'The night I invented 3D printing'

Frankfurt, Germany (CNN) -- Call him Charlie, Charles, Chuck -- whatever you want. It's all okay with him.

Beaming a warm smile from beneath his push-broom mustache, the softly spoken 74-year-old doesn't strike you as a pioneering innovator -- the man responsible for a breakthrough that's now driving forward the world of manufacturing.

But Chuck Hull -- "in this kind of environment, it's usually 'Chuck'," he says, as he sits down with CNN in Frankfurt, Germany -- is executive vice president and chief technology officer of 3D Systems, a company built on his creation: the 3D printer.

3D printing inventor Chuck Hull

In 1983, Hull was working for a small business that made tough coatings for tables using ultraviolet lamps. When he suggested a new way to use the UV technology -- to quickly turn computer designs into working prototypes -- Hull was given a little lab to play around in during his evenings and weekends.

Hull experimented for months, on his own with a plastic-y gloop -- then one night, something emerged...

CNN: When you began, what materials exactly were you using?

Hull: The class of materials is called "photopolymers" and these are typically acrylic-based materials that would be liquid until they're hit with -- let's say -- an ultraviolet light. Then, they instantly turn solid. So, you have a vat of this liquid and a point of ultraviolet light, and you turn it into a solid piece of plastic.

And that's the basic method?

That's the basic methodology -- that's stereolithography. That's never changed.

Who was the first person you showed it to?

Er, my wife. I got a good part and called her up, got her out of her pajamas, told her to come down to the lab and see this.

What did she say?

"This had better be good!" (Laughs.)

And then, when did you see 3D printing take off?

Well, it's really blossomed just in the last few years -- in the sense of really rapid growth and recognition. There's a lots of things that contributed to that, I think: a lot of the medical applications catch peoples' imagination; certainly the maker movement, with low-cost machines getting hobbyists interested in inventing and building using 3D printing.

How did the process develop into what it is today?

One of the most significant [changes] is the basic accuracy you can achieve: because [the materials] cure from a liquid to a solid, they tend to shrink and they can distort. So as you build these 3D parts you get some inaccuracies and warp-age. But that chemistry has been vastly improved, so there's almost no distortion now. Also the physical properties: initially the materials were really brittle -- they would break easily. Nowadays you get really good, tough plastic materials.

Well, it's really blossomed just in the last few years -- in the sense of really rapid growth and recognition
Chuck Hull

I hear the word "democratization" used about 3D printing. Is that important to you?

The whole premise of this technology has been to foster creativity, and change in product design and manufacturing, and so forth. At the individual level, I think there's a great kind of pent up need: we've got into the computer age and everything is on a screen or remote, we've kind of missed the tangible result. This is a means to convert something on the computer to reality in a straightforward way.

Read: 3-D printing tries to find a home

Could you have imagined all this?

(Laughs.) Not at the consumer level. I was always thinking in terms of design engineers -- in terms of their expensive CAD computers and so forth.

What do you think the industry is worth now?

I think, well, in terms of the total goods and services, it's about $3 billion annually and it's actually growing at a rapid rate.

Are there limits to what 3D printing can do?

There's limits to everything. So, the kind of traditional limits of 3D printing have been: material properties, speed, making millions of things. But all the competitive companies are just constantly pushing those limits, so if you're projecting the future, it looks like these limits are going to be beat down over the next couple of years.

Read: Victoria's Secret model wears 3-D printed wings

What has surprised you most?

To me, some of the medical applications. I didn't anticipate that, and as soon as I started working with some of the medical imaging people, it became pretty clear that this was going to work. But, you know, they told me, I didn't tell them.

What does your wife say?

(Laughs) She's probably more enthusiastic than I am, so she's very excited about this whole field.

You made your discovery 30 years ago: how have you felt along these long 30 years? I mean, it's exploded hasn't it?

Well, you know I'm old enough that I should have retired long ago, but it's so interesting that I don't. It's a really interesting journey.

Wireless Power

Two Rival Wireless Power Groups Form Alliance By Barry Levine  February 11, 2014 10:28AM  There is quite a bit of interest in wireless charging, not only for mobile devices but for wireless charging of electric vehicles and other hardware. Two rival groups, the Alliance for Wireless Power and the Power Matter Alliance, are working together to develop interoperable global wireless charging standards.

