3D printing pioneer Scott Crump's kitchen experiment

For decades, three-dimensional printing technology was used for rapid prototyping of products by engineers, designers, and architects.

The past few years, however, has seen 3-D printing adopted as a manufacturing process for producing finished goods. Plane maker Boeing now makes hundreds of different 3-D-printed parts, such as air ducts and cabin trays, for its aircraft.

The technology has also become more mainstream, thanks to the growing popularity of low-cost, desktop 3D printers for consumers. Users of kits from desktop 3D printer firm MakerBot Industries can print out a vase, for example, based on a trove of digital designs that are free to download from the Thingiverse website.

"I believe the industry has reached an inflection point this year," Scott Crump, the chairman and chief innovation officer of 3-D printer maker Stratasys, told the South China Morning Post last month.

Crump, recognised as one of the fathers of 3-D printing technology, has a front-row seat from which to view the industry with his position at Stratasys, a supplier of industrial 3-D printers.

The 60-year-old co-founded Stratasys in 1988 with his wife, Lisa. Headquartered in Minnesota, in the United States, and listed on the Nasdaq, Stratasys last month announced its acquisition of MakerBot for US$403 million. The companies expect their merger to drive faster adoption of desktop 3-D printing worldwide, and position Stratasys as the undisputed industry leader.