Nine Astonishing Facts About 3D Printing
Rapid Expansion
Worldwide shipment of 3D printers is expected to reach just less than 100,000 units this year. It is expected to double in 2015.
Sales Surge
The 3D printing market is expected to grow at 23% annually through 2020, reaching $8.4 billion.
Markdown
While commercial 3D printers cost $15,000 or more, their price should fall to less than $2,000 by 2016.
History Lesson
The concept of 3D printing dates to the early 1980s, when inventor Chuck Hull issued a patent for “a system for generating three-dimensional objects by creating a cross-sectional pattern of the object to be formed.”
Lucrative Idea
Hull’s company, 3D Systems, now commands more than $460 million in total assets and $230 million in revenues.
Scaling Down
The Photonic Professional GT 3D printer can create objects with widths as thin as a human hair.
License to Print
The James Bond movie, Skyfall, used 3D print technology to produce models of 007’s famed Aston Martin DB5 luxury grand tourer.
Something to Talk About
In Belgium, biomedical specialists implanted a 3D-printed titanium jawbone into an 83-year-old woman.
Tasty Tech
NASA has made 3D-printed pizza to feed astronauts in outer space.