Could using wires to charge devices become a thing of the past? That often-mentioned possibility may have gotten a bit closer, following news that two competing standards groups will work together on wireless  charging standards.On Tuesday, two of the three wireless power standards groups, the Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP) and the Power Matter Alliance (PMA), said that the new alliance is aimed at establishing global interoperability for their separate standards. But this new collaboration does not include the larger Wireless Power Consortium group, which backs the Qi (“chee”) wireless charging spec. 1.7 Billion Units According to industry research firm IHS Technologies, the global market for wireless power receivers and transmitters is projected to rise to 1.7 billion unit shipments in 10 years, from about 25 million this year. PMA’s inductive wireless charging technology is used in Starbucks' and McDonald’s stores, and the organization has developed an open network API to integrate individual charging stations into a smart, wireless global network. A4WP focuses on resonant wireless charging, for which it has developed the only magnetic resonance tech spec. A productcertification  program, Rezence, supports this approach. Magnetic resonant wireless charging allows more than one device to be placed, in no specific location, on a charging pad. Magnetic inductive wireless charging requires that the device and charger are coupled. The Qi technology, backed by about 200 companies, enables inductive charging as well as short-distance magnetic resonance charging. Under the agreement, the A4WP Rezence spec will become the PMA magnetic resonance charging spec for transmitters and receivers in either single or multi-mode configurations. The PMA inductive specification will become an A4WP-supported option for multi-mode inductive, magnetic resonance implementations. Both organizations will collaborate on the PMA open network API for network services management. ‘Key Players’ Kamil Grajski, President of the Alliance for Wireless Power, said in a statement that the membership of these two organizations “consists of the key players necessary to drive industry consolidation and to establish a commercially viable, globally interoperable wireless charging ecosystem.” A4WP’s voting member companies include Broadcom, Intel , Qualcomm and Samsung Eletronics. PMA’s include Starbucks, Procter & Gamble, and Powermat Technologies. Roger Kay, an analyst with Endpoint Technologies Associates, told us that “there is quite a bit of interest in this area,” not only for mobile  devices but for wireless charging of electric vehicles and other hardware. He noted, however, that it is not uncommon in the United States for two or more standards to co-exist in the market, until the market sorts them out. In addition to powering various kinds of equipment, wireless charging mats could also become interfaces. Earlier this month, for instance, Apple received a patent for “device orientation based docking functions.” That patent describes the use of device orientation on a wireless charging mat as the trigger for such as actions as data  transfer, data synchronization or diagnostics.

A New Invention Seals A Gunshot Wound In 15 Seconds

How A Simple New Invention Seals A Gunshot Wound In 15 Seconds

An Oregon startup has developed a pocket-size device that uses tiny sponges to stop bleeding fast.

By 

Rose Pastore

 Posted 02.03.2014 at 2:30 pm 

      

 6.6K

XStat 

RevMedx

When a soldier is shot on the battlefield, the emergency treatment can seem as brutal as the injury itself. A medic must pack gauze directly into the wound cavity, sometimes as deep as 5 inches into the body, to stop bleeding from an artery. It’s an agonizing process that doesn't always work--if bleeding hasn't stopped after three minutes of applying direct pressure, the medic must pull out all the gauze and start over again. It’s so painful, “you take the guy’s gun away first,” says former U.S. Army Special Operations medic John Steinbaugh.
Even with this emergency treatment, many soldiers still bleed to death; hemorrhage is a leading cause of death on the battlefield. "Gauze bandages just don't work for anything serious," says Steinbaugh, who tended to injured soldiers during more than a dozen deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. When Steinbaugh retired in April 2012 after a head injury, he joined an Oregon-based startup called RevMedx, a small group of veterans, scientists, and engineers who were working on a better way to stop bleeding.

