Image courtesy of zole4 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

With two children, I (Tom) often think, “What should they study for career success?” If either one expressed an interest in making a mark in the 3D printing industry, I probably would recommend studying one or more of the following.

1. Design

With every product, first comes the design. Becoming proficient in design techniques and the use of design tools such as CAD software will provide the opportunity to bring marketable skills to the 3D printing industry. Continue reading →

Image courtesy of jscreationzs at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Some may be surprised to learn that a few 3D printing-focused companies are publically traded billion dollar entities.  Companies such as 3D Systems Corporation (www.3dsystems.com) (NYSE: DDD), Stratasys  Ltd. (www.stratasys.com) (NASDAQ:  SSYS), ExOne Co. (www.exone.com) (NASDAQ: XONE), and Proto Labs, Inc. (www.protlabs.com)(NYSE: PRLB) generate a significant portion of their revenue from 3D printing and all but Proto Labs has a market cap north of $1 billion. Continue reading →

Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

You can now go to school in 3D printing!  New York University now offers a courses in 3D printing.  Courses cover everything from CAD software to making prototyping.  It is great to see this skill set being formalized and not just a hobby.  I mentor a great group of Georgia Tech students and they always are playing with 3D printers, but it always struck me as more of an extracurricular than a class.  A new generation of engineers fully trained in 3D could really rock the workforce!

“Dave” who helps explain Cuboyo on http://www.cuboyo.com (used with permission)

So you just dropped the equivalent of a used car on a 3D printer and now you’re wondering what to do with it?  A new service, Cuboyo, can help!

I stumbled upon Cuboyo and loved their approach to the whole buy/sell 3D file space.  We’ve already written about what would initially sound like a similar service, CGTrader,  but, Cuboyo is a pure 3D printer file  play as opposed to 3D models for things like games or computer animation you’d find at CGTrader.  Cuboyo is a place where you can buy 3D files for your printer or sell designs you’ve created.  There’s everything from iPhone cases to chess sets to a baseball batting helmet! Continue reading →

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

There’s a whole new group of 3D related apps from buying to drawing to printing to scanning and modifying.  First, there’s ebay Exact.  Yep, it’s that eBay.  This app lets you customize several base objects and have them printed.  Then there’s Cubify, where you can draw an oject on your screen with your finger and convert it to 3D. Continue reading →