Proceedings for the 1991 International Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium. For more information about the symposium, please see the Solid Freeform Fabrication website.

This Proceedings of the Second Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium that was held at The University of Texas in Austin on August 12-14, 1991 demonstrates the very active interest in this fully integrated approach to design, materials processing and manufacturing. The active participation of speakers and attendees from industry, universities and government give a clear indication of the importance that SFF in its many variants has in the future of manufacturing. As SFF extends itself into structurally sound parts made of polymers, metals, ceramics and their composites the number of people and institutions involved will continue to grow exponentially. The organizers look forward to this growth and the continued availability of the Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium to serve as a source of technical exchange among the researchers involved in the area.

The Symposium was organized in a manner to allow the multi-disciplinary nature of the SFF research to be presented coherently. The initial session described the computer interfacing required for SPF. This was followed by a session associated with polymer research on SFF. A session on modeling SFF was then presented. Two sessions were offered describing the latest techniques and modifications of SFF. Sessions on the application of SFF to ceramics and metals were then presented. The final session concentrated on the gas phase approach to SFF and to a general discussion on SFF and where it was going. The written versions of the presented papers were incorporated into these Proceedings. The editors would like to thank the speakers for there prompt delivery of the manuscripts that allows the timely publication of these Proceedings. The state of the SFF art as represented by these Proceedings will serve both the people presently involved in this research area as well as the new researchers coming into Solid Freeform Fabrication.

The editors would also like to extend a warm thank you to Nancy DeLine for her extensive efforts in the detailed handling of the logistics of the meeting and the Proceedings. We would also like to thank the organizing committee, the speakers and the attendees for their contributions. We look forward to a continued close cooperation in organizing the Symposium.

Organizing committee: Fritz Prinz, Peter R. Sferro, Greg Sanders, Robert L. Brown, Emanual Sachs, Michael Wozny, Samuel Drake, Dick Aubin, Harris Marcus, Joe Beaman, Joel Barlow, David Bourell, Rich Crawford, Kris Wood