Invention of 3D Printing
Chuck Hull, an American engineer, invented 3D printing in 1984. He worked for a company that used UV lamps to make durable coatings. Hull realized he could use UV technology to make small prototypes. He used photopolymers that stayed liquid until reacting to UV light. His system, called stereolithography, used a UV light beam to sketch the shape of an object out of liquid photopolymer.
Early Developments and Commercialization
In 1981, Hideo Kodama in Japan developed a layer-by-layer approach to manufacture objects using photosensitive resin and UV light. In 1984, three French engineers filed a patent for the stereolithography process. In 1988, Scott Crump invented fused deposition modeling, now the most popular method for 3D printing plastic.
In 1991, 3D Systems released the first commercial 3D printer. In 1999, Objet Geometries developed PolyJet technology to print multi-color and multi-material objects.
Accessibility and Impact
In 2009, the open source RepRap project made 3D printing accessible by providing plans for a 3D printer that could be built at home.
Since Hull’s 1984 invention, 3D printing has seen ongoing improvements in affordability and capabilities. It continues to have an increasing impact on manufacturing and production across many industries.