XStat, before and after 

RevMedx

RevMedx recently asked the FDA to approve a pocket-size invention: a modified syringe that injects specially coated sponges into wounds. Called XStat, the device could boost survival and spare injured soldiers from additional pain by plugging wounds faster and more efficiently than gauze.
The team’s early efforts were inspired by Fix-a-Flat foam for repairing tires. “That’s what we pictured as the perfect solution: something you could spray in, it would expand, and bleeding stops,” says Steinbaugh. “But we found that blood pressure is so high, blood would wash the foam right out.”
So the team tried a new idea: sponges. They bought some ordinary sponges from a hardware store and cut them into 1-centimeter circles, a size and shape they chose on a whim but later would discover were ideal for filling wounds. Then, they injected the bits of sponge into an animal injury. “The bleeding stopped,” says Steinbaugh. “Our eyes lit up. We knew we were onto something.” After seeing early prototypes, the U.S. Army gave the team $5 million to develop a finished product.
But kitchen sponges aren’t exactly safe to inject into the body. The final material would need to be sterile, biocompatible, and fast-expanding. The team settled on a sponge made from wood pulp and coated with chitosan, a blood-clotting, antimicrobial substance that comes from shrimp shells. To ensure that no sponges would be left inside the body accidentally, they added X-shaped markers that make each sponge visible on an x-ray image.
“By the time you put a bandage over the wound, the bleeding has already stopped.”
The sponges work fast: In just 15 seconds, they expand to fill the entire wound cavity, creating enough pressure to stop heavy bleeding. And because the sponges cling to moist surfaces, they aren’t pushed back out of the body by gushing blood. “By the time you even put a bandage over the wound, the bleeding has already stopped,” Steinbaugh says.
Getting the sponges into a wound, however, proved to be tricky. On the battlefield, medics must carry all their gear with them, along with heavy body armor. RevMedx needed a lightweight, compact way to get the sponges deep into an injury. The team worked with Portland-based design firm Ziba to create a 30 millimeter-diameter, polycarbonate syringe that stores with the handle inside to save space. To use the applicator, a medic pulls out the handle, inserts the cylinder into the wound, and then pushes the plunger back down to inject the sponges as close to the artery as possible.

XStat sponges 

RevMedx

Three single-use XStat applicators would replace five bulky rolls of gauze in a medic’s kit. RevMedx also designed a smaller version of the applicator, with a diameter of 12 millimeters, for narrower injuries. Each XStat will likely cost about $100, Steinbaugh says, but the price may go down as RevMedx boosts manufacturing. 
If the FDA approves XStat, it will be the first battlefield dressing created specifically for deep, narrow wounds. Gauze, the standard treatment for gunshot and shrapnel injuries, is only approved by the FDA for external use, but “everyone knows that if you get shot, you have to pack gauze into the wound,” says Steinbaugh. When RevMedx submitted its application to the FDA, the U.S. Army attached a cover letter requesting expedited approval. According to Steinbaugh, RevMedx and the military are now in final discussions with the FDA.
Last summer, RevMedx and Oregon Health and Science University won a seed grant, sponsored by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to develop a version of XStat to stop postpartum bleeding. In the future, RevMedx hopes to create biodegradable sponges that don’t have to be removed from the body. To cover large injuries, like those caused by land mines, the team is working on an expanding gauze made of the same material as XStat sponges.
“I spent the whole war on terror in the Middle East, so I know what a medic needs when someone has been shot, ” Steinbaugh says. “I’ve treated lots of guys who would have benefitted from this product. That’s what drives me.

Corruption by PKR leaders in Selangor

Anwar then summoned Azmin who admitted that he had, in fact, received the ‘election contribution’, which he did not declare not because he wanted to sailang the money but because it was illegal and the party’s candidates would get disqualified if the Election Commission (SPR) found out.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Axed PKNS staff claim MB ignored corruption

(Malaysiakini) – A number of axed Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS) contract staff want the menteri besar to explain why cases of corruption and disciplinary matters referred to him were never acted on.

Former PKNS Holdings’ Marketing Division head Alif Aiman said in a statement on behalf of the group that former PKNS general manager Othman Omar had in 2011 and 2012 informed Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim himself about  the cases.

Alif was referring to Khalid’s statement yesterday that part of the reason behind the termination of more than 20 staff of the PKNS subsidiary was based on complaints from PKNS “whistleblowers”.

Alif questioned whether PKNS was aware of the fact that the ‘whistleblowers’, who he claimed to be two PKNS officers, were allegedly being investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

“The ludicrous allegations from non-credible whistleblowers were taken action upon swiftly, without carrying out the necessary investigations fairly and impartially.

“At the same time, the many disciplinary issues and corruption cases implicated on these whistleblowers were shut with no further action. Talk about a transparent and accountable government,” the statement reads.

Aside from the allegations on corruption, the group also wants Khalid to:

1. Explain the roles played by his own press secretary Arfa Aziz and former political secretary and current MB Incorporated CEO Faekah Husin in the termination, along with the new PKNS general manager Azlan Alifiah, deputy GM Noraidah Yusof and chairperson Norazlina Zakaria;

2. Explain the true reasons behind the sudden termination of the contract staff;

3. Explain why the termination of services were not done according to procedures and due process;

4. Explain when there had been any political recommendation from any PKNS board member or politician on the appointment of the contract staff;

5. Reveal the full content of the corporate restructuring report that recommended the dismissal of the contract staff; and

6. Reveal the detailed costs of employing the staff concerned and their travelling claims, and compare that with the PKNS’ breakdown costs on the same.

