Club glimpses world of 3D printing

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By Harlan Kirgan
Editor
Sounding like a dot matrix printer, the 3D printer drew a curious crowd of onlookers at a recent Eunice Rotary Club meeting.
The printer started printing when Michael Scanlan, an assistant professor of physics at LSUE, began his presentation.
About 15 minutes later a key chain with “LSUE” on it had taken shape as layers of plastic were applied.
The key chain is just one of the products Scanlan uses a mobile 3D printer to create.
Costing about 10 cent each, the key chains handed out “by the droves,” he said to potential students and others.
Potential students on tour of the campus may get a 3D printer version of a purple flask with LSUE on it.
“These are the dot matrix printers of our generation,” he said of the printer at the club meeting.
“They will soon go the way of the dinosaur,” he said.
Newer printers tap into liquid to provide the building material for printing, he said.
Scanlan said many high school students touring the campus are already familiar with 3D printers at their high schools.
The printers also are in homes, he said.
“It is becoming very prevalent as an educational tool and for hobbyists. You can actually print your own 3D printer,” he said.
Scanlan said surgeons used 3D printing to duplicate a tumor on a boy’s spine. The surgeons than practiced their technique for removing the tumor.
“They cut operating time by hours because they had already done it numerous times,” he said.
Models of the moon and mars are available for download from NASA. After downloading, the model information is sent to a 3D printer to produce a three-dimensional model.
Printers also are being used to build biological material, he said.
One company is developing a 3D-printed garden that automates the growing process, he said.