I recently watched a 3-D printer in action for the first time at a meetup group in Istanbul. In addition, I've been reading Chris Anderson's book Makers: The New Industrial Revolution. This English listening lesson about new technology considers how individual makers may change and disrupt the status quo of industrial manufacturing. Students from a wide variety of backgrounds may enjoy this lesson. A surgeon may imagine the future possibilities for medicine. A student preparing for TOEFL may practice reading the passage, listening to the audio presentation, and then writing a short essay with an opinion. At the end of the lesson, each student should be able to answer the following questions:
If you had a 3-D printer, what would you make?
What kind of raw material would you use?
What kind of software would you use?
How would the 3-D printer make the physical object?
How would this be a revolution?
How may 3-D printers be useful in the future?
Chris Anderson's book Makers describes how the 3-D printer makes physical objects. Read the passage on page 82. What can the 3-D printer do? What verbs and phrasal verbs describe the functions?
A 3-D printer can:
take pixels
turn pixels into dots of ink or toner
take geometries
take dimensions
turn the geometries into objects
melt plastic
extrude molten plastic
squirt liquid
squirt ink onto paper
squeeze liquid
pour liquid into layers
layer liquid
layer powder resin
harden layers
make objects out of raw material
print a flute
print a meal
print stem cells onto a support matrix
print human organs out of stem cells
Listen to the TED Talk "Lisa Harouni: A primer on 3D printing". What can the 3-D printer do? What verbs and phrasal verbs describe the functions?
apply
break down
break away
build up
create out of
deposit
download
fabricate
fuse
infuse
layer up
make out of
melt
personalize
prototype
read
scan
send
slice into
slice up
take out
tweak
use within
Listen again. Fill in the gaps of the transcript below with the correct form of the words above:
It is actually a reality today that you can __________ products from the Web -- product data, I should say, from the Web -- perhaps __________ it and __________ it to your own preference or your own taste, and have that information __________ to a desktop machine that will __________ it for you on the spot. We can actually __________ for you, very rapidly, a physical object. And the reason we can do this is through an emerging technology called additive manufacturing, or 3D printing.
0:54 This is a 3D printer. They have been around for almost 30 years now, which is quite amazing to think of, but they're only just starting to filter into the public arena. And typically, you would __________ data, like the data of a pen here, which would be a geometric representation of that product in 3D, and we would pass that data with material into a machine. And a process that would happen in the machine would mean __________ by __________ that product would be __________ . And we can __________ the physical product, and ready to __________ , or to, perhaps, assemble into something else.
1:31 But if these machines have been around for almost 30 years, why don't we know about them? Because typically they've been too inefficient, inaccessible, they've not been fast enough, they've been quite expensive. But today, it is becoming a reality that they are now becoming successful. Many barriers are __________ . That means that you guys will soon be able to access one of these machines, if not this minute. And it will change and disrupt the landscape of manufacturing, and most certainly our lives, our businesses and the lives of our children.
2:10 So how does it work? It typically __________ CAD data, which is a product design data created on professional product design programs. And here you can see an engineer -- it could be an architect or it could be a professional product designer -- create a product in 3D. And this data gets __________ to a machine that __________ the data into two-dimensional representations of that product all the way through -- almost like __________ it like salami. And that data, __________ by __________ , gets passed through the machine, starting at the base of the product and __________ material, layer upon layer, __________ the new __________ of materials to the old __________ in an additive process. And this material that's __________ either starts as a liquid form or a material powder form. And the bonding process can happen by either __________ and __________ or __________ then melting. In this case, we can see a laser sintering machine developed by EOS. It's actually using a laser to __________ the new __________ of material to the old layer. And over time -- quite rapidly actually, in a number of hours -- we can __________ a physical product, ready to __________ of the machine and use. And this is quite an extraordinary idea, but it is reality today.
3:29 So all these products that you can see on the screen were made in the same way. They were all 3D printed. And you can see, they're ranging from shoes, rings that were __________ of stainless steal, phone covers out of plastic, all the way through to spinal implants, for example, that were __________ of medical-grade titanium, and engine parts. But what you'll notice about all of these products is they're very, very intricate. The design is quite extraordinary. Because we're taking this data in 3D form, __________ it __________ before it gets past the machine, we can actually create structures that are more intricate than any other manufacturing technology -- or, in fact, are impossible to build in any other way. And you can __________ parts with moving components, hinges, parts within parts.
