World Watch
LATITUDE
3D PRINTING HITS A HIGH NOTE Here’s music to the ears of those following the growth of 3D printing technology: a French musician and engineer has developed an electric violin using a classic Stradivarius as his prototype, reports CCTV News . Laurent Bernadec made the instrument using translucent resin and a process called stereolithography, which creates objects by fusing together layer upon layer of thin materials. Trained as a mechanical engineer as well as a violinist, he says the instrument is lighter than other electric violins and sound waves are not impeded by glues and screws. In other signs of 3D printing’s growth, a Swedish 3D manufacturer, Arcam AB, reports difficulties in keeping up with orders for engine makers and airplane manufacturers creating parts. As well, the Economist (London) reports that researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have recently succeeded in using glass instead of plastic to print objects like optical prisms. WORKING ON THE EDGE The Edge, a revolutionary office space in Amsterdam, is touted as the world’s smartest office space. It’s also been assessed the greenest building in the world by British rating agency BREEAM, which gave it the highest sustainability score ever awarded at 98.4 per cent.
GLOBAL PROJECT OF THE YEAR The Innovation, Science and Technology Building on Florida Polytechnic University’s new campus features a curvilinear roof with 94 aluminum sunshades that move with the sun, providing either light or shade inside the building. -photo courtesy Florida Polytechnic University
WINTER 2015 PEG | 23
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker