World-renowned inventor Chuck Hull, the man responsible for 3D Printing is being inducted into the United States National Inventors Hall of Fame for his 3D Printing invention. The first 3D printer prototype was built way back the year 1984 but it became sensationalize in recent years.
Chuck Hull (Photo Credit: On3DPrinting.com)
According to TechCrunch, the induction of Chuck Hull to the National Inventors Hall of Fame put him at par with renowned inventor Thomas Edison, Steve Jobs & Steve Wozniack, the Wright Brothers, Albert Einstein and Eli Whitney to name a few.
During the year 1984, Chuck Hull had a realization that if you pointed a highly focused UV light at a special, goopy matter (called a “photopolymer”), the material would instantly turn solid wherever the light would touch. If you did this repeatedly, layer by layer, you could “print” an object into existence and dubbed his creation has “stereolithography” and 3D printing was born.
Chuck Hull is the co-founder, executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of 3D Systems, a global integrated solutions 3D Printing company specializing in 3D printers, print materials, and 3D Imaging solutions and customization software.
Aside from the 3D Printing invention, Chuck Hull, he also made more than 60 U.S. Patents as well as other patents around the world in the fields of ion optics and rapid prototyping.
The 3D Printing technology has come a long way since the first time it was introduced way back the year 1984, right now the materials and the objects being printed with them have gotten stronger.
New techniques were also developed recently in the field of 3D Printing such as Laser Sintering, this kind of technique is used by companies such as Tesla Motors in printing their prototypes in metal. Aside from Laser Sintering, there is also FDM Extrusion, used by Makerbot, the technique uses quick-solidifying melted plastic to print its layers.
3D Printing software has also gotten easier to use and the hardware needed has gotten cheaper and only going to get better. The 3D Printing technology invented by Chuck Hull had gone a long way since its first inception.
Aside from Chuck Hull, who will be inducted in the Inventors Hall of Fame, actress Hedy Lamarr and composer George Antheil, the inventor of one of the earliest forms of frequency hopping will be inducted in the Hall of Fame also. Frequency Hopping is a technology that was initially created to help keep the Navy’s torpedoes from getting jammed, now the invention can be found in everything from WiFi routers to Bluetooth headsets.
