Wohlers Talk

I’m not a big baseball fan, but it was impossible to ignore the Colorado Rockies this October. No one expected the team to go nearly as far as it did. My family and I got caught up in it all and wanted to attend a World Series game, so we did. The Rockies did not do well in the series, but they did almost everything to perfection to get there. In the end, the team was outmatched by the Red Sox, a ball club that has been playing the sport for 106 years, compared to 16 years for the Rockies.

The “World Series” name has bothered me for some time and it was even on my mind when we attended Game 4 Sunday night. I’ve often wondered how the rest of the world feels about the name, given that it doesn’t involve any teams outside North America. What right do we have calling it a world event when only our small corner of the world is involved? To answer the question, you need to do a little research, which I did.

The World Series was launched in 1903 and has been an annual event ever since, except for 1904 and 1994, according to Wikipedia. Near the beginning, North America—particularly the U.S. —was the only region of the world where highly skilled baseball was played. In fact, professional baseball was found only in the U.S. for decades into the 20th century. The World Series name, more or less, accurately reflected the championship playoff and it became deeply engrained over time.

Should the name be changed because other countries now play the sport at the professional level? That’s not for me to argue. I do know that changing a name of this magnitude is not likely to happen. In fact, I’ve never heard it discussed in any public forum. So, for those of you outside North America, I hope you can tolerate this grandiose name that we fling around. And, I hope you now better understand why we call it the World Series. I certainly do.

Next week, four design/prototyping/manufacturing events are being held simultaneously in Europe and the USA. VRAP 2007 is September 24–29 in Leiria, Portugal. (VRAP stands for Advanced Research in Virtual and Rapid Prototyping.) This every-other-year event, being offered for the third time, draws some of the best academic researchers, as well as a few presentations from private industry. The Portuguese are excellent hosts and do a fine job with this international conference.

TCT 2007 is September 26–27 in Coventry, England and has been running as an annual event for many years. (TCT stands for Time-Compression Technologies.) It is an industrial conference focused exclusively on rapid manufacturing, with a relatively strong exhibition associated with it. The people at Rapid News Publications—the publisher of the European TCT magazine and organizer of the TCT event—are excellent at bringing together a good group of people from the UK and many other countries.

The other two events are in the USA. NDES (also known as National Manufacturing Week) is September 25–27 in Rosemont, Illinois. NDES stands for “National Design Engineering Show” and is organized annually by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). The event is not like it once was and has been on “life support” in the recent past. I’ve attended several times, but not over the last few years.

3D Systems World Conference is September 25–27 in Rock Hill, South Carolina. It is a first-year event sponsored and organized by 3D Systems. The event competes with the 3DS Users Group Conference, an annual event organized and conducted by 3D Systems’ customers.

I’m attending the VRAP and TCT events. I’ve been to them in the past and know that they deliver a wide spectrum of views and opinions from top industry and academic leaders. TCT struggled for a few years when it became affiliated with another event organizer, but it is back on track. I’m looking forward to attending both, but wish they were not the same week.

There is more than one way to anticipate the future. In the area of additive fabrication, one can study trend lines to gauge the interest in machines, materials, applications, and industries. Another way is to review the most interesting developments among the leading academic researchers from around the world. Not all ideas come from academia, but a respectable share does. I recall Geoff Smith-Moritz, former editor of the Rapid Prototyping Report newsletter, saying that he attended the Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium in Austin, Texas to gain a sense of what might develop in the future.

Geoff was right. When I attended the symposium the first time, I was impressed by the quality and quantity of research that was presented. Many of those in attendance know that a high percentage—maybe 98%—of what is shared will never develop or lead to anything more than a technical paper or thesis. However, if you can locate the 2% that has good potential for developing into something that is commercially viable, the time spent at the conference is unquestionably worthwhile.

The challenge is to recognize the 2% when it’s mixed in with the other 98%. What’s more, no one knows for certain what will lead to a successful product or service. However, if one considers the trends that are underway, and has some insight, it’s not impossible to gain some sense of the future. The symposium, organized each year by the University of Texas at Austin, provides this opportunity like no other. The 18th symposium begins on Monday and I’m hoping that it will provide the quality of research results that it has in the past. If it does, and I expect it will, it will be worth enduring the heat and humidity of Texas in August.

“It’s been said that inventiveness is the source of American wealth,” explained Leland Teschler in his March 8, 2007 column in Machine Design magazine. He went on to say that the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), National Academy of Engineering (NAE), and the National Science Foundation (NSF) concluded that we need more of it.

Ideas have been explored and tried in an effort to “produce” inventors. Teschler believes—and I agree—that some people are born with more natural ability to invent than others. You simply can’t create good inventors.

It is possible, however, to bring out the best in people that have what it takes to invent. History has shown that high-profile prizes can encourage innovation, according to Teschler. He uses the example of Lindbergh’s flight from New York to Paris. It was the $25,000 Orteig Prize that served as the motivation. More recently, Mojave Aerospace Ventures received the $10 million X Prize for launching a private pilot into space.

The Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) and a group of volunteers are working together to introduce high school students to the tools and technologies that help you explore new ideas, create, and innovate. The fourth annual Bright Minds Mentor Program, held last week, introduced advances in CAD solid modeling, 3D printing, rapid manufacturing, and laser scanning to 50 Detroit-area students at the RAPID 2007 Conference & Exposition. The program has never offered prizes as an incentive to participate, but it supports NAS, NAE, and NSF’s belief that creating interest in invention starts at the elementary and secondary school levels.

