What's the Future of 3D Printing?

Thursday, October 24, 2013
Author: Sophie Reynolds (Festival Officer, London Design Festival at the V&A)
As part of the London Design Festival at the V&A 2013, the Science Museum joined forces with the V&A to present an inspiring panel discussion on the future of 3D printing.

Fractal Table II, Platform: Gernot Oberfell, Jan Wertel and and Matthias Bar; after 2011 as: WertelOberfell , designer. Museum no. W.29-2011
Fractal Table II, 3d printed table, platform: Gernot Oberfell, Jan Wertel and and Matthias Bar (designer), MGX by Materialise (manufacturer). Museum no. W.29-2011. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.


With the V&A's Hochhauser Auditorium packed to the rafters, visitors listened to a panel of scientists and technical experts discuss their views on 3D printing, addressing questions such as what is most exciting in 3D printing at the moment, and what may be possible in the future.

'Liberator' gun. Cody Wilson / Defence Distributed, 2013
'Liberator', 3D printed gun. Cody Wilson / Defence Distributed, 2013


The event was chaired by Pippa Hough, Content Developer at the Science Museum, and tied into the Science Museum's exhibition 3D: printing the future

The panel featured a variety of 3D printing experts, from a broad range of fields:

Dr Adrian Bowyer, a former senior lecturer in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Bath, and Inventor of the RepRap open source printer ("self-replicating rapid prototyper").

Dr Phil Reeves, Managing Director of print consultants Econolyst, a 3D printing consultancy and research firm that advises on future business, technology strategy and the benefits of AM (Additive Manufacturing) adoption.

Prof Richard Hague, Professor of Innovative Manufacturing, and Director of EPSRC Centre for Additive Manufacturing, Faculty of Engineering, Nottingham University.

Prof Mark Miadownik, materials scientist, engineer, broadcaster and writer at University College London.

vam.