UnderOveur

Quote:

"Wall Street is starting to wake up to the potential of 3D printing. This morning Citi analyst Kenneth Wong released a bullish note projecting that the market for 3D printing and related services will triple by 2018, citing the leading companies in this area, Stratasys and 3D Systems. (Granted, such rapid growth is possible partly because the industry is still tiny, just $1.7 billion in 2011, with the market for 3D printed parts accounting for about half of that.)

Wong attributes future growth to such mouthfuls as “broader adoption across more upstream production applications and the consumer end market,” and “increased utilization of existing systems as customers start to extend use case beyond small batch digital manufacturing,” but here’s what that means in plain English.

3D printing will explode in 2014, thanks to the expiration of key patents. Soon, you won’t have to master the (challenging, time-consuming) task of learning how to model things in 3D, because you’ll just be copying them from the real world using cheap, effective 3D scanners. This technology will also enable 3D faxing (should anybody want it) and the democratization of fine art.

The materials with which you can 3D-print something continue to multiply—the latest is plain old printer paper, not to mention human tissue. But it’s not just materials—the ways in which 3D printing, or really 3D fabrication, can be accomplished are also multiplying. There’s 3D subtraction—i.e., cutting shapes out of blocks of material—which is a lesser known but actually much more mature technology, and it’s already being used to create new models for localized manufacturing. Crane-operated 3D printers are even being used to fabricate entire buildings.

Once used mostly for prototyping, 3D printed parts are more than ever making it into finished products, including demanding applications like rocket engines."

NASA successfully tests 3D-printed rocket injector, showcases viability of 3D printing

NASA recently test-fired 3D printed rocket parts, which not only speaks to the perceived viability of 3D printing, but a way NASA could lower the exorbitant monetary costs of (space)flight...proving on the grandest stage — space exploration — that 3D printing is no longer just for teacups with structural flaws.

NASA successfully tests 3D-printed rocket injector, showcases viability of 3D printing | ExtremeTech


Question:

Could 3D printing lower the costs of aviation such that it, in turn, spurs increased travel demand, which manifests the long rumored pilot shortage??

Now throw in an expected global population expansion from 7 billion to 8 billion between now and 2024.

Answer: Yes, there could indeed be a very large and looming pilot shortage...thanks to a breakthrough technology that radically reduces costs combined with a historic growth rate in the global population.

(For the investment minded...Check out "DDD"...trading at $5 in Oct. 2010, now trading at $52 today. Put another way, $1,000 invested in Oct. 2010 is worth $10,400 today, or a 940% ROI in less than 3 years! )

JamesNoBrakes

I'm not seeing where this is going to require a bunch of aviation..., if anything I'd see it doing the opposite, as you can simply transmit parts to a printer rather than have to get them made in one place and shipped to another. I think technology is marching towards two main things relative to aviation, making it irrelevant with better video-conferencing/sharing technology(not going to happen totally, but I think this is an ever-improving area and it takes away from aviation) and trying to make it more efficient (more people/aircraft), in the end high speed train-networks and possibly other technologies replacing a lot of highly inefficient commuter/regional stuff.

UnderOveur

I'm viewing it from the perspective of an expanding, global middle class, lower per seat ticket costs, and a 14% increase in the global population over the next 10 years.

Speaking to your point, the shippers may take a big hit, but the travel industry should boom?

Never seen any discussion about this new technology combined with the expected, new 1 billion people added to the global population.

Since we always see the reasons why there won't/can't/never will be a pilot shortage, I thought it would be nice to showcase a few reasons why one might just happen.