Army Research Lab Relies on 3D Printing Technology

Although the Army’s interest in rapid prototyping comes as no surprise to those who have been around 3D printing for a while, it’s still interesting to take a look at how the military is leveraging this technology.

David McNally got the opportunity to take a look inside the Aberdeen Proving Ground research lab, and his report is pretty interesting. Of the many amazing things that are happening at this lab, one idea had me intrigued.

Rapid technologies branch chief Rick Moore had this to say “There are also a lot of fascinating medical applications [for 3D Printing], which kind of overlap with what we'd like to do in the Army in the future."

Medical personnel may use 3D laser scans on a soldier before he or she is deployed. This would ensure all physical features are on file.

"If a soldier comes back wounded, we'd have that data on our side where we could possibly build prosthesis that are exactly how the soldier used to look -- instead of sculpting it and scanning it."