A 50 year View of Additive Manufacturing

Late last week GE hosted a Google+ hangout with leaders of the 3D printing industry. In a wide ranging discussion, Avi Rechental, Terry Wohlers, Rob Gorham and Dr. Ryan Wicker discussed the future of additive manufacturing.

Who would have forecast 10 years ago that printers would be available to the average consumer for under $1,000? Or that NASA, GE, and a host of other companies are using the technology to test and create rockets engines, airplane components and parts that until now were impossible to manufacture?

But what’s the future if we look 50 years out?

The expert panel said they see bioprinting, 3d printed food, and additive manufacturing clusters where all manner of consumer products can be created. But as Terry Wohler put it, “Honestly I don’t think we know. I mean no one was able to forecast a full length video on our phones… What’s most exciting [about 3D printing] is what we don’t know about where this is going in the future.”

While we may not be certain about how 3D printing will be using in the future, what we can be sure of is that it will bring a huge number of 3D printing applications.