A technical seminar titled “Rapid Prototyping Technologies' was held under the banner of the Institution of Engineers Pakistan - Eastern Province (IEP-SAC) in Al-Khobar Wednesday. Dr. Anwar Khalil Sheikh, director of Rapid Prototyping Lab, mechanical engineering department at KFUPM, Dhahran, was the keynote speaker, while Eng. Tariq Barlas, vice chairman and CEO of Al-Tuwairqi Company, was the chief guest. The seminar was attended by a large gathering of engineers, scientists and business executives from Dammam, Jubail and Al-Hassa region. Dr. Sheikh in his presentation mainly focused on the concept of Rapid Prototyping (RP), which refers to the process of “rapidly developing physical models or functional prototypes directly from 3D CAD data, without the use of tooling or molds” and Rapid Tooling (RT), which means the process of “utilizing RP technology for purposes of rapidly developing molds, patterns or tooling for subsequent manufacturing processes,” as explained by him. Dr. Sheikh shed light on a recent concept that has gained acceptance, namely, Rapid Manufacturing (RM). “The idea is to use freeform additive processes to deliver end-user parts directly from digital data, thus eliminating all tooling,” he said. Dr. Sheikh listed the areas of application of RP technologies, which include: engineering, healthcare, science, business, architecture, etc. The presentation was then followed by a question-answer session that featured a keen participation of the audience. Chief guest Barlas urged the engineering community of the region, in general, and particularly, the Pakistani engineers, to act fast and play a major role in the development of their respective nations. “This will help bring them at par with other countries that have developed at a very fast and sustainable growth rate,” he said. The seminar was followed by dinner. __
