US Congress To Examine 3D Printing Advances

A special hearing will be held this month at the US government to highlight recent innovations in 3D printing technologies. 

Specifically, the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, will hear from 3D printing experts this Friday, February 26th, at the famous Rayburn House Office Building. Appropriately, the hearing is entitled, “Disrupter Series: 3D Printing”. Here’s what it’s about: 

This hearing will continue the subcommittee’s “Disrupter Series” which aims to highlight the significant innovation taking place in our 21st century economy and help members gain a better understanding about the way new and advanced technologies are disrupting the status quo. Following reviews of the Internet of Things, sharing economy, drones, and mobile payments, members of the subcommittee will closely examine the direction of 3D printing and its impact on jobs and economic growth.

At this point I don’t know who will be presenting to the esteemed members of the US congress who will be listening, but that’s not the important part. 

The important part is that they ARE listening. 

In a field as dynamic as 3D printing, it is extremely difficult to keep up with developments. I’ve been writing on the topic for almost nine years now and every week something amazing happens, sometimes things that change everything, things that put businesses on intergalactic trajectories, but crash others into dust. 

Nothing is settled yet; there is far, far more to come. 

Meanwhile, legislators must deal with the implications of new technologies such as 3D printing, and they have an even more difficult challenge to keep up with events. While legislation can often be detrimental to tech industries, as sometimes the rules are formed from incomplete public understandings of things, I think it is a good thing for these legislators to at least listen to some experts on the topic. 

But who are these experts? We will see the results posted afterwards. 

Via US Government Energy and Commerce