3D printing started to get tons of attention with most people via the maker movement about 7 years ago. Low cost filament printers could be built or bought for $500-$2000. In the past couple of months all of the applications for Covid-19 have been in the news.
Of course, in the world of design and manufacturing we know this all started in the 1980’s as rapid prototyping. I heard an interesting interview that you might like too on BBC’s Witness History with Chuck Hull who started 3D Systems: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3cszmrm