4:21 So in some cases, we can abolish totally the need for manual labor. It sounds great. It is great. We can have 3D printers today that __________ structures like these. This is almost three meters high. And this was __________ by __________ artificial sandstone layer upon layer in layers of about five millimeters to 10 mm in thickness -- slowly growing this structure. This was created by an architectural firm called Shiro. And you can actually walk into it. And on the other end of the spectrum, this is a microstructure. It's created __________ layers of about four microns. So really the resolution is quite incredible. The detail that you can get today is quite amazing.
5:10 So who's using it? Typically, because we can create products very rapidly, it's been used by product designers, or anyone who wanted to __________ a product and very quickly __________ or reiterate a design. And actually what's quite amazing about this technology as well is that you can create bespoke products en masse. There's very little economies of scale. So you can now create one-offs very easily. Architects, for example, they want to __________ prototypes of buildings. Again you can see, this is a building of the Free University in Berlin and it was designed by Foster and Partners. Again, not buildable in any other way. And very hard to even create this by hand.
5:56 Now this is an engine component. It was developed by a company called Within Technologies and 3T RPD. It's very, very, very detailed inside with the design. Now 3D printing can __________ barriers in design which challenge the constraints of mass production. If we __________ this product which is actually sitting here, you can see that it has a number of cooling channels pass through it, which means it's a more efficient product. You can't __________ this with standard manufacturing techniques even if you tried to do it manually. It's more efficient because we can now __________ all these cavities within the object that cool fluid. And it's __________ by aerospace and automotive. It's a lighter part and it uses less material waste. So it's overall performance and efficiency just exceeds standard mass produced products.
6:55 And then taking this idea of creating a very detailed structure, we can __________ it to honeycomb structures and __________ them __________ implants. Typically an implant is more effective within the body if it's more porous, because our body tissue will grow into it. There's a lower chance of rejection. But it's very hard to __________ that in standard ways. With 3D printing, we're seeing today that we can __________ much better implants. And in fact, because we can __________ bespoke products en masse, one-offs, we can __________ implants that are specific to individuals.
7:33 So as you can see, this technology and the quality of what comes out of the machines is fantastic. And we're starting to see it being __________ for final end products. And in fact, as the detail is improving, the quality is improving, the price of the machines are falling and they're becoming quicker. They're also now small enough to sit on a desktop. You can buy a machine today for about $300 that you can __________ yourself, which is quite incredible.
8:02 But then it begs the question, why don't we all have one in our home? Because, simply, most of us here today don't know how to __________ the data that a 3D printer reads. If I gave you a 3D printer, you wouldn't know how to direct it to __________ what you want it to. But there are more and more technologies, software and processes today that are __________ those barriers. I believe we're at a tipping point where this is now something that we can't avoid. This technology is really going to disrupt the landscape of manufacturing and, I believe, cause a revolution in manufacturing.
8:42 So today, you can __________ products from the Web -- anything you would have on your desktop, like pens, whistles, lemon squeezers. You can __________ software like Google SketchUp to create products from scratch very easily. 3D printing can be also used to __________ spare parts from the Web. So __________ you have, say, a Hoover in your home and it has __________ . You need a spare part, but you realize that Hoover's been discontinued. Can you __________ going online -- this is a reality -- and finding that spare part from a database of geometries of that discontinued product and __________ that information, that data, and having the product made for you at home, ready to __________ , on your demand? And in fact, because we can create spare parts with things the machines are quite literally __________ themselves. You're having machines __________ themselves. These are parts of a RepRap machine, which is a kind of desktop printer.
9:46 But what interests my company the most is the fact that you can create individual unique products en masse. There's no need to do a run of thousands of millions or __________ that product to be injection molded in China. You can just __________ it physically on the spot. Which means that we can now present to the public the next generation of customization. This is something that is now possible today, that you can direct personally how you want your products to look.
10:19 We're all familiar with the idea of customization or __________ . Brands like Nike are doing it. It's all over the Web. In fact, every major household name is allowing you to interact with their products on a daily basis -- all the way from Smart Cars to Prada to Ray Ban, for example. But this is not really mass customization; it's known as variant production, variations of the same product. What you could do is really influence your product now and shape-manipulate your product.
10:54 I'm not sure about you guys, but I've had experiences when I've walked into a store and I've know exactly what I've wanted and I've searched everywhere for that perfect lamp that I know where I want to sit in my house and I just can't find the right thing, or that perfect piece of jewelry as a gift or for myself. __________ that you can now engage with a brand and interact, so that you can pass your personal attributes to the products that you're about to buy.
