Shenzhen Alu Rapid Prototype Precision Co., Ltd.

Rapid prototyping was invented in 1980. This refers to the development of the first additive manufacturing technique for creating three-dimensional models layer by layer using photopolymers. In April 1980, Dr. Hideo Kodama of Japan's Nagoya Municipal Industrial Research Institute invented two methods for this: one using a single-beam laser to cure resin, and another using multiple light beams to solidify layers of photosensitive resin. He filed a patent application that year and published his findings in 1981, though it wasn't commercialized. 

 Earlier ideas from the 1970s, like those by David E.H. Jones in 1974 or Jean-Claude André in 1977, laid groundwork, but Kodama's work marks the formal invention of modern rapid prototyping.  Key follow-ups include Charles (Chuck) Hull's stereolithography (SLA) in 1984, which led to the first commercial 3D printer in 1986, and other processes like selective laser sintering in 1987 and fused deposition modeling in 1989.