor and I saw that potential and more. The future will truly be in 3-D.