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No, you do not need to apologise to me. The fact that many of you are sitting in front of your computer in stunned silence is a good enough apology for me. I know you are speechless and do not know what to say. And for sure you are not going to say, “Fuck me! Raja Petra Kamarudin was right all along!”

Malaysians have huge egos. The way some Malaysian Chinese talk about how worried they are that the Kajang Malays would be tricked (hence they are stupid) into voting for Barisan Nasional and how worried they are that the Kajang Indians would be bought (hence they are crooked) and would vote Barisan Nasional demonstrates that the Chinese pandang rendah the Malays and Indians.

And surely those who pandang rendah the other races are not going to apologise. The most they would say is, “So what! Barisan Nasional is far worse. Pakatan Rakyat is not as bad as Barisan Nasional. And you cannot expect 100% corruption-free. If 50% also that is good enough to support Pakatan Rakyat.”

Back in late-2010 when I first revealed the shenanigans in the Pakatan Rakyat run Selangor State Government, plus the shenanigans in the various state agencies and/or GLCs, plus also in the Local Councils in Selangor, the first response from you people (plus those in Pakatan Rakyat) was that I had turned, I had been bought over, I am now a turncoat, and whatnot.

The only reason I revealed these shenanigans is because I had been paid to do so and for no other reason other than that, you losers said.

Then, in early 2011, after the whacking you people gave me, I went on TV to repeat everything I had said earlier and you all gave me that same treatment and vilified me to kingdom come.

And do you know what? Now those people who said all those nasty things about me are the same people who are saying nasty things about each other and are accusing each other of all sorts of shenanigans. And, meanwhile, the rest of you remain as quiet as church mice as if Anwar Ibrahim’s dick is stuck deep down your throat.

But hold on. This is not over yet. This is just the beginning. After this, in the run-up to the Kajang by-election, I am going to reveal more and more and supported with all sorts of documentary evidence as well.

In the meantime, why don’t you ask Anwar Ibrahim to reveal all those documentary evidence that he is hiding in his underwear that the Chinese businessman gave him regarding how much money he had paid Azmin Ali in return for certain ‘favours’.

And the reason this Chinese businessman went to Anwar to complain and to hand him the evidence is because he was pissed that after paying the money he did not get those ‘favours’ as promised and as what he paid for.

Anwar then summoned Azmin who admitted that he had, in fact, received the ‘election contribution’, which he did not declare not because he wanted to sailang the money but because it was illegal and the party’s candidates would get disqualified if the Election Commission (SPR) found out.

Azmin then explained that he could not deliver the ‘favours’ to the Chinese businessman because Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim was blocking all his moves.

And that was when Anwar and Azmin decided that Khalid has to be removed.

Stay tuned for more, which is going to knock your knickers off.

THIS IS THE SAME AS THE PAKATAN RAKYAT MENTALITY

THIS IS THE SAME AS THE PAKATAN RAKYAT MENTALITY

Can we go by the book? And Pakatan Rakyat of all people should be the one most interested in going by the book since their main grievance is that Barisan Nasional and Umno do not go by the book and violate the laws every step of the way. 

NO HOLDS BARRED 

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Raja Petra Kamarudin (former Muslim): Testimony of Leaving Islam

The following is a testimony of a Muslim leaving Islam.

The testimony was originally posted at the FFI Forum and has been reproduced here with permission.

Views contained in testimonies of former Muslims are not necessarily endorsed by WikiIslam.

READ MORE HERE

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There is an article I wrote (in fact, I wrote many such articles) where I criticised the conduct of Muslims. And WikiIslam has taken this as my testimony of leaving Islam.

Since I criticise Muslims then I am an apostate who has left Islam. Since I criticise Pakatan Rakyat leaders then I am a turncoat who has joined Umno.

That is how the minds of simple-minded people work without exception whether they are Malays, Chinese, Indians, Mamaks, Chindians, Portuguese, or ‘others’.

For that matter, one of the charges listed on my ISA Detention Order in September 2008 was that I had insulted Islam when in actual fact I had just criticised the conduct of Muslims.

