Top 10 of the best TEDxTalks on 3D printing

A great way to present innovative ideas in technology, entertainment or design is the TED Talks conferences, a popular series that brings together experts to discuss the latest topics from different industries and fields. Since 2009, many of the talks have been made available free of charge on the TED website as well as on platforms such as YouTube. Thanks to their ability to provide new insights from the people working in the industry themselves, we decided to set out with a goal of compiling the most interesting and exciting TED Talks regarding 3D printing and presenting them to you through a ranking. Enjoy!

Anthony Atala and 3D Bioprinting

Bioprinting has become one of the key corner stones of 3D printing, bringing us fascinating new innovations in medicine. Helping to demonstrate some of the fascinating work being done with this technology is Anthony Atala, a professor and Director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, whose work includes helping to refurbish cells that have been hit with disease or damaged using our body’s own healthy cells to do so. Gracing the stage of TEDMED, Anthony explains to us what the reality is for bioprinting by demonstrating some of the work he and his team are doing and what this could mean for the future of medicine.

Joseph DeSimone of Carbon 3D

Back in March 2015, Joseph DeSimone started his 10-Minute TED Talk with a problem in conventional 3D printing: it takes too long to print. But  Joseph wants to change that with his company Carbon3D. Through a technology called CLIP, which is 100 times faster than traditional additive Manufacturing, he is able to 3D print a highly complex object right in front of a live audience.

Fashion & 3D printing with Danit Peleg

Print a skirt, a jacket or shoes at home? That is the main approach taken by Danit Peleg, a graduate of the Shenkar College of Engineer and Design in Israel. During her early years of university, she discovered 3D printing and its manufacturing capacity and decided that she needed to take it even further by merging the creativity of fashion with 3D technologies.

This Israelian designer has taken her time experimenting with new fabrics until she managed to find the perfect ones that helped her launch her first fashion collection composed of garments created with 3D printing. She is currently giving talks that help the democratization of 3D technologies and is helping to push forward the possibility that one day we could all print our clothes from home.

Contour Crafting with Behrokh Khoshnevis

Back in 2012, Behrokh Khoshnevis, a professor of Industrial & Systems Engineering and the Director of Manufacturing Engineering Graduate Program at the University of Southern California, was already ahead of the game with 3D printing construction.

To help demonstrate the powers of 3D printing, his presentation shows how conventional construction methods are a thing of the past and how through a new method called Contour Crafting, we can have a better solution to current methods that are far more beneficial.

3D printed food and Lynette Kucsma

Lynette Kucsma is the Co-founder and CMO at Natural Machines and is here to make you ask yourself one simple question about your food: could I print that? 3D printing food is a relatively new technique that has been found mostly on the sweets side of the market with chocolate and cakes. But, Lynette is here to challenge this by suggesting that 3D printing could have the potential to not only print but also cook healthy meals right from home.

4D Printing featuring Skylar Tibbits

Skylar Tibbits is an enthusiastic maker who develops his own designs. But for him, there remains a problem with this technology, as it requires you to assemble the parts, which can sometimes take several hours or even days to complete. This means that 3D printing provides a solution, but only when the object is printed directly as a whole. For this reason, Skylar introduces 4D printing, a technology that takes individual, 3D printed components and objects that are able to transform on their own into the desired shape.  In collaboration with Stratasys, he presents a series of objects from several materials, which are completely autonomous.

The future of 3D printing with Jasper Bouwmeester

As of 2017, it is well known that 3D printing is going to forever change many industries as we know them today. But, it is hard to see the full effects that this technology could have both inside industries or even on the environment. In this video, Jasper Bouwmeester gives a talk on what the future looks like for 3D printing, touching on many subjects that many have raised questions on, but can now have some sort of answer to.

Aaron Jennings and the diversity of 3D printing

3D printing is a fascinating technology that has provided new innovations and techniques that could never have been created without it. With its diversity, it enables people from across different sectors to do new, more efficient work than ever before. In this video, you’ll get to hear some of the ways 3D printing can and is being used and what other advantages 3D printing is providing to different industries.

3D printing a jumbo jet with Bastian Schaefer

3D printing has revolutionized many aspects of the aerospace industry as it is able to deliver exactly what is needed: complexity and low weight. In this video, Bastian Schaefer discusses the future of planes and the aerospace industry in regards to 3D printed components, individual seats and even virtual golf.

An introduction to 3D printing technology with Lisa Harouni

Personal desktop 3D printers are becoming cheaper and are therefore found in more and more households. This growing availability also increases the need to train people in 3D printing. Below, Lisa Harouni provides a useful introduction to the technology that is able to make complexity easier to achieve.

What do you think of our list of 3D printing TED Talks? Let us know in a comment below or on our Facebook and Twitter pages! Don’t forget to sign up for our free weekly Newsletter, with all the latest news in 3D printing delivered straight to your inbox!