Some may have attended or seen the fun Cage Match on “3D Printing is a Toy” with 12 year old prodigy Schuyler St.Leger last week. I even wore the Nacho Libre mask and cape in an unsuccessful attempt to intimidate Schuyler. This was really a no win debate for my position that 3D printing is a toy.
First: he is a cute and well spoken 12 year old kid that is passionate about 3D printing rating on enthusiasm meter of a scale 1-10 he pegs it at 99, and he really is smarter than most 30 year olds with a degree.
Second: 3D Printing is here to stay and will only get better and used in many more ways to benefit everyone.
My only point to be made during the entertaining fun event was that while I do fully believe in 3D printing, currently for most it is just printing small plastic toys with some limited exceptions.

Cage Match Video at Autodesk University 2012 Shaan :Electric Boogaloo” Hurley "3D Printers are Toys?" and Schuyler “Sledgehammer” St.Leger http://bit.ly/TBR2qC 

He hit me with not only great debate points but LED bombs and a hammer names the “Hurley Hammer” and then called me Aardvark as that animal has two “a”s in it’s name like me.

Here are two photos from the match taken by Mike Burke shared in the AU2012 Flickr Photo Pool
http://www.flickr.com/groups/au2012/pool/

He received a really cool steampunk styled trophy.

Check out Schuyler’s keynote presentation at Autodesk University: "Why I'm a Designer & a Maker"  http://bit.ly/schuylerAU2012

Personally I don’t see in the near future anyone printing critical components for bridges, nuclear equipment, or submarines that I used to design several years ago. It will take some great advancements in the future to be able to reliably, scale, and economically replace current materials and manufacturing methods, but I think we will get there someday. We are currently in the infancy and exciting research stages in my opinion especially for consumer 3D printing, but the technology is rapidly evolving. I have to laugh at articles like the one on thedailymash where they poke fun of where we are now with 3D printing with a bit too much sarcasm perhaps to troll readers. I have seen other online blogs where they call 3D printing a fad, but in time they will be proven wrong.

I share the optimism of Schuyler on 3D printing, and their significance in the future of manufacturing and science. I commend him on all that he does to promote 3D printing and Makers. He is one amazing and smart kid. It will be amazing to see what he does in the future as he may be that one person that comes up with the way to make 3D printing as common in manufacturing as a CNC milling or casting process.

Thank You Schuyler!!!

The Future is So Bright I Got to Wear 3D Printed Shades!

-Shaan