11:26 You can today __________ a product with software like this, view the product in 3D. This is the sort of 3D data that a machine will read. This is a lamp. And you can start iterating the design. You can direct what color that product will be, perhaps what material. And also, you can engage in shape manipulation of that product, but within boundaries that are safe. Because obviously the public are not professional product designers. The piece of software will keep an individual within the bounds of the possible. And when somebody is ready to purchase the product in their __________ design, they click "Enter" and this data gets converted into the data that a 3D printer reads and gets passed to a 3D printer, perhaps on someone's desktop.
12:18 But I don't think that that's immediate. I don't think that will happen soon. What's more likely, and we're seeing it today, is that data gets __________ to a local manufacturing center. This means lower carbon footprint. We're now, instead of shipping a product across the world, we're __________ data across the Internet. Here's the product being __________ . You can see, this came out of the machine in one piece and the electronics were inserted later. It's this lamp, as you can see here. So as long as you have the data, you can create the part on demand.
12:49 And you don't necessarily need to __________ this for just aesthetic customization, you can __________ it for functional customization, __________ parts of the body and __________ things that are made to fit. So we can run this through to something like prosthetics, which is highly specialized to an individual's handicap. Or we can create very specific prosthetics for that individual. __________ teeth today, you can have your teeth scanned and dental coatings made in this way to fit you. While you wait at the dentist, a machine will quietly be creating this for you ready to insert in the teeth.
13:24 And the idea of now creating implants, scanning data, an MRI scan of somebody can now be converted into 3D data and we can create very specific implants for them. And applying this to the idea of __________ what's in our bodies. You know, this is pair of lungs and the bronchial tree. It's very intricate. You couldn't really create this or simulate it in any other way. But with MRI data, we can just build the product, as you can see, very intricately. Using this process, pioneers in the industry are __________ cells today. So one of the pioneers, for example, is Dr. Anthony Atala, and he has been working on __________ cells to __________ body parts -- bladders, valves, kidneys. Now this is not something that's ready for the public, but it is in working progress.
14:17 So just to finalize, we're all individual. We all have different preferences, different needs. We like different things. We're all different sizes and our companies the same. Businesses want different things. Without a doubt in my mind, I believe that this technology is going to cause a manufacturing revolution and will change the landscape of manufacturing as we know it.
If you had a 3-D printer, what would you make?
What kind of raw material would you use?
What kind of software would you use?
How would the 3-D printer make the physical object?
How would this be a revolution?
How may 3-D printers be useful in the future?
Chris Anderson's book Makers describes how the 3-D printer makes physical objects. Read the passage on page 82. What can the 3-D printer do? What verbs and phrasal verbs describe the functions?
A 3-D printer can:
take pixels
turn pixels into dots of ink or toner
take geometries
take dimensions
turn the geometries into objects
melt plastic
extrude molten plastic
squirt liquid
squirt ink onto paper
squeeze liquid
pour liquid into layers
layer liquid
layer powder resin
harden layers
make objects out of raw material
print a flute
print a meal
print stem cells onto a support matrix
print human organs out of stem cells
Listen to the TED Talk "Lisa Harouni: A primer on 3D printing". What can the 3-D printer do? What verbs and phrasal verbs describe the functions?
apply
break down
break away
build up
create out of
deposit
download
fabricate
fuse
infuse
layer up
make out of
melt
personalize
prototype
read
scan
send
slice into
slice up
take out
tweak
use within
Listen again. Fill in the gaps of the transcript below with the correct form of the words above:
It is actually a reality today that you can __________ products from the Web -- product data, I should say, from the Web -- perhaps __________ it and __________ it to your own preference or your own taste, and have that information __________ to a desktop machine that will __________ it for you on the spot. We can actually __________ for you, very rapidly, a physical object. And the reason we can do this is through an emerging technology called additive manufacturing, or 3D printing.
0:54 This is a 3D printer. They have been around for almost 30 years now, which is quite amazing to think of, but they're only just starting to filter into the public arena. And typically, you would __________ data, like the data of a pen here, which would be a geometric representation of that product in 3D, and we would pass that data with material into a machine. And a process that would happen in the machine would mean __________ by __________ that product would be __________ . And we can __________ the physical product, and ready to __________ , or to, perhaps, assemble into something else.
