history of 3D printing:

3D printing first started in 1984, when Chuck Hull’s company 3D Systems Corp. created the first 3D printer which used an additive process where layers of material are added upon each other to create a model. This was very different from the previous machining processes, like CNC milling machines which use a subtractive process.

Chuck Hull company made the first 3D printer which used a process called Stereolithography. Stereolithography is also known as optical fabrication, is when a concentrated ultraviolet beam is focused onto a container with a photopolymer inside it, and then the beam ‘cures’ the liquid rendering it solid. So now the beam can form layers of solid material, and slowly build up an object. This is called RP or rapid prototyping