By Yu Dawei BEIJING (Caixin Online) — Engineers, inventors and
industrial futurists in China are setting sights on a new
technological frontier as three-dimensional printing slowly
revolutionizes manufacturing. A Beijing University research
team, for example, has been working on what industry sources say
is a breakthrough technology that uses 3D printing to produce
large, complicated aircraft components. The team led by
materials science and engineering Professor Wang Huaming in
January won a national award from the State Council for
technological achievement. The recognition for Wang’s team and
its work has encouraged companies in 3D printing-related
businesses. Many have seen their stock prices surge to new highs
in recent months. Like a skilled sculptor, a 3D printing system
can build through a materials-layering process a fully-shaped
and solid object, model or component based on a designer’s
computerized instructions. Theoretically, this type of system
could be used to build a plane, car or even a human