Creating a matter printer is the science-fiction dream that will fundamentally change the economies of producing physical things. Imagine solving a challenge for renewable energy generation by simply instructing a computer as to what end product properties are required.

For me, as a third generation physics geek and a software guy, this era of truly software- defined physical materials is exciting. Imagine an ever-growing catalogue of possible materials, carefully tagged with structured data on their properties – accessible as simply as we use Pantone codes today for matching colours. Hit and miss experimentation that currently takes 15 years will instead happen in months, if not days – and at scale.