Free Republic

Impossible Objects is, even for the 3D printing world, apparently doing the impossible. The focus of the company is to create the world’s first composite 3D printed objects, using an impressive variety of materials, to revolutionize the already-revolutionary 3D printing space. Larry Kaplan heads up the Impossible Objects team as the CEO. The former CEO of Navteq, Kaplan is leading the five-employee firm’s chaimpossible objects logorge in developing novel 3D manufacturing machines to enhance upon the presently available capabilities. “Current technologies are 20 or so years old,” said Kaplan. “They are great for prototyping but too slow compared to volume...

Gregory Mark co-owns Aeromotions, which builds computer-controlled racecar wings. To make those wings both strong and lightweight, they use carbon fiber. No surprise there—it's the material of choice for many advanced motorsports parts. The problem is that making custom racecar parts out of carbon fiber is daunting. The only real method available is CNC machining, an expensive and difficult process that requires laying pieces by hand. To improve the process, Mark looked to 3D printing. But nothing on the market could print the material, and no available materials could print pieces strong enough for his purposes. So Mark devised his...

Ultra-light, rust-proof, ten times stronger than steel and hailed by some as the key to energy efficiency, carbon fibre may soon be traded as a commodity on global markets, according to some industry expectations. The view arises as carbon fibre is poised for potentially huge growth in the airline and motor industries. Demand for the product is also soaring from manufacturers of everything from golf clubs and fishing rods to wind farms and bullet-proof vests. Competition for high-quality carbon fibre is intensifying more quickly than its mostly Japanese producers ever predicted and an international market with liquidity and transparency could...

Separation anxiety: The wall between military and commercial technology Seattle Times 01/22/06 author: Dominic Gates Last April in Everett, in a tense meeting with an investigator sent by Boeing headquarters, a small group of 787 engineers dropped a bombshell. The engineers, veterans of Boeing's work on the B-2 stealth bomber two decades ago, told investigator Rick Barreiro that technology and know-how developed for that secretive military program would be used in manufacturing the company's newest commercial jet. The engineers refused to sign forms declaring that the 787 program is free of military data. One said he feared signing would leave...