Unit 3 Micro: 3D Printing and a Manufacturing Revolution
Recommend on Google+
Additive manufacturing or 3D printing is an emerging technology that takes product design data which provides a geometric representation of a product such as a pen and that data is then sent over to a machine that allows products to be manufactured ‘on the spot’ typically using additive materials in liquid or powder format.
This TED talk from Lisa Harouni (co-founder of Digital Forming) looks at examples of intricately designed products made using this new and increasingly affordable manufacturing technology. 3D machines can build structures, build replacement parts and parts within parts - the detailed resolution possible is incredible.
Watch the video here
This is a stunning and really clear explanation of something that will excite students and provide a wonderful example of process innovation at work - are we close to a tipping point for the landscape of manufacturing and consumption?
We are happy with downloading software updates from the web, how soon before downloading spare parts or downloading medical implants from your computer becomes the norm? 3D printing opens up a completely new vista for customisation of products.
blog comments powered by Disqus
Unit 2 Macro: Cyclical and Structural Economic Issues Facing the UK [23 May 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Evaluation on Supply-Side Policies [21 May 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: The Current Account of the Balance of Payments [20 May 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Migration and the UK Economy [20 May 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: The Importance of Productivity [20 May 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Revision Notes on Supply-side Policies [10 May 2012]
Unit 3 Micro: Innovation in Markets [10 May 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Model answer for revision data question [9 May 2012]
Made in China - but not quite so cheaply…... [7 May 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: TV Assembly Back in the USA [5 May 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Growth and Development Glossary [5 May 2012]
Robert Schiller - Finance and the Good Society [1 May 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: The Euro Zone Crisis (Revision) [22 Apr 2012]
Unit 3 Micro: The Third Industrial Revolution [20 Apr 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Skills Shortages Hold Back Recovery [12 Apr 2012]
Unit 1 Micro: Market Failure in Private Health Care [8 Apr 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Productivity Improvements in China [3 Apr 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Revision on Index Numbers [31 Mar 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Policies to Drive Economic Recovery [9 Mar 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Focus on UK Manufacturing [6 Mar 2012]
Unit 1 Micro: Highest and Lowest Paid Jobs in the UK [26 Feb 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Targeted Tax Cuts to help the Economy [22 Feb 2012]
The Economics of Climate Change - Stern 5 Years On [21 Feb 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: China’s Trade Engine is Spluttering [10 Feb 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Focus on India - Comparative Advantage [27 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Focus on India - World’s Cheapest Computer [26 Jan 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Can China Stay Competitive [25 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Focus on India - Economic Growth [24 Jan 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Exporting to the Booming Chinese Economy [23 Jan 2012]
Unit 1 Micro: Nano Technology and Energy Efficiency [17 Jan 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Videos on Productivity [17 Jan 2012]
Using Infographics in the classroom [15 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Competitive Advantage in Trade (Some Videos) [12 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Does Manufacturing Matter? [10 Jan 2012]
Unit 1 Micro: Inside a Biscuit Factory [1 Dec 2011]
