There's plenty of room at the top

Richard Feynman's famous words, there's plenty of room at the bottom, referred to the opportunities for revolutionizing the electronics industry by developing the science and technology of how to manufacture very small components (sub-micron to nanometer sized features) (Feynman, 1959) [1]. In additive manufacturing (AM), the opposite may be true: There's plenty of room at the top. AM's strength is in the low volume production of complex components, which is demanded in big industries such as oil and gas, construction, tooling, wind and water turbines, and infrastructure. Is AM's 'big' future in the manufacture of large structures? This special issue surveys the technical challenges and enormous opportunities associated with large scale additive manufacturing while discussing the materials, processes and applications that are enabled by scaling to much larger structures, much faster speeds and lower manufacturing costs. The authors believe that, if Professor Feynman was alive, he'd say There's plenty of room at the top.

Automated summary

Feynman's idea of revolutionizing the electronics industry by developing technology for manufacturing very small components contrasts with the current trend in additive manufacturing where the focus is on producing complex components for large structures. The authors of this special issue explore the technical challenges and opportunities associated with large scale additive manufacturing, suggesting a potential future direction for the industry.