Application Areas of Additive Manufacturing From Curiosity to Application N.J.R. Venekamp and H.Th. Le Fever DREAMNIKON/ISTOCK Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MTS.2015.2461200 Date of publication: 16 September 2015 september 2015 I ∕ nnovation and finding new ways to do things in a smarter and more efficient way is necessary for organizations to stay competitive in an increasingly demanding environment. One such innovation is additive manufacturing (AM). This emerging technology is receiving increased attention and appears to embody a technology push, now that the number of applications is growing in an area that used to be predominantly focused on creating rapid prototypes [1]. IEEE TEchnology and SocIETy MagazInE 1932-4529/15©2015IEEE 81http://www.H.Th