Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Innovation in Three Dimensions

  • By Ohad Meyuhas
  • 09/01/17

Additive technology is changing the world. For researches engaged in fabrication-aided design, additive technology it is not just a 3D printer. It’s an idea engine. No longer does thinking, designing or fabricating need to happen in one dimension, color, texture or material. No longer will researchers be held back or encounter complicated roadblocks to proving hypothesis or bringing new ideas to life. Traditional manufacturing is centered on fabricating with homogeneous materials, but today, with additive technology, we can think about materials in a completely different way.

Imagine if you could design and fabricate from the bottom up, with pure control over the microscopic properties of the materials you are using. In the world of painting, this might be pixel by pixel, in biology it is cell by cell and in 3D printing this is voxel by voxel, allowing researchers to create almost anything. From art with photorealistic color, to biomimics of the body that look and feel real, to 3D printed materials that mimic traditional building materials of brick or wood, we can draw on those strengths with a new aesthetic that put CGI to shame. Multi-material machines, like the ones academic researchers and developers use to create new design parameters, are changing the way we design, fabricate and manufacture today.

So, the advice we have for you — think smaller; voxel small — and stop letting layers or CAD hold you back. Let your fabrication-aided design be your guide and let your ideas be your only limitation. Many leaders in innovation, including those at Columbia, MIT, Fraunhoefer Institute, Singapore University of Technology and Duke University, are already using this new design consideration.

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

About the Author

Ohad Meyuhas is the director of Academic Research and the resident thinker/tinker at Stratasys, partnering with global researchers who are changing the world one voxel at a time. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Architectural Power for the Modern Campus Landscape

    For generations, an outdoor classroom only required a textbook and a patch of grass. Today, not only has the laptop replaced the printed pages, the rise of agile learning has turned campuses into study halls with students listening to lectures and researching topics from quads, gardens, and plazas. The challenge for architects and facility managers is to provide connectivity without cluttering the landscape with visual eyesores or creating safety hazards with extension cords.

  • FGCU Breaks Ground on New Health Sciences Building

    Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) has launched construction on a major new academic facility that leaders say will reshape healthcare education in Southwest Florida for decades to come, according to university news.

  • Dallas ISD Voters Approve $6.2B Bond Package

    Dallas ISD voters have approved a record-setting $6.2-billion bond package that district leaders say will modernize aging campuses, eliminate portable classrooms and reshape learning environments across one of the nation’s largest school systems.

  • Deferred Maintenance Issues Growing at Universities, Gordian Reports

    U.S. colleges and universities are falling increasingly behind on facilities maintenance and repair, according to Gordian’s 13th annual State of Facilities in Higher Education report. The deferred capital renewal burden has reached $156 per gross square foot, an 8% increase over the previous year.