University of California at Los Angeles, Mathematics Department
Seminar Series on Mathematical Modeling and Applications
Mathematical Sciences Building, Room 6627, February 16, 1996, 2:00 pm
FABBING 3-D SCIENTIFIC DATA IN SOLID MATERIAL
Marshall Burns, Ph.D., President
Ennex Fabrication Technologies, Los Angeles, U.S.A.
A new class of machines, called fabricators or "fabbers" for short,
build up three-dimensional solid objects one particle at a time based on
computerized data representing the shape and structure of the desired
object. They use various kinds of amorphous raw materials, which may be
plastics, metals, ceramics, or composites.
There are currently at least six different technologies for
translating geometrical data into solid models. These machines have been
boosting productivity for industrial users for over eight years now. But
while a few scientists have made pioneering use of these magical new
devices, most of the scientific community is still unaware of them.
Scientific applications include:
- Molecular models.
- Biological and medical tissue models.
- Models of complex mathematical functions and topologies.
- Representation of 4- and higher-dimensional data by combining
color and other markings with 3-D geometry.
- Uses in geology, astronomy, physics, archeology, financial
analysis, and other fields.
This talk will introduce fabricators and fabricator technologies
briefly, describe some scientific projects in which they have been used,
and offer suggestions for other ways in which scientists could take
advantage of this new capability.
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Dr. Marshall Burns is the president of Ennex Fabrication
Technologies, a technology development company dedicated to fabricator
technologies. He is the author of Automated Fabrication--Improving
Productivity in Manufacturing (Prentice Hall, 1993) and teaches a related
course at the California Institute of Technology IRC.
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