“We built it, but no-one came,” reflects Ken Church, president of nScript Inc. The Orlando entrepreneur’s first use of 3D printing came years ago when he used a tiny laser beam to put an antenna on the head of an ant. At the time he hoped that the US government would find a military use for it. “But when we tried to sell it, no one was buying…”
More than a decade later nScript is now negotiating deals to sell those tiny antennae to every smartphone manufacturer in the USA.
Tiny antennas are making the news in America this month for other reasons too, as the monoliths of the TV industry such as Disney line up to attempt to legally prevent a tiny antenna technology that allows access to certain parts of their programming and channels without subscription fees. That technology is reportedly in quite a grey area legally.
Whilst not the 3D printed antennas of our reference the potential disruptive effect of such technologies is evident from this case. Still currently a relatively small venture nScript achieves sales approaching USD$10million with clients in the aerospace, medical and microelectronics sectors.
The 3D printing company is housed in the Central Florida Research Park at the University of Central Florida. nScript was founded to manufacture, sell and service Sciperio’s Micro Dispense Direct Write technology.
Stay tuned to 3DPI for more news as this exiting technology raids your open sweet jar.
