Engineering a Better Economy
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| Audience/Grade: | High School Junior -Continuing Education 11-Continuing Education |
| Discipline(s): |
Design Electrical Engineering Entrepreneurship and Innovation Industrial Design Industrial Engineering Manufacturing Engineering Materials Engineering Mechanical Engineering |
| Special Topic(s): | |
| Learning Resource Type: |
Reference - Article/Document |
| Media Type: |
Unknown |
| Author(s): |
Organization:Advisory Committee, Directorate for Engineering, NSF |
| Description: | Imagine a future . . . in which “3-D fax machines” lead a revolution in faster, flexible, low-cost manufacturing, “printing out” complex objects ranging from aircraft parts to biomedical devices. Long-term support from NSF-ENG for improved manufacturing processes is now paying dividends, as several flexible manufacturing technologies are emerging from the research-and-development pipeline into real-world industrial applications. These processes form the core of new manufacturing strategies that can produce dramatic time and cost savings for businesses. Two such technologies are 3-D printing, developed by Emanuel Sachs and colleagues at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and high-speed, droplet-based manufacturing, developed by Melissa Orme of the University of California–Irvine. Both processes rest on the realization that an object of any shape can be created by stacking very thin layers, usually about the thickness of a human hair. With these technologies and computer-design software, a designer can push a button and “print out” a 3-D version of a functional part or tool. The “printed” object can be different every time, much as ink jet printers can be used with desktop publishing software to quickly and cheaply create various kinds of documents. These rapid fabrication techniques can cut the interval from designer’s concept to testing of a finished component from six months to as little as one hour and eliminate the costliest steps involved in developing new products. |
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| Related Resources | |
| Keywords: | NSF National Science Foundation innovation engineerng research |
| Is Component of: |
Engineering - Making Imagination Real |
| Usage Tip | |
| Related ABET Criteria: |
(c) Design a system, component, or process (k) Use modern engineering tools in engineering practice |
| Use of Resource: |
Part of a larger NSF website with brochure, graphics and a slide show about the exciting research funded by NSF in engineering. "Engineering research shapes our world through the design and development of devices and systems that meet many different kinds of human needs, including new technologies for improved health care, enhanced safety and security, and long-term economic prosperity. The 26 slides illustrate the diversity and excitement of modern engineering research, at scales ranging from the ultra-small world of nanotechnology to large-scale systems engineering approaches for addressing environmental sustainability and other global challenges. |
| Difficulty: |
Easy |
| Interactivity Level: |
Low |
| Version Info | |
| Publication Date: | June 2009 |
| Platform/Format: |
WWW |
| Cost: |
Free |
| Download URL: | http://www.nsf.gov/eng/general/publicdoc/economy02.jsp |
| Metadata: |
IEEE LOM Record |
| Collection: |
NEEDS
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