A five-episode video series called Beyond the Desktop that explores how additive manufacturing could affect the fields of medicine, aerospace, space technology and more has been released by the Wilson Center’s Science and Technology Innovation Program (STIP). The first episode was posted yesterday (Sept. 9); a new episode will be released each Wednesday through early October.

“Desktop 3-D printing has received significant media coverage, but this hides the larger story happening in industry, where the technology will change everything from prototyping to the production of complex parts and the design of supply chains,” says David Rejeski, director of the Science and Technology Innovation Program at the Wilson Center and executive producer of the series.

The series looks at how doctors are already incorporating 3-D printing into their surgical work, how aerospace manufacturers are finding cost savings in using additive manufacturing to build critical parts, and how startups are using 3-D printing to enable longer supply chains into space.

Beyond the Desktop builds upon other STIP work focused on additive manufacturing. Last month, the program released the results of a workshop that examined the environmental and human health implication of additive manufacturing. Sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the workshop was conducted in conjunction with the Center for Manufacturing Innovation at the University of Florida.

Beyond the Desktop was filmed on location in California, Illinois, and Washington, DC in 2013–2015.



Wilson Center | Beyond the Desktop: The Potential of Additive Manufacturing (Episode 1)