Holes playing basketball! 3D printing can be a game changer

3D printing: A way to produce physical items – including toys, food, and even body parts – using a machine that takes instructions from a computer program. That program tells the machine how and where to apply successive layers of a raw material (the “ink”) to create a three-dimensional object.

acceleration: A change in the speed or direction of an object.

aerodynamic:A shape that reduces the resistance of the air flowing past.

air pressure: The force exerted by the weight of air molecules.

composed: A material made using two or more different building blocks, which together produce something with new and improved properties. Carbon fiber reinforced polymers are an example of this. These hard and strong plastics contain small fibers made of carbon. Engineers use these plastics to build lightweight bodies for racing cars and airplanes, among other things.

engineering: The field of study that uses mathematics and natural sciences to solve practical problems. Someone who works in this field is known as a engineer.

power: An outside influence that can change the motion of an object, hold objects close together, or cause movement or tension in a stationary object.

generation: A group of individuals (of any species) born at approximately the same time or considered as one group. For example, your parents belong to one generation of your family and your grandparents belong to another. In the same way, you and everyone within a few years of your age on the planet are referred to as belonging to a certain generation of people. The term is also sometimes extended to year classes of other animals or to types of inanimate objects (such as electronics or cars).

railing: Something made by attaching strips of some material (usually wood or metal) at an angle to each other, creating a pattern of square or other shaped openings. Or it could be a term used to describe a surface with holes that look as if they were made this way. Because they allow air and light to pass through, grilles are often used as screens or fences.

maker: A term used to describe people who are do-it-yourselfers, who make things they want and need, rather than buying commercial versions of products (everything from fabrics and beer to furniture and tools). Many makers are now turning to 3D printers to create items where and when they are needed.

mechanical engineer:Someone trained in a field of research that uses physics to study motion and the properties of materials to design, build, and/or test devices.

monitor: To test, preview, or watch something, especially on a regular or ongoing basis.

perception: The state of being aware of something – or the process of becoming aware of something – by using the senses.

Ph.D: (also known as a doctorate) A type of advanced degree offered by universities — usually after five or six years of study — for work that creates new knowledge. People are only eligible to begin this type of graduate study after first obtaining a college degree (a program that usually takes four years).

polymer: A substance made of long chains of repeating groups of atoms. Manufactured polymers include nylon, polyvinyl chloride (better known as PVC), and many types of plastics. Natural polymers include rubber, silk and cellulose (found, for example, in plants and used to make paper).

Busy: Force applied uniformly over a surface, measured as force per unit area.

resistance: (in physics) Something that allows a physical material (such as a block of wood, a stream of water, or air) to move freely, usually because it creates friction to hinder its motion.

sensor: A device that picks up information about physical or chemical conditions — such as temperature, air pressure, salinity, humidity, pH, light intensity, or radiation — and stores or transmits that information. Scientists and engineers often rely on sensors to inform them of conditions that may change over time or are far away for a researcher to measure directly.

STEAM: An acronym for science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics.

technology: The application of scientific knowledge to practical purposes, particularly in industry, or the devices, processes and systems resulting from such efforts.

unique: Something that is different from everything else; the only one of its kind.