3D printing with glass breakthrough

Take a look at this fantastic new breakthrough that could vastly expand the technology’s applications: 3D printed glass.

MIT’s process accomplishes this by using two chambers, one that acts as a kiln cartridge (working at 1,900 degrees Fahrenheit), and another that works to melt the structures together. The molten glass is distributed through an alumina-zircon-silica nozzle (shown in the video, above) that pours the material out like soft serve ice cream.

The G3DP process was developed by a team including the MIT Media Lab’s Mediated Matter group, the MIT Glass Lab, the Wyss Institute and MIT’s Mechanical Engineering Department.

“Now [we can] consider printable optoelectronics,” Oxman told Arch Daily, “or the possibility of combining optical fibers for high-speed data transmission by light, combined within glass printed building facades.”