1:31 But if these machines have been around for almost 30 years, why don't we know about them? Because typically they've been too inefficient, inaccessible, they've not been fast enough, they've been quite expensive. But today, it is becoming a reality that they are now becoming successful. Many barriers are __________ . That means that you guys will soon be able to access one of these machines, if not this minute. And it will change and disrupt the landscape of manufacturing, and most certainly our lives, our businesses and the lives of our children.
2:10 So how does it work? It typically __________ CAD data, which is a product design data created on professional product design programs. And here you can see an engineer -- it could be an architect or it could be a professional product designer -- create a product in 3D. And this data gets __________ to a machine that __________ the data into two-dimensional representations of that product all the way through -- almost like __________ it like salami. And that data, __________ by __________ , gets passed through the machine, starting at the base of the product and __________ material, layer upon layer, __________ the new __________ of materials to the old __________ in an additive process. And this material that's __________ either starts as a liquid form or a material powder form. And the bonding process can happen by either __________ and __________ or __________ then melting. In this case, we can see a laser sintering machine developed by EOS. It's actually using a laser to __________ the new __________ of material to the old layer. And over time -- quite rapidly actually, in a number of hours -- we can __________ a physical product, ready to __________ of the machine and use. And this is quite an extraordinary idea, but it is reality today.
3:29 So all these products that you can see on the screen were made in the same way. They were all 3D printed. And you can see, they're ranging from shoes, rings that were __________ of stainless steal, phone covers out of plastic, all the way through to spinal implants, for example, that were __________ of medical-grade titanium, and engine parts. But what you'll notice about all of these products is they're very, very intricate. The design is quite extraordinary. Because we're taking this data in 3D form, __________ it __________ before it gets past the machine, we can actually create structures that are more intricate than any other manufacturing technology -- or, in fact, are impossible to build in any other way. And you can __________ parts with moving components, hinges, parts within parts.
4:21 So in some cases, we can abolish totally the need for manual labor. It sounds great. It is great. We can have 3D printers today that __________ structures like these. This is almost three meters high. And this was __________ by __________ artificial sandstone layer upon layer in layers of about five millimeters to 10 mm in thickness -- slowly growing this structure. This was created by an architectural firm called Shiro. And you can actually walk into it. And on the other end of the spectrum, this is a microstructure. It's created __________ layers of about four microns. So really the resolution is quite incredible. The detail that you can get today is quite amazing.
5:10 So who's using it? Typically, because we can create products very rapidly, it's been used by product designers, or anyone who wanted to __________ a product and very quickly __________ or reiterate a design. And actually what's quite amazing about this technology as well is that you can create bespoke products en masse. There's very little economies of scale. So you can now create one-offs very easily. Architects, for example, they want to __________ prototypes of buildings. Again you can see, this is a building of the Free University in Berlin and it was designed by Foster and Partners. Again, not buildable in any other way. And very hard to even create this by hand.
5:56 Now this is an engine component. It was developed by a company called Within Technologies and 3T RPD. It's very, very, very detailed inside with the design. Now 3D printing can __________ barriers in design which challenge the constraints of mass production. If we __________ this product which is actually sitting here, you can see that it has a number of cooling channels pass through it, which means it's a more efficient product. You can't __________ this with standard manufacturing techniques even if you tried to do it manually. It's more efficient because we can now __________ all these cavities within the object that cool fluid. And it's __________ by aerospace and automotive. It's a lighter part and it uses less material waste. So it's overall performance and efficiency just exceeds standard mass produced products.
6:55 And then taking this idea of creating a very detailed structure, we can __________ it to honeycomb structures and __________ them __________ implants. Typically an implant is more effective within the body if it's more porous, because our body tissue will grow into it. There's a lower chance of rejection. But it's very hard to __________ that in standard ways. With 3D printing, we're seeing today that we can __________ much better implants. And in fact, because we can __________ bespoke products en masse, one-offs, we can __________ implants that are specific to individuals.
7:33 So as you can see, this technology and the quality of what comes out of the machines is fantastic. And we're starting to see it being __________ for final end products. And in fact, as the detail is improving, the quality is improving, the price of the machines are falling and they're becoming quicker. They're also now small enough to sit on a desktop. You can buy a machine today for about $300 that you can __________ yourself, which is quite incredible.
