Hey! Welcome back to another round of classic Malaysian goodness.

Well, that was the food part I was talking about. This week, lets look at 3D printing.

I’m sure most are familiar with the various forms of 3D printing out there. From the most commonly known layer printing with photo-hardening thermoset polymer (ie. printing layers with liquid plastic that hardens with light), to the 3D printing pen that has been making rounds on social media, and even printing from a pool of liquid resin.

I mean, people are starting to 3D print food. Like chocolate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZEjC3XF3t8

Well. There’s a downside to that. They are either slow, limited to the size of the machine, with rough edges, or your designs are at the mercy of gravity.

Case in point with the pen.

So MIT has a lab. (No Sh*t, Captain Obvious.) called the Self Assembly Lab and they’ve been working on all sorts of 3D printing material and reinventing different ways of 3D printing that isn’t constraint to their size, and a whole lot of other factors.

Trust me when I say, their Vimeo page is a rabbit hole. I probably spent all afternoon just watching random polymers, textiles or other materials self assemble, and fold into shape on its own. including a programmable table.

I digress.

That aside, have a look at the latest one making its rounds on social media – it’s called Rapid Liquid Printing and right now MIT paired up with Steelcase, to focus on making furniture – making 3D printing faster, with more types of materials and doesn’t rely on designs that you know will hold up while printing; or you know, waiting for parts to dry before continue printing so it doesn’t collapse. In this case, you’re printing in gel so you can go wild – and when you’re done, pull it out from the gel and – voila, there’s your table.

Also, since you’re printing in gel, you don’t need to “slice” the model into layers with a computer program. You can more or less “draw” as you wish in the gel.

Of course, the industry is still young and open to much possibilities. We’ve got 3D printed shoes to 3D printed houses. So, what next for 3D printing?

We’ll leave you with the video below. Boss kira!