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3-DIMENINSIONAL PRINTERS:Technological Super Heroes

Introduction

Three-Dimensional printers are technological feat, and as they become more easily
accessible many people will realize the super powers of these extraordinary machines. Three- Dimensional Printers are a modern wonder. They are already making life easier for those companies and agencies that can afford them, and as they get more cost effective
they will be able to help ordinary people do things that may have been out of their reach and price range. Three-d printers use lasers and electrical beams to create almost anything
you can imagine from a tasty chocolate cake to the air plane that is flying over your
head. (Marks, P. 2011.) They can use several different kinds of materials, or a combination of those materials like a plastic metal alloy to make things like a working
wrench with no assembly necessary. (MrCrafty78, 2011) Three-d printers use various methods and fine powders to spray, layer and melt products into shape. “It is one of the
fastest growing areas of manufacturing”. (Anonymous, 2011 )

Background

Three-Dimensional printers have been around for only about twenty years. In 1983 Charles Hull created the precursor to the modern day printer called a stereolithograph, and from that came prototyping and rapid prototyping technology.(patent) Charles Hull later created one of the first three dimensional printers with his company 3D Systems corp. In 1990 several other companies such as Z-Corp, the fastest printer and maker of one of the only printers that prints in color and Statasys another large and growing 3-D printer company appeared on the scene and have quickly made three-d printing the wave of the future. (Anonymous, 2011)