8:02 But then it begs the question, why don't we all have one in our home? Because, simply, most of us here today don't know how to __________ the data that a 3D printer reads. If I gave you a 3D printer, you wouldn't know how to direct it to __________ what you want it to. But there are more and more technologies, software and processes today that are __________ those barriers. I believe we're at a tipping point where this is now something that we can't avoid. This technology is really going to disrupt the landscape of manufacturing and, I believe, cause a revolution in manufacturing.
8:42 So today, you can __________ products from the Web -- anything you would have on your desktop, like pens, whistles, lemon squeezers. You can __________ software like Google SketchUp to create products from scratch very easily. 3D printing can be also used to __________ spare parts from the Web. So __________ you have, say, a Hoover in your home and it has __________ . You need a spare part, but you realize that Hoover's been discontinued. Can you __________ going online -- this is a reality -- and finding that spare part from a database of geometries of that discontinued product and __________ that information, that data, and having the product made for you at home, ready to __________ , on your demand? And in fact, because we can create spare parts with things the machines are quite literally __________ themselves. You're having machines __________ themselves. These are parts of a RepRap machine, which is a kind of desktop printer.
9:46 But what interests my company the most is the fact that you can create individual unique products en masse. There's no need to do a run of thousands of millions or __________ that product to be injection molded in China. You can just __________ it physically on the spot. Which means that we can now present to the public the next generation of customization. This is something that is now possible today, that you can direct personally how you want your products to look.
10:19 We're all familiar with the idea of customization or __________ . Brands like Nike are doing it. It's all over the Web. In fact, every major household name is allowing you to interact with their products on a daily basis -- all the way from Smart Cars to Prada to Ray Ban, for example. But this is not really mass customization; it's known as variant production, variations of the same product. What you could do is really influence your product now and shape-manipulate your product.
10:54 I'm not sure about you guys, but I've had experiences when I've walked into a store and I've know exactly what I've wanted and I've searched everywhere for that perfect lamp that I know where I want to sit in my house and I just can't find the right thing, or that perfect piece of jewelry as a gift or for myself. __________ that you can now engage with a brand and interact, so that you can pass your personal attributes to the products that you're about to buy.
11:26 You can today __________ a product with software like this, view the product in 3D. This is the sort of 3D data that a machine will read. This is a lamp. And you can start iterating the design. You can direct what color that product will be, perhaps what material. And also, you can engage in shape manipulation of that product, but within boundaries that are safe. Because obviously the public are not professional product designers. The piece of software will keep an individual within the bounds of the possible. And when somebody is ready to purchase the product in their __________ design, they click "Enter" and this data gets converted into the data that a 3D printer reads and gets passed to a 3D printer, perhaps on someone's desktop.
12:18 But I don't think that that's immediate. I don't think that will happen soon. What's more likely, and we're seeing it today, is that data gets __________ to a local manufacturing center. This means lower carbon footprint. We're now, instead of shipping a product across the world, we're __________ data across the Internet. Here's the product being __________ . You can see, this came out of the machine in one piece and the electronics were inserted later. It's this lamp, as you can see here. So as long as you have the data, you can create the part on demand.
12:49 And you don't necessarily need to __________ this for just aesthetic customization, you can __________ it for functional customization, __________ parts of the body and __________ things that are made to fit. So we can run this through to something like prosthetics, which is highly specialized to an individual's handicap. Or we can create very specific prosthetics for that individual. __________ teeth today, you can have your teeth scanned and dental coatings made in this way to fit you. While you wait at the dentist, a machine will quietly be creating this for you ready to insert in the teeth.
13:24 And the idea of now creating implants, scanning data, an MRI scan of somebody can now be converted into 3D data and we can create very specific implants for them. And applying this to the idea of __________ what's in our bodies. You know, this is pair of lungs and the bronchial tree. It's very intricate. You couldn't really create this or simulate it in any other way. But with MRI data, we can just build the product, as you can see, very intricately. Using this process, pioneers in the industry are __________ cells today. So one of the pioneers, for example, is Dr. Anthony Atala, and he has been working on __________ cells to __________ body parts -- bladders, valves, kidneys. Now this is not something that's ready for the public, but it is in working progress.
14:17 So just to finalize, we're all individual. We all have different preferences, different needs. We like different things. We're all different sizes and our companies the same. Businesses want different things. Without a doubt in my mind, I believe that this technology is going to cause a manufacturing revolution and will change the landscape of manufacturing as we know it.