Good talk: 3D printing leaders weigh in on additive’s progress

In recognition of national Manufacturing Day, celebrated Oct. 4 this year, Desktop Metal hosted a roundtable discussion about additive manufacturing.

Titled “Additive Manufacturing: The Next Frontier,” the panel was comprised of Ken Washington, chief technology officer at Ford Motor Co.; Ric Fulop, co-founder and CEO of Desktop Metal; and John Hart, professor of mechanical engineering at MIT. The moderator was Terry Wohlers, president of Wohlers Associates.

Topics discussed during the roundtable included:

• Degree of AM adoption to date.

• Acceptance of the technology at the C-suite level.

• The road ahead.

• Design flexibility and the changing role of the designer.

• How 3D printing fits into digital manufacturing.

• The next generation of engineers.

• Will AM change the world? (Hint: Yes!)

"Additive Manufacturing: The Next Frontier" panel (from left): Terry Wohlers, Ken Washington, Ric Fulop, and John Hart. Credit: Desktop Metal

The panelists and moderator shared two sentiments, which each expressed in their own way.

One is that manufacturers are just starting to understand the transformative capabilities of 3D printing.

“Additive,” said Ford’s Washington, “lets us see the glimmer of a future where we will be able to make things we can’t make any other way.”

The second sentiment is that AM’s a technology that’s going to evolve and make an impact on manufacturing for a long time.

Additive’s growth is on a “really long arc,” said Desktop Metal’s Fulop. “I think this industry is going to grow for 100 years.”