Dubai: Advancements in 3D printing, virtual and augmented reality, connectivity and the “internet of things” are disrupting the way buildings and infrastructure are designed, built and used.
Naji Atta Allah, head of architecture, engineering, construction and manufacturing at Autodesk Middle East, told Gulf News on the sidelines of Autodesk’s ‘Future of Building Things’ seminar that technology is changing and it is changing at a “quicker rate” than expected.
“So, some of the things that are changing are around how we make things. The 3D printing has been around for more than 30 years, but it is gaining critical mass now as computers and hardware are much stronger,” he said.
Some of the technologies which were futuristic are real now. In the future, “we will see a connection between what is real and what is virtual and adding more intelligence from the virtual world,” he said.
Recent announcements by Dubai becoming a global hub for 3D printing are a testament to how technology is making great strides as the emirate aims to have 25 per cent of its construction to be 3D printed by 2030.
Asked whether Dubai can achieve its goal, he said that the technology that is available now is not capable of 3D printing 25 per cent of Dubai’s construction by 2030, so the 3D printing industry needs to innovate to create things in a different way to reach its goal.
According to information technology research firm Gartner, business applications of 3D printing are predicted to grow at an annual growth rate of more than 106 per cent and sales greater than $13.4 billion by 2018.
Atta Allah said that 3D printing will gain traction and help the industry to make things that couldn’t be made earlier by traditional manufacturing.
Matt Wheelis, construction industry manager at Autodesk, said that the total outlets from the architecture, engineering and the construction industry will increase by 70 per cent in real terms by 2025 while in this region, in terms of infrastructure, it is about 100 per cent growth in the next 10 years.
Atta Allah said that 3D printing can save about 60 per cent of the materials that goes to waste when compared to traditional building methods.