(CNN) -- The burgeoning field of 3-D printing got a big boost Tuesday night when President Obama highlighted it as something that could fuel new high-tech jobs in the United States.
The shout-out in Obama's State of the Union address was perhaps the biggest public endorsement so far of a technology that has its roots in the 1970s, but has recently begun to boom on two fronts -- as an increasingly accessible consumer product and an industrial one that advocates say could change the face of manufacturing.
Obama spoke about the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute, a public-private partnership established in the hard-hit manufacturing city of Youngstown, Ohio, last year to research how cutting-edge 3-D printing technology can be moved from the research phase to day-to-day use.
"A once-shuttered warehouse is now a state-of-the art lab where new workers are mastering the 3-D printing that has the potential to revolutionize the way we make almost everything," Obama said.
The process of 3-D printing (also known by the clunkier "additive manufacturing" moniker) uses computer-created digital models to create real-world objects -- everything from simple chess pieces to more complex objects such as functioning clocks. The printers follow the shape of the model by stacking layer upon layer of material to make the objects.
Obama announced plans for three more manufacturing hubs where businesses will partner with the departments of Defense and Energy "to turn regions left behind by globalization into global centers of high-tech jobs."
"And I ask this Congress to help create a network of 15 of these hubs and guarantee that the next revolution in manufacturing is made in America," Obama said.
Edward A. Morris, the director of NAMII, said the organization was "tremendously honored" to be mentioned by the president in such a high-profile speech.
The 3-D printing revolution
Printing toys in 3-D "It is rewarding to know that NAMII's efforts to promote innovation and entrepreneurialism within the additive manufacturing sector is highly recognized and supported," he said in a statement on the partnership's website.
While primarily a novelty among the tech-obsessed, 3-D printing been used successfully for a variety of tasks, from making jewelry or medical supplies to larger projects in industrial design and engineering.
A Dutch architect has even announced plans to print an entire innovative building, piece by piece. That's an outlier to be sure, but one that could signal things to come
The shout-out in Obama's State of the Union address was perhaps the biggest public endorsement so far of a technology that has its roots in the 1970s, but has recently begun to boom on two fronts -- as an increasingly accessible consumer product and an industrial one that advocates say could change the face of manufacturing.
Obama spoke about the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute, a public-private partnership established in the hard-hit manufacturing city of Youngstown, Ohio, last year to research how cutting-edge 3-D printing technology can be moved from the research phase to day-to-day use.
"A once-shuttered warehouse is now a state-of-the art lab where new workers are mastering the 3-D printing that has the potential to revolutionize the way we make almost everything," Obama said.
The process of 3-D printing (also known by the clunkier "additive manufacturing" moniker) uses computer-created digital models to create real-world objects -- everything from simple chess pieces to more complex objects such as functioning clocks. The printers follow the shape of the model by stacking layer upon layer of material to make the objects.
Obama announced plans for three more manufacturing hubs where businesses will partner with the departments of Defense and Energy "to turn regions left behind by globalization into global centers of high-tech jobs."
"And I ask this Congress to help create a network of 15 of these hubs and guarantee that the next revolution in manufacturing is made in America," Obama said.
Edward A. Morris, the director of NAMII, said the organization was "tremendously honored" to be mentioned by the president in such a high-profile speech.
The 3-D printing revolution
Printing toys in 3-D "It is rewarding to know that NAMII's efforts to promote innovation and entrepreneurialism within the additive manufacturing sector is highly recognized and supported," he said in a statement on the partnership's website.
While primarily a novelty among the tech-obsessed, 3-D printing been used successfully for a variety of tasks, from making jewelry or medical supplies to larger projects in industrial design and engineering.
A Dutch architect has even announced plans to print an entire innovative building, piece by piece. That's an outlier to be sure, but one that could signal things to come
