April 2, 2019
THE 3D-PRINTING AGE
If time travelers from the Bronze Age caught a glimpse of William Carter’s workspace, they may recognize a few items. But they’d be gobsmacked to see a demonstration of 3D printing, which to them might look like “making parts from burning dirt,” as Carter puts it. An engineer at GE Research, Carter has been a leader in 3D printing, which uses computer-guided lasers to build objects out of a bed of metal powder, almost since the beginning. The technology has made great strides in just a few decades, but Carter — with dozens of U.S. patents and journal articles under his belt — still isn’t done pushing it forward.
Laser focused: Today’s technology traces its roots to the 1980s, when Texas engineering student Carl Deckard ran the first experiments using a laser to build structures from plastic powder. Carter, then a freshly minted Ph.D. at GE Research, and his colleague Marshall Jones liked Deckard’s idea so much they pitched GE on the bold concept, but with a twist: Why not use the same approach, but with metal rather than plastic? Thirty-some years later, Carter is still an innovator in the field. With colleagues at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, for example, he’s smoothing the wrinkles out of the 3D-printing process, making vital refinements as the technology continues to scale up, building larger parts at faster speeds.
Solving that problem isn’t simple. Learn more here.
DUCK, DUCK, GENIUS
Back before the Hamptons attracted the likes of the Kardashians, the communities at the end of Long Island, New York, were largely rural and agricultural — and home to the likes of Marshall Jones, who grew up on a Southampton duck farm. Dealing with a speech impediment as a child, Jones was made to repeat fourth grade. Later, an injury foiled his plan of attending college on an athletic scholarship. But through hard work and perseverance, Jones made it to college anyway — in the engineering school at the University of Michigan — and has since taken his place among the stars: In 2017, he joined the likes of Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla in the National Inventors Hall of Fame, which honored Jones for his pioneering work in the field of laser technology.
The Marshall plan: That work, conducted over the course of a nearly half-century career at GE, included collaboration with Carter. That’s because lasers are at the core of 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing. As the industry looks to increase the speed, size, availability and ease of making 3D-printed components, Jones’ improvements in laser configuration, controls and programming will be integral. “Marshall Jones isn’t just a laser pioneer,” said Vic Abate, GE’s chief technology officer. “He’s a trailblazer whose laser research is helping to transform manufacturing and build a new additive business for GE today.” He’s also kept close to his roots, promoting STEM education, spending time with fourth graders at his old elementary school, and recruiting students from historically black colleges and universities into careers at GE. “I am certain that my elementary teachers would not have predicted that ‘little Marshall’ would be where I am today,” Jones said.
Learn more here about the incredible journey of Marshall Jones.
LET THERE BE NIGHT GAMES
March 28 was opening day for Major League Baseball’s 2019 season, and though today’s baseball fans are perfectly accustomed to night games, it wasn’t always the norm: The lighting of games marked a major change in the sport for players and spectators. The first night game was played in 1935 in front of a crowd of 20,000, who spent a cool May evening at Cincinnati’s Crosley Field watching the Reds defeat the Philadelphia Phillies beneath banks of floodlights and spotlights installed by GE.
It’s lit: Everybody there that night recognized the significance of the event — the signal to flip the switch, in fact, came across a Western Union telegraph line from President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who gave the go-ahead to Larry MacPhail, the Reds’ president. Before these men could stand on ceremony, though, it was GE’s time to shine. Having gotten the contract to illuminate Crosley Field, engineers from the company worked with Cincinnati Gas & Electric — now part of Duke Energy — to figure out the number and combination of floodlights and spotlights, as well as the height and number of light towers. After the success in Cincinnati, other teams quickly followed suit, and by 1948 all but one major league park had lights — the cursed Cubs, whose Wrigley Field stayed dark for another 40 years.
Shine a light here for more on the major league illumination GE has done for MLB.
COOLEST THINGS ON EARTH ?
I Sing The Coast Guard Cutter Electric
MIT engineers built a sensor that can monitor the behavior of all electrical devices inside small buildings or factories to spot “imminent” electrical failure. It also works on boats; the tech was successfully tested on a Coast Guard cutter, where it drew attention to burned-out wiring that might’ve led to an electrical fire.
2.Getting An Earful
In Australia, researchers out of the University of Wollongong created the world’s first 3D printer for ears, which will be able to create bespoke tissue from a special bio-ink to treat congenital deformities like microtia.
3. Tumor Tester
At Canada’s McMaster University, researchers also 3D-printed a tumor. In the future, artificial tumors could be an enormous help as researchers test drugs to treat cancer — normally a time-consuming and expensive process — and they could also reduce reliance on animal experimentation.
Read more about this week’s Coolest Things on Earth here.
— QUOTE OF THE DAY —
“If I trace my steps up to this point, it has been a love of learning, having a focused set of goals and sheer determination that has gotten me to this point and time.”
— Marshall Jones, principal scientist at GE Research, laser pioneer and a member of the National Inventors Hall of Fame
Quote: GE Reports. Image:GE Research.
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