History of desktop 3D printing

&#xA; While 3D printing was originally invented by commercial interests,&#xA;consumer-oriented or desktop 3D printers are another story, literally.&#xA;Their origins can really be traced back to&#xA; the RepRap Project ,&#xA;founded in the UK by university professor Adrian Bowyer.&#xA;RepRap was intended to produce self-replicating printers (the 'rep' part of the name)&#xA;that anyone with tech…