Abstract
Rapid prototyping (RP) technology has been developing very fast in the last 10 years. Some ideas concerning this technology are presented in the paper for predicting the evolution in the future. Shaping science is proposed to research for the improvement of RP process and generation of new processes. Issues including product development tool, direct metal part manufacturing, rapid tooling and RP machine design are discussed. Extension of its application in more areas will be beneficial for the advancement of RP.