Editorial

Citation

Campbell, I. (2009), "Editorial", Rapid Prototyping Journal, Vol. 15 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/rpj.2009.15615aaa.001

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Rapid Prototyping Journal, Volume 15, Issue 1

Welcome to the 2009 volume of the Rapid Prototyping Journal, our 15th year of publication. During 2008 I was able to attend four different rapid prototyping/additive fabrication/rapid manufacturing conferences, the most I have attended for a long time. All four of them were supported by the Rapid Prototyping Journal through a “Best Paper” award. Each one had its own distinctive characteristics and all of them were well worth attending, albeit for different reasons. The 3rd International Conference on Rapid Manufacturing, held at Loughborough University in July, was aimed completely at work covering the final production of end-use parts through additive manufacturing. As well as system development, material properties and design for RM issues, there were also some presentations on the business implications of RM. In particular, I was intrigued by the concept of “user manufacturing” described by Frank Piller of RWTH Aachen University. This is a Mass Customisation paradigm where users have access to easy-to-use design software, repositories of existing designs and easy-to-access flexible manufacturing technology. According to Piller, RM would be the key enabling technology for user manufacturing.

The Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium, held at the University of Texas at Austin in August, is the longest running RP/RM research conference in the world. It covers many of the more technical aspects of research including a strong theme on materials characterisation and development. An interesting development this year was the launch of two new Research Awards for established and upcoming researchers in the area of Additive Manufacturing. The first was the International Freeform and Additive Manufacturing Excellence Award, to be given annually to recognise an outstanding researcher in the field of freeform/additive fabrication. The second was the International Outstanding Young Researcher in Freeform and Additive Manufacturing Award, to be given annually to recognise an outstanding young researcher early in their career. Further details can be found at http://utwired.engr.utexas.edu/lff/awards/. Several selected papers from the Symposium will be extended and submitted to the RPJ for review.

In September, the 3rd International Conference on Additive technologies was held in Ptuj, Slovenia. There was a strong medical theme to the second day of the conference and it is true to say that the developments in this field are pushing many of the frontiers of additive manufacturing. The particular needs of human implants require new developments in computer-aided design, material properties, visualisation software and financial analysis. All of these issues were covered during the conference with input coming from across Europe and beyond. The conference was integrated with other activities such as the Rapid Manufacturing Platform and the Custom Fit project. This ability to offer conference delegates a “package deal” helped many to justify making the trip to Slovenia.

Finally, November took me on my regular trip to the RAPDASA Conference in South Africa. The conference has continued to develop its international reach and this year there were invited speakers from six different countries, including several from the USA. The growth in the impact of the conference has matched the growth in the RP industry in South Africa and it was great to see many new faces once again. As with the Slovenian conference, a whole day of the conference was dedicated to medical applications, again showing the growing importance of this field.

The range of the conferences supported by the RPJ provide an opportunity for readers from all over the world to keep up to date with the latest developments in research and applications. Equally (if not more) important are the opportunities for networking and co-operation planning between delegates. I would encourage all of us to make an effort to attend at least one per year.

Ian Campbell