Officials at Fairfield-based General Electric Co. are soliciting the help of what could someday be one of their biggest competitors in 3-D printing ”“ the maker community.
Leveraging the power of crowdsourcing, GE recently announced a competition inviting “makers,” entrepreneurs and small companies to design hardware and parts using 3-D printer technology, also known as additive manufacturing.
“GE is committed to leading the next manufacturing revolution,” said Mark Little, chief technology officer at GE”™s Global Research Center, in a statement. “(And) this revolution depends on collaboration with external innovators and partners.”
As the new technology takes off, those using 3-D printers are, for the most part, split between major corporations and hobbyists, often associated with the national maker movement. Makers comprise anyone with a propensity to build, ranging from artisans and craftsmen to engineers and scientists.
Thousands of hobbyists have taken to 3-D printing, which someday could supplant certain forms of traditional manufacturing due to the relatively low cost of the technology.
The threat to major goods suppliers is obvious. But rather than cower, GE has embraced the community of engineers, asking them to help “push the boundaries of what is 3-D printable.”
In its first competition, GE is tapping into the GrabCAD”™s online community of more than 650,000 global engineers to create the best 3-D printable design for an aircraft engine bracket. The best 10 designs will receive $1,000 each in the first phase and the best eight designs in the second phase ”“ where the designs will be manufactured and tested by GE ”“ will be awarded winnings from a pool of $20,000.
In the second competition, hosted on a Nine Sigma platform, GE is asking participants to use 3-D technology to produce highly complex parts using high precision and advanced manufacturing methods. The parts have the potential to be used in medical imaging and across a number of GE”™s other businesses. The top 10 designs will win $5,000 each in the first phase and the best three designs will win $50,000 each in the second phase.
“These quests will help us to convene and engage this community in meaningful ways,” Little said. “And ultimately build an additive manufacturing ecosystem that scales the industry to new heights.”
Currently, GE ranks as one of the world”™s largest users of 3-D printing parts and employs about 600 engineers in the field of 3-D printing.
While major corporations might have an edge due to the complexity of additive manufacturing, Dave Seff, an independent 3-D printer hobbyist in Tarrytown, N.Y., said he”™s not surprised to see GE reaching out to the maker community.
“They want to see what independent people in their homes can come up with,” Seff said. “I think it will become more common as the machines mature and the price comes down too.”
Seff said he believed GE”™s contests were not dissimilar to those of technology companies like Google asking computer programmers to help write new lines of code. But as the technology takes off, Seff said he expects there will be more conflict between makers and manufacturing companies when the need for products and services is eliminated by the at-home technology.
“As soon as kids realize they can make their own toys, you”™re going to see a sharp demand,” he said. “It”™s just going to explode.”
