It seems like not all pioneering products were lost to the sands of time

Aug 18, 2014 13:37 GMT  ·  By

I always did think that 3D printing technology would have become famous 20 or 30 years ago had the technology not been so expensive to implement back then. And now I have proof.

I guess this is another thing to thank the folks at MIT for. They were able to dig up a 3D printed object that has reached 20 years of age.

It doesn't have a very high layer resolution, but that's to be expected. And despite the obvious limitations that additive manufacturing had at the time (3D printing had only been around for 10 years back then), the object is quite complex.

What you see in the picture gallery is a small reproduction of Hagia Sophia, a mosque that, long ago, used to be a Greek orthodox patriarchal basilica church.

Although, technically, it is no longer a mosque now. Instead, it is a historical, cultural museum in Istanbul, Turkey.

Fun fact: Dr. Ely Sachs from MIT invented the term 3D printing, and the mosque here was printed by him and a man named Jim Serdy.

The print is just roughly 4 cm across (less than 2 inches) and is a pretty precious collector's item, now owned by Branden Gunn, the person running the Engunneer blog. He got it as a gift from the two men I mentioned before, who happen to be his coworkers at 1366 Technologies and worked at MIT in the 1990s.

20-year-old 3D printed mosque
20-year-old 3D printed mosque

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20-year-old 3D printed mosque
20-year-old 3D printed mosque
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