Dr. Adrian Bowyer

Dr. Adrian Bowyer, left, and Vik Olliver with a parent RepRap machine and its child, made by a RepRap

Dr. Adrian Bowyer started the RepRap Project, an open-source initiative to create a self-replicating 3D printer. The resulting machine became the basis for virtually every low-cost 3D printer in the World – and was also the technology on which Ultimaker founded its business.

The RepRap 3D printer is made of many plastic parts that can be printed by the RepRap itself. This means that any owner of a RepRap can print another 3D printer, hence “self-replicating.” The RepRap was named the number-one “most significant 3D printed thing” by 3Dprint.com in 2017.

Simple curiosity drove Dr. Bowyer to its creation. “I wanted to see if I could make it work,” he says.

I’m inspired by the versatility of the geometric shapes 3D printers can make. The technology can create more than any other manufacturing technology.