Re: RP Forum, 'The future of RP'

From: Ian Gibson (igibson@hkucc.hku.hk)
Date: Sat Oct 28 2000 - 06:32:41 EEST


Ronald, Ed

I hear you. The subjects were not an omission because I didn't think they
were important. At the time, I just didn't have a volunteer. I have now had
volunteers to convene groups both in direct manufacturing and biomodelling.
I hope you guys will contribute to the discussions in the same way as you
have below.

IG

At 11:56 AM 10/27/00 -0500, you wrote:
>Ed brings up an interesting point. My company, for example is heavily
>engaged in grant funded research relating to direct manufacturing
>applications using RP technology. We are also involved in system
>integration including 3D scanning and virtual prototyping. All of this is
>considered by our firm as highly proprietary. I am sure that we are not
>alone on this issue within the RP community. So the question is, how do we
>share ideas and information that could benefit the industry as a whole
>without jeopardizing company proprietary information? Without some
>mechanism in place, the sessions as proposed will be limited to academics
>and members of the community that are not directly engaged in the cutting
>edge areas under discussion. I know there are a number of others who
>monitor the list, but as a rule do not comment on these issues because of
>these reasons. For example, let's hear from the equipment and materials
>suppliers as well as the Fortune 500 users?
>
>Ronald Jones
>Shared Replicators, Inc.
>www.sharedreplicators.com
>----- Original Message -----
>From: <EdGrenda@aol.com>
>To: <igibson@hkucc.hku.hk>; <rp-ml@bart.lpt.fi>
>Sent: Friday, October 27, 2000 9:35 AM
>Subject: Re: RP Forum, 'The future of RP'
>
>
>> In a message dated 00-10-26 21:59:56 EDT, igibson@hkucc.hku.hk writes:
>>
>> << So far I have had offers to convene sessions on
>>
>> - RP and Architecture
>> - Rapid Tooling, which looks like it may be split into 2 sub-areas.
>> - RP and Architecture
>> - RP and the Internet
>> - Integrated systems
>>
>> I think we should also continue the discussion on RP and Art. I also plan
>> to continue the discussion on Colour RP. Any other suggestions?
>> >>
>>
>> Dear Ian:
>>
>> Two obvious areas of future importance are direct fabrication, i.e., using
>RP
>> as a manufacturing means, and medical applications of RP. The latter
>should
>> probably emphasize advanced work in tissue engineering and similar areas.
>> Lately I've been learning about some approaches and ideas that make me
>think
>> that organ generation may not be as far away as we may have thought.
>>
>> Perhaps another area for discussion is the arrow of technology
>development.
>> In the fabulous fifties you had to be a wealthy, technologically advanced
>> corporation to operate a TV studio. Today you can buy much better
>capability
>> for short money at Circuit City and carry it in your briefcase. Just how
>do
>> we put excellent RP capabilities within the grasp of essentially every
>> interested PC user, and when (not if) that happens, what does it imply?
>> Think Quadra.
>>
>> Scientific visualization and anthropological applications have been broad,
>> but not deep. We should try to find out why and discuss where this is
>> leading. Answering the needs of potential users in these multifarious
>> applications could possibly open up a number of new market areas for the
>> technology and force its development. How - and can - this be
>proselytized?
>>
>> What is the relationship between RP and virtual prototyping? How will
>these
>> two fields develop in parallel and what are the applications of RP that
>will
>> eventually be supplanted by virtual prototyping? What are the
>applications
>> that can't?
>>
>> What needs to be done to make RP an answer to the needs of every
>industrial
>> designer? Architecture seems easy in comparison.
>>
>>
>> Of course, if I knew the answers to these questions, I'd never tell. In
>> fact, I can't believe I'm even asking the questions. That would seem to
>be a
>> problem with such discussions, but that's what academia is for. At least,
>> that's what I read some place.
>>
>> Best regards,
>> Ed
>>
>> Ed Grenda
>> Castle Island Co.
>> 19 Pondview Road
>> Arlington, MA 02474 USA
>> 781-646-6280 (voice or fax)
>> EdGrenda@aol.com (email)
>> http://home.att.net/~castleisland/
>>
>>
>> For more information about the rp-ml, see http://ltk.hut.fi/rp-ml/
>
>
Dr. Ian Gibson
Associate Professor
Dept. Mechanical Engineering
The University of Hong Kong
tel: +852 28597901
fax: +852 28585415
email: igibson@hkucc.hku.hk

I've been here and I've been there and I've been in between.

For more information about the rp-ml, see http://ltk.hut.fi/rp-ml/



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