A Revolution in the Making

Engineering school's new RapidTech center could alter U.S. manufacturing

Imagine being able to sketch a new musical instrument or design a lifesaving medical part and within hours have in hand a three-dimensional prototype

with details as precise as one-twentieth the width of a human hair.

UC Irvine’s Marc Madou, Chancellor’s Professor of mechanical & aerospace engineering, is working closely with Tommaso Baldacchini, a staff scientist at Newport Corp., on manufacturing technology that could do just that – radically changing how things are made.

Taking advantage of the new National Center for Rapid Technologies on the UCI campus, Madou and Baldacchini are researching how to combine state-of-the-art processes to quickly manufacture functional prototypes and products with an unprecedented level of detail.



A Revolution in the Making [UCIrvine TODAY]