Ian Gibson, professor of additive manufacturing at Deakin University in Australia, has received an award recognising his lifetime contribution to the world of 3D printing.
The International Freeform and Additive Manufacturing Excellence (FAME) Award is given annually to recognise an outstanding researcher in the 3D printing field.
The FAME Award recognises three of Professor Gibson's major career achievements:
- Co-authoring seminal 3D printing textbook Additive Manufacturing Technologies, which has sold more than 250,000 copies worldwide
- Establishing the Rapid Prototyping Journal, the main industry journal, which has been in operation for 25 years
- Leading professional community engagement, through the establishment of the Global Alliance of Rapid Prototyping Associations and similar initiatives.
‘It's nice to feel like you were part of paving the way,’ said Professor Gibson. ‘I sometimes refer to myself as someone who was looking into 3D printing before it was considered cool. I got involved in this area around 25 years ago, at a time when the cheapest machine was a quarter of a million dollars. We were really developing our own knowledge and expertise in that space as we went along, there were no textbooks to guide us. Now there are hundreds of thousands of these machines worldwide.
‘We're seeing improvements in quality, materials and speed of build, as well as reduction in price, that's all making 3D printing a much more competitive option against other technologies,’ he added.
This story is reprinted from material from Deakin University, with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier.
