Overview and History


Fused Deposition Modeling, or FDM, is a non-laser based process developed with a grant from NASA by Advanced Ceramics Research (ACR)in Tucson, AZ. The process was created in hopes of aiding engineers and designers in their work by allowing them a means of fabricating a quick and low cost way of producing prototype parts.

Stratasys Inc., the company that holds the patent on the process, has advanced the technology to a point that the technology is small enough to fit in most office spaces (as opposed to requiring entire manufacturing facilities). Thus, the engineer can save time and money by producing a part themselves instead of sending the design elesewhere to be manufactured. With this resource, engineers can use these physical models to "fine tune" designs before the actual manufacturing run.