The sky's the limit for 3D printing. Two students at the
University of Virginia 3D-printed and assembled a plane. When it
successfully took off, their unmanned plane became just the
third 3D-printed drone to ever fly. 3D printing is a
revolutionary technology, which some speculate could have an
impact similar to that of the personal computer. In fact, new
potential applications for 3D printers seem to be appearing
every week. Steven Easter and Jonathan Turman, two third-year
engineering students at University of Virginia for the MITRE
Corporation, a federally funded research and development center,
designed and assembled the plane this summer. The result of
their work is a 6.5-foot wingspan drone, entirely built with
3D-printed parts. The students proved that 3D printing can bring
manufacturing cost down and still deliver a quality product. "To
make a plastic turbofan engine to scale five years ago would
have taken two years, at a cost of about $250,000," David
Sheffler, a U.Va. Engineering School alumnus and