Additive manufacturing: 3-D printing beyond plastic - Science Nation

At Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (VT), Christopher Williams heads the effort to further advance 3-D printing--known among engineers as additive manufacturing--with copper, a widely used conductor in electronics. Williams is using a process called binder jetting in which an inkjet printer selectively jets glue into a bed of copper powder, layer-by-layer. The printed copper product is then taken to a furnace to fuse the particles together With support from the National Science Foundatio