You may have heard me talk enthusiastically about technology’s ability to transform sand into computer chips. Well, this brilliant and ingenious young man, named Markus Kayser, has turned sand into glass with solar power and a 3D printer. What other possibilities does this marriage of technology and the natural world hold in store? People like Markus Kayser will show us the way. — RDM

Solar Sinter Project
Markus Kayser

by Rod D. Martin
September 26, 2014

In a world increasingly concerned with questions of energy production and raw material shortages, this project explores the potential of desert manufacturing, where energy and material occur in abundance.

In this experiment sunlight and sand are used as raw energy and material to produce glass objects using a 3D printing process, that combines natural energy and material with high-tech production technology.

Solar-sintering aims to raise questions about the future of manufacturing and triggers dreams of the full utilisation of the production potential of the world’s most efficient energy resource – the sun. Whilst not providing definitive answers, this experiment aims to provide a point of departure for fresh thinking.