A company called Carbon 3D has created a revolutionary 3D printing technology known as “CLIP,” which, according to the company’s founder, Joseph DeSimone, addresses the three issues currently holding back 3D manufacturing:

1. Printing takes hours, if not days (Mr. DeSimone jokes that “some mushrooms grow faster” than it takes to print a part);
2. Parts are mechanically weak because they are layered; and
3. Materials available for printing are limited.

CLIP uses an oxygen-permeable window to allow UV light to cure special resin and “grow” parts out of it. That enables a quicker and smoother “growth” process, thereby allowing the use of self-curing materials. Whereas 3D printing is currently used primarily for prototyping, by addressing some of these current issues, CLIP may make 3D manufacturing a realistic possibility.

Watch DeSimone explain CLIP in this video.

Source: https://www.ted.com/talks/joe_desimone_what_if_3d_printing_was_25x_faster