Introduction
For almost 20 years, Rapid Prototyping Journal (RPJ) has been at the heart of all things 3D printing.
Since our earliest issue in 1995, the field has come on in leaps and bounds. Additive manufacturing now has applications in everything imaginable, including medicine, archaeology and even chocolate!
An article by Terry Wohlers from our very first issue, entitled Future potential of rapid prototyping and manufacturing around the world, posed questions such as, "where is rapid prototyping now?" and "where is it going?" 20 years later, new and surprising developments are still taking place, and the question of "what’s next?" is as pertinent as ever.Overall, this is a time of reflection over how far we've come, and how far there may yet be to go. We are therefore pleased to present this virtual issue, featuring a range of articles from across the journal’s lifetime.
Recent developments
- Additive manufacturing: rapid prototyping comes of age
– Ian Campbell, David Bourell, Ian Gibson - Integrating stereolithography and direct print technologies for 3D structural electronics fabrication
– Amit Joe Lopes, Eric MacDonald, Ryan B. Wicker - Characterization and evaluation of a PMMA-based 3D printing process
– Christian Polzin, Sebastian Spath, Hermann Seitz
Medical innovations
- 3D printed tooling for thermoforming of medical devices
– Jairo Chimento, M. Jason Highsmith, Nathan Crane - Rapid prototyping assisted surgery planning and custom implant design
– Sekou Singare, Qin Lian, Wei Ping Wang, Jue Wang, Yaxiong Liu, Dichen Li, Bingheng Lu - Improving the process of making rapid prototyping models from medical ultrasound images
– Mohammad Vaezi, Chee Kai Chua, Siaw Meng Chou
Evolving applications
- 3D restitution, restoration and prototyping of a medieval damaged skull
– Massimiliano Fantini, Francesca de Crescenzio, Franco Persiani, Stefano Benazzi, Giorgio Gruppioni - Enhancing aerospace engineering students' learning with 3D printing wind-tunnel models
– Ehud Kroll, Dror Artzi - The guide to glass 3D printing: developments, methods, diagnostics and results
– Grant Marchelli, Renuka Prabhakar, Duane Storti, Mark Ganter - Make or buy analysis for rapid manufacturing
– Massimiliano Ruffo, Chris Tuck, Richard Hague
Terry Wohler's thought piece
This virtual special issue is a collection of papers previously published in issues of the Rapid Prototyping Journal.
Meet the RPJ Editors in this introductory video
Get in touch
If you have any further questions or comments, please contact us.
Editor
Dr Ian Campbell
[email protected]
