Founded on the principle of bringing real-world industry experience into the technical training environment, AET Labs is focused on representing manufacturers offering only the latest technology-based hardware training systems in harmony with standards-based curriculum. We’re really excited about what people have been doing with 3D printing systems and how they’re using them for the good.

1. Prosthetics! This is a very exciting time for both 3D printing and the medical industry (as well as patients!). These lifelike protheses are much easier to produce and more affordable than traditional protheses. Researchers are now able to simply use digital cameras to capture the likeness of an injured area, along with skin tone, and then create a digital model of the needed protheses before sending it off to the 3D printers. Now replacements can be made for $150 where they used to cost upwards $4000.

2. Bones! Washington State University researchers have now been able to print off replacement bone parts for patients who need orthopedic or dental procedures. This is especially useful for people who have fractured bones or chipped their tooth.

3. Pizza! Yep, that’s right: pizza. Last year at South By Southwest Eco, NASA debuted a pizza printer. While they’re still working on getting the recipe right, it’s still exciting news. A heated plate bakes the dish as the 3D printer prints out the dish.

4. Donuts. Who doesn’t love a good donut? Imagine a future where someone makes a donut just for you that has the right amount of calories and maybe a little extra fiber. Now imagine that that someone is actually a robot and the donut was printed by a 3D printer based on personal health data you fed into it. The future sounds like it is going to be a delicious place.