I really don’t care two hoots whether people regard me as a Sunni, Shia, Salafi, Ismaili, Catholic, Protestant, New Wave Religionist, Agnostic, Atheist, Pagan, Druidic, or whatever. Do I bother whether you and your sex partner or spouse indulges in normal, anal, oral or kinky/fetish sex? So why do you care whether I pray to the sun, moon or tree?

Okay, since I have been identified and labelled as an apostate, why not we go all the way with this?

As a libertarian I am of the opinion that if Christians want to use the term ‘Jesus the Son of Allah’ in the Malay Bible then that is their prerogative to do so. No one can tell someone else what that person can or cannot do. It is a matter of personal choice. After all, the Muslims can even contradict the Christians and call Muhammad the Last Prophet even though the Christians do not believe that Muhammad is a Prophet and believe that Jesus was this last Prophet.

So that settles the issue of theology. Now let us go to the issue of the law.

In spite of me agreeing that Christians should not be barred from doing what they please based on personal choice, there is still the matter of the law and since Pakatan Rakyat has been the one screaming the loudest about how the government does not respect the law then Pakatan Rakyat should set a good example by respecting the law.

And the law, which is a civil law and not Sharia law, was passed in 1988 forbidding Christians from using Allah and about two-dozen other words. This is a state enactment that will require the Selangor State Assembly to repeal. So let Pakatan Rakyat bring this to the Selangor State Assembly and get this law repealed. Then no one can do anything about the Christians using Allah.

Can we go by the book? And Pakatan Rakyat of all people should be the one most interested in going by the book since their main grievance is that Barisan Nasional and Umno do not go by the book and violate the laws every step of the way.

So there you have it. Theologically speaking, I support the Christians using Allah in the Bible. Legally speaking, get that law that bars Christians from using Allah repealed. And this must be done by the Selangor State Assembly, that same State Assembly that passed this enactment and made it the law in the first place.

Allah row: Pakistani cleric blames Umno

K Pragalath

 | February 3, 2014

Pakistani Muslim cleric Younus AlGohar ups the ante on his criticism on the Appeals Court judgment over the Allah row.

VIDEO INSIDE

PETALING JAYA: Pakistani Muslim cleric Younus AlGohar has implied that the Allah row between Muslims and Christians is caused by Umno to shore up support from the majority Muslim community.

“There are elections in Malaysia. There is a political party raising issues to unite Muslims to support them. And the party comes from the government,” said Younus in Urdu.

He said this in a video recording entitled “Restricting Allah to Islam is Shirk (syirik)” by AIRa TV two days ago in reference to the Malaysian Appeals Court decision in the case involving a Christian weekly publication, The Herald.

In mid-October last year, three judges – Federal Court judge Mohamed Apandi Ali and Appeals Court judges Mohd Zawawi Salleh and Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahim – were unanimous in their decision that Allah’s name can only be used by Muslims and barred the Malay edition of The Herald from using ‘Allah’ to refer to God.

The three judges found that the word Allah was not an integral part of the Malaysian Christian’s faith.

Zawawi said that usage of the word Allah would only serve to confuse the Christians as well as the Muslims due to the Trinity concept practiced in Christianity.

The judge had also said that Christian Bibles in the Indonesian, Middle Eastern and Malay languages had erred by using Allah when referring to God.

An appeal has been filed against this judgment. The case is scheduled to be heard at the Federal Court on March 5.

In November 2013, Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah decreed that Allah cannot be used by non-Muslims in the state.

Various other states have now also begun enforcing enactments to bar non-Muslims from using ‘Allah’ as well as a list of other Arabic words deemed as Islamic.

Early last month, more than 300 Al-Kitab and Bup Kudus (Malay and Iban language bibles) were seized by the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais).

Two weeks ago, Kedah Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah who is the current Agong also backed the Appeals Court judgment.

Ignorant ruling

Younus said that the Appeals Court judgment deifed the Quranic verse, “La ilaha illallah” which means “there is no God but God”.

“Malaysian Muslims are asking Christians to call upon their God with their own name for God but according to Islam, there is no illah other than Allah.

“When there is no illah other than Allah, everybody should call him Allah,” he explained.

In his criticism against the judgment, he said that the Appeals Court ruling was ignorant and “unIslamic”.

“There are Qurans in Saudi Arabia, India and Pakistan. Aren’t there Qurans in Malaysia? Allah says there is no God but Allah.

“Who are you to interpret otherwise? This is unIslamic and insulting to Islam,” said Younos AlGohar.

He had previously criticised the court ruling in another video message.