Exploring the Impact of 3D Printing and Digital Fabrication Technologies on the World as We Know It
October 20, 2014; Baltimore, MD: Potomac Photonics has been tapped to serve as the Program Chair for the annual DigiFabCon.
The interactive Digital Fabrication Conference will come to the Maritime Conference Center in Baltimore, MD on November 17, 2014 to explore the impact 3D Printing and other digital fabrication technologies are having on the world as we know it. Radical changes will be explored in STEM education both in K – 12 and higher education, manufacturing and the factory floor, innovation and start ups, job training, economic development, and community building.
Partially underwritten by Chevron and the Deutsch Foundation, DigiFabCon is a project of the Maryland local chapter of SME [the Society of Manufacturing Engineers], and the Fab Lab Hub in association with the Fab Foundation and the MIT International Fab Lab Network. With our 30 years in the digital fabrication field, Potomac was able to call upon industry leaders to give interactive presentations & demonstrations, panel discussions, and live examples of putting digital fabrication to work.
Potomac President and CEO Mike Adelstein explains, “The power of new technologies such as 3D Printing is really in the far-reaching impact they are having in society. With distributed manufacturing models, barriers to market entry are being brought down, allowing entrepreneurs and inventors to create new products. In many cases we find we are helping these new tech startups bring life-saving options to their customers through BioTech and medical device innovations that could only be brought about by digital fabrication.”
Potomac has created a program that explores new facets of design, education and fabrication. Hugh Evans, VP, Corporate Development & Ventures at 3D Systems will deliver a keynote explaining the applications where 3D Printing is Manufacturing the Future, and Sherry Lassiter, Director of the Fab Foundation will discuss projects from the more than 400 Fab Labs in the MIT International worldwide network. Blair Evans, Executive Director of Incite Focus in Detroit, will give concrete examples of projects in their Fab Labs that are re-directing the life path for inner city youth while re-building communities.
A general session on design will follow that includes demonstrations of 3D Scanning by Michael Raphael, CEO of Direct Dimensions in Baltimore, software from Marie PLANCHARD, Director of Education & Community at SOLIDWORKS, and Dr. David R. Schneider, Systems Engineering, Cornell University & the Intel-Cornell Cup will be speaking on “Utilizing Digital Fabrication to Fabricate Better Designers”. After lunch which is included in the registration fee, Roger Kilmer, Chief Manufacturing Officer for NIST, will lead a track on fabrication, while Caroline McEnnis, of TIES in Baltimore, will delve into a session on education, both formal and informal.
In the Expo portion of the program, Potomac will be showcasing our Micro-3D Printing and other microfabrication techniques. There will be live demonstrations of 3D Printing, laser cutting as well as robotics from Cornell. Fab Lab Baltimore, located at the Community College of Baltimore County, is creating laser cut badges and there will be a demonstration of how the keepsake items were fabricated.
For more information, please go to www.digifabcon.org or to participate as a supporting organization or underwriter please email [email protected].