Unit 3 Micro: Hope Bikes - A Commitment to Excellence [30 Nov 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: Does UK Manufacturing have a Future? [30 Nov 2011]
Some Practice Interview Questions [27 Nov 2011]
Unit 3 Micro: Patent Wars might Stifle Innovation [23 Nov 2011]
AS Macro: The State of British Business [13 Nov 2011]
Unit1 Micro: Australia pass Carbon Tax [8 Nov 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: Richard Florida on the Great Reset [5 Nov 2011]
Unit 2 Macro: A New £50 comes into circulation [2 Nov 2011]
Unit 1 Micro: Is the Sun Dipping on Solar Subsidies? [27 Oct 2011]
Keynes Prize: The Economics of Cities (3) [14 Oct 2011]
Can the “invisible hand” solve Africa’s poverty? [13 Oct 2011]
Keynes Prize: The Economics of Cities (2) [13 Oct 2011]
Keynes Prize: The Economics of Cities (1) [12 Oct 2011]
Why Is Macroeconomics Such A Mess? [11 Oct 2011]
Unit 1 Micro: Waste Mountains as Above Ground Mining [6 Oct 2011]
Unit 3 Micro: Amazon launches the Kindle Fire [1 Oct 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: Bangladesh and Comparative Advantage in Textiles [19 Sep 2011]
Study Note - Value Added and Contributions to a Nation’s GDP [16 Sep 2011]
Unit 2 Macro: Value Added in Production and GDP [11 Sep 2011]
Mixing with the Nobel Economists [4 Sep 2011]
Capital labour substitution at FoxConn [2 Aug 2011]
Unit 1 Micro: Cotton Prices and the Retail Price of Clothing [13 Jul 2011]
Unit 1 Micro: Economics of Volatile Corn Prices [12 Jul 2011]
Unit 3 Micro: Motorsport Valley and External Economies of Scale [12 Jul 2011]
Where there’s muck there’s brass [6 Jul 2011]
China: The End of Cheap Labour [28 Jun 2011]
Two new RSA Videos - Matthew Taylor and Tim Harford [27 Jun 2011]
Evan Davis ‘Made in Britain’ - and a new trade data tool to play with [21 Jun 2011]
Six Global Trends Shaping Business Strategy [15 Jun 2011]
Do you agree that the government should provide support to the UK car industry? [12 Jun 2011]
AS Macro Key Term: Supply-Side Policies [25 May 2011]
AS Macro Key Term: Recession [23 May 2011]
A2 Micro: Competition Policy [20 May 2011]
A2 Micro: The Importance of Profit [19 May 2011]
A2 Micro: Market Structure, Conduct & Performance [19 May 2011]
A2 Micro: High and Low Marginal Cost Products [19 May 2011]
A2 Micro: Competition and Efficiency [19 May 2011]
A2 Micro: Business Growth [18 May 2011]
A2 Micro: Innovation and Economic Policies [18 May 2011]
A2 Micro: Innovation Efficiency and Welfare [18 May 2011]
Unit 3 Micro: Diseconomies of Scale [18 May 2011]
A2 Micro: External Economies of Scale [18 May 2011]
UK Economy Update: What Mervyn Said [11 May 2011]
Review of “Adapt” by Tim Harford [9 May 2011]
A2 Micro: Innovation in Markets [4 May 2011]
What America makes [4 May 2011]
Management lessons from the War in Iraq [30 Apr 2011]
AS and A2 Macro Revision: Keynesian Economics [28 Apr 2011]
Economics Recommended Reading - Summer 2011 [26 Apr 2011]
Key AS Micro Terms: Economic Efficiency [16 Apr 2011]
Smartphones and Creative Destruction [16 Apr 2011]
China set to become exporter of inflation [14 Apr 2011]
AS Macro Key Term: Frictional Unemployment [11 Apr 2011]
Unit 3 Micro: Solar Panels and Economies of Scale [11 Apr 2011]
AS Macro Key Term: Economic Structure [6 Apr 2011]
Information Empires and Monopolies [2 Apr 2011]
Timetric: Unemployment in the US Economy [1 Apr 2011]
Innovation: Google’s Driverless Car [31 Mar 2011]
OCR F585 June 2011: Competitiveness [31 Mar 2011]
Progress towards low carbon economic growth [18 Mar 2011]
AS Macro Revision: Investment Spending [12 Mar 2011]
Dambisa Moyo - How the West was Lost [11 Mar 2011]
Timetric: Research and Development in the UK [7 Mar 2011]
Timetric: Trade Balance in Manufactured Goods [4 Mar 2011]
Patent Box or Innovation Box as Innovation Stimulant? [2 Mar 2011]
ECONOMICS TEACHER RESOURCE NEWSLETTER
Join over 6,000 other Economics Teachers in the UK and around the world who receive the tutor2u regular Economics Resource Email Newsletter. Get special offers, first news of latest resources, teaching ideas, conferences and workshops + loads of great ideas for teaching economics from our blog authors.
