Dixie State University to host a forum on metal 3D printing

Discussing the opportunities and implications of additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, engineer Rob Smith will be the featured speaker at the next installment of Dixie State University’s weekly lecture series, Dixie Forum: A Window on the World.

Smith will present “What Can We Really Expect from Metal 3D Printing?” at noon on Tuesday, Oct. 22 in the Dunford Auditorium, located in the Browning Resource Center on Dixie State’s campus. Admission is free and the public is encouraged to attend.

As part of the presentation, Smith will explore how additive manufacturing will impact the future of design approaches. He will also share how it will affect those outside the technology circle as well as assess how much of the 3D printing talk is hype and how much is real.

Smith, who lives in West Jordan, Utah with his wife and five children, has a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Utah.  Throughout his more than 20 years in the military-aerospace industry, he designed a wide range of products from submarines to satellites, and from small missiles to large 18-wheel trailers. In 2015, Smith founded Qualified Rapid Products, a metal additive manufacturing services provider with a strong engineering focus. In 2016, he co-founded Optisys, LLC, developing drastically smaller and lighter microwave antennas using additive manufacturing.

Dixie Forum is a weekly lecture series designed to introduce the St. George and Dixie State communities to diverse ideas and personalities while widening their worldviews via a 50-minute presentation. The next installment of Dixie Forum will take place on Oct. 29 and will feature the Disneyland-featured musical group, Mariachi Divas.