Additive Manufacturing

   The second additive manufacturing center in the country has opened up in Youngstown. All levels of higher education will be supported. Undergrad, graduate, and PHD and also workforce development. I think  many engineers could benefit from workforce development within at least the added skill of rapid prototyping. Could you imagine the industrial push forward that the economy could benefit from these classes? The White House certainly does as they announced that they are hosting their first Maker Faire. So they are really backing up the forum they created at the State of the Union.

   Popular Mechanics also decided to write about the CEO of Autodesk in it's February issue. I have used AutoCAD since 1991 and have really grown with the ecosystem every command line shortcut, necessary upgrade and liscence seat conflict has led us to this point. It turns out that he is a huge Maker himself. Most of the interview was done from his workshop equipment was listed, square footage was bandied about, and his latest projects were discussed. The future of Autodesk as he foresees it seems less regulated and built upon industries they already have a foothold in.

    CNET also entered into twitter this weekend a tweet that I immediately had to respond to. They took the story of the ugly duckling and the 3D printer and ran with it as a limiting factor or ceiling in 3d printing. I responded to the tweet and added Stratsys and my favorite news update account, 3D print girl and waited to see what happened. I wasn't surprised just disappointed that they haven't seen the winds changing and doesn't foresee 3d printing as tools of preparation and protection.