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Imagine having the ability to create functional, quality products like hand tools, kitchen utensils, and even jewelry in the comfort of your own home. Believe it or not, this technology does exist and is accessible to anyone who is tech-forward enough to know the latest developments in the 3D printing revolution. 3D printing is the process of turning a digital image into a three-dimensional object by laying down successive layers of material through a printing machine. While the functionality of objects created in at-home 3D printers have yet to be fully developed, the engineering industry has experienced breakthrough advancements in prototyping since it was first invented in the 1980s.

Time saving

It's difficult to argue against the fact that 3D printers play a crucial role in the advancements of the engineering world. Time effectiveness is the key asset of 3D printing in the engineering industry. It's much faster to do it with 3D printing, says Tharwat Fouad, president of Anubis 3D, a Mississauga-based 3D printing company, because now I don't have to fine tune my design to the nitty-gritty before I start producing a mold or sending it to an elaborate manufacturing process.

The speedy printing process allows for more time to dedicate to iterations. Earlier on in the stage when [engineers] first get their idea, they can prototype it and if it doesn't work we can iterate it and try it again, says Mark Barfoot, managing director of Hyphen Services, a prototyping and testing facility in Kitchener, Ontario.

It saves a lot of time and it makes the number of iterations to get to a fine-tuned and optimized product much faster, Fouad adds.

Creating functional products

Since the invention of 3D printing, engineers have been introduced to a wide-range of 3D printers in the market, as well as a plethora of compatible materials used for the prototypes. One of the more significant developments has been the improvement of materials used throughout the process. Barfoot compares the 3D printing today to his experience as an engineering student in university: From when I graduated back then and we got a StereoLithography Apparatus (SLA) part, they were weaker material. You had to be really careful. He adds, So they definitely made improvements in material choices. They've made the machines faster and a bit easier to use now, and there's now a wider range of machines than there used to be.

Moving forward

With the continuous technological tweaks and improvements, both Fouad and Barfoot agree 3D printing will only progress from here. 3D printing was invented as a good prototyping tool, says Fouad. But the new and more exciting thing is becoming the technology used in the manufacturing process for production runs and for functional parts that are used in actual equipment.

3D printing is growing, says Barfoot. There's definitely a lot of hype right now, but there's also been a lot of new advances over the last while, especially a lot more companies getting into this 3D printing aspect of things.

Photo: Baris Simsek/Thinkstock