Ann Marie is a contemporary designer jeweler & maker, teacher, lecturer, research fellow, founder & CEO of Anarkik3D Ltd.
She is passionate about enabling non-CAD using designer makers, 3D artists, creative amateurs, hobbyists to engage with 3D digital making using technologies such as 3D Printing. She is also the author of ‘Digital Crafts: Industrial Technologies for Applied Artists & Designer Makers‘ & Fellow of the RSA.
Nora Toure: Ann Marie, could you let us know about your background and what brought you into 3D printing in the first place?
Ann Marie Shillito: My first profession is designing and making contemporary jewelry, and titanium was my metal of choice for a long time. I was always looking for more effective methods for anodizing and cutting it and in 1989 I had funding from the then Scottish Development Agency to investigate laser cutting refractory metals (titanium, niobium, and tantalum). 2D digital data is required to cut profiles so during this research I made the move into using computers for the design process and started to teach myself 2D CAD.
It was during this project that I attended a MasterLecture by goldsmith, Stuart Devlin, at the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths in London. At the end of his lecture, he showed a 3D printed ring in resin, printed using stereolithography technology. This was in 1990. It was so very exciting but all the technology, the 3D design packages and cost of printing were way beyond my means.
Read the rest at Women in 3D Printing
