While the 3D printing consumer market is at its dawn, the technology has been well exercised in the Wilmington area for manufacturing and product development for decades.

Except from an article on January 17, 2014 By Ben Brown for PortCityDaily.com
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Out of the head, into the hands

While the consumer market is sort of at its dawn, the technology isn’t new; manufacturing and product development fields have used 3D printers for years–decades, actually–and they’re well exercised in the Wilmington area.

Loren Gulak of Wilmington’s Groundswell Design Works has worked with the machines since 2003, his company dealing in product design and prototyping.

“It’s mainly a way to get ideas out of my head and into my hands to test or use, for myself and for clients,” he said.

It’s also made Gulak’s life more convenient. He related how he’d wanted a way to hang his headphones on the side of his computer. Rather than shrug, he digitally drew up a design that he zapped over to his 3D printer. It created a plastic part that did the job.

“For someone who sees a lot of opportunity to make life easier through solving physical problems, a 3D printer is an amazing tool to quickly come up with solutions and try out new ideas that can either become economically viable or just fun to show off,” he said.

Ben Brown is a news reporter at Port City Daily. Reach him at ben.b@hometownwilmington.com or (910) 772-6335. On Twitter:@benbrownmedia