NAS, NAE, and NSF also believe that more scholarships for science and math majors are needed. The Dimension 3D Printing Group, a business unit of Stratasys, recently announced the results of its third annual “Extreme Redesign: The Ultimate 3D Printing Challenge,” a design and 3D printing contest for high school and college students. More than 1,200 designs were entered in the competition. Two first place winners received $2,500 scholarships and four finalists received $1,000 scholarships.

Inventors cannot be created, but there are ways to motivate the naturally gifted to become productive inventors. I truly believe that programs, such as Bright Minds and Extreme Design, are helping. Kudos to SME and Stratasys for serving as the spark that hopefully ignites many fuses among our youth.

EuroMold 2006 was held last week in Frankfurt, Germany. The large trade fair consisted of nearly 1,700 exhibitors from 45 countries spread across six exhibit halls. More than 60,000 people from 72 countries attended. Several new products were introduced.

• EOS unveiled its €150,000 FORMIGA P 100 laser sintering system, as well as its new EOSINT P 730 and EOSINT P 390 systems.
• Envisiontec introduced its Perfactory Desktop system for €30,000. Also, it showed an epoxy resin, as well as a UV machine that uses Digital Light Processing (DLP) technology.
• Voxeljet, a sublicensee of Z Corporation’s 3DP powder/binder technology, showed a machine that produces parts as large as 850 x 450 x 500 mm in PMMA. The machine was running and building parts and they looked good.
• MCP displayed impressive aluminum and titanium alloy parts and introduced its SLM 100, a smaller and lower cost metal fabrication system that is listed at €250,000.
• Next Factory exhibited a faster stereolithography machine, as well as a much larger system that it is currently being tested.
• Objet Geometries distributed sample hearing aid shells produced on its PolyJet system. The photopolymers are said to be safe for long-term skin contact.

EuroMold is arguably the most important trade fair on rapid product development technologies and applications in the world. And, it is the biggest. Increasingly, companies are using it to launch new products and services—a good reason to attend. EuroMold 2007 is December 5-8.

One of the most asked questions related to additive fabrication technology revolves around its future. People across many industries frequently ask about the potential of additive machines and materials and their expanding breadth of applications. A growing number of users of the technology for rapid prototyping anticipate the day when they and others will use additive processes for custom parts and short run production. Already, dozens of organizations have tried it and many have experienced success, even though rapid manufacturing is in its very early phase of development. RM presents a wide range of opportunities and challenges.

The future of additive fabrication will be the topic of discussion at an upcoming international conference at EuroMold 2006 in Frankfurt, Germany. Carefully selected speakers from several industries, including aerospace, automotive, and medical, will present their views and opinions in the one-day event titled Future Industrial Applications of Additive Fabrication. Through examples of what’s been tried, coupled with years of experience and insight, the speakers will explain how and why the future of product design and manufacturing will be impacted by this very powerful technology.

If you are planning to attend EuroMold, plan to attend this Friday, December 1 conference. You can register on-site, but it’s better to do it in advance. Go to the special page at the EuroMold website to see the conference program and pre-register. Also, plan to stay for the annual party and reception that follows directly after the conference. Everyone in attendance will have the opportunity to win valuable gifts and prizes.

I hope to see you in Frankfurt in less than three weeks.

I had the pleasure of attending the International Conference on Rapid Prototyping and Manufacturing on September 6-7, 2006 in Espoo, Finland. Espoo is the country’s second largest city with 230,000 residents and is located about 20 minutes west of Helsinki. The conference was organized by Helsinki University of Technology (HUT) and supported by the Finish Rapid Prototyping Association (FIRPA), the Global Alliance of Rapid Prototyping Associations (GARPA), and several other organizations. 

The technical program exceeded my expectations. I listened to all 21 speakers and was surprised by the quality of information presented by the majority of them. Other than being the home of Nokia, Finland is not known as a hub for new product development and manufacturing. Yet, the conference really delivered, thanks in large part to the hard work and strong connections of Jukka Tuomi of HUT and his team.

The conference was truly an international event. After the conference, seven of the attendees choose to spend the evening together. Represented were China, Finland, Germany, Portugal, Singapore, South Africa, and the USA. You don’t get much more international than that.

GARPA’s ninth annual Global Summit coincided with the conference and was held on September 5. FIRPA hosted a very productive meeting in which 10 countries from Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America had sent representatives. 

I hope that the conference becomes an annual or bi-annual event. If it does, I will be among the first in line to sign up. Congratulations to HUT for organizing an outstanding conference and GARPA meeting.

The Society of Manufacturing Engineers’ Rapid Prototyping & Manufacturing 2006 Conference and Exposition is next week. I hope you are planning to attend because it promises to be one of the best ever. Pre-registrations for the conference sessions and exhibits are among the highest in years. The May 22 tours and workshops are also receiving a good number of registrations.The main conference begins on May 23. I have the genuine honor of giving the State of the Industry address for the 14th consecutive year. I will do my very best to share the most exciting developments and trends from the recent past. Much of the one-hour presentation will come from Wohlers Report 2006, a global market study developed with input from 47 co-authors, 53 service providers, 27 system manufacturers, and many others worldwide. This new report will be released the same day. Lauralyn McDaniel of SME and her team have put together four outstanding days of activities. Among them: