3D Printing and Industrial Espionage..

The full extent of industrial espionage is surely more prevalent than reports indicate, and the advent of additive manufacturing with its electronic file-based design processes is a frontier in an ongoing series of skirmishes in technological border wars.

The news that a former employee of United Technologies Corp. was recently placed under arrest by federal authorities for allegedly trying to shuttle sensitive, military aerospace-related documents to China was surely the least of the possible problems facing companies and governments as they increasingly move their design and development work to digital realms.

Federal authorities say Yu Long, who once worked on additive manufacturing and casting processes for Pratt & Whitney, had a history of involvement on projects like the F119 engine, a highly sophisticated powerplant used in the F-22 Raptor, and on the F135 engine which powers the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter.

Long was arrested in Ithaca, NY, and the feds say they also found documents in his possession which were deemed to be “critical in the development of technologically advanced titanium for use in advanced aircraft.”

Read more here.