Scientists and engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Mediated Materials Group lab have developed a method of 3D printing glass. For over 4500 years, objects have been created from the mysterious, super-cooled liquid material.
Led by Neri Oxman and Peter Houk, MIT’s Mediated Materials Group have developed a printing process called G3DP (glass 3D printing). G3DP is an additive manufacturing technique that heats the glass to temperatures of up to 1900 degrees and “builds” products by placing down molten layers through an alumina-zircon-silica nozzle.The process is a modern version of the ancient molten coiling technique (where glass was heated and coiled around a removable form) and can be used to create novel and intricate glass structures that traditional manufacturing techniques were not capable of.
A selection of Glass pieces will appear in an exhibition at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in 2016.
