Collection of 120 peer-reviewed papers that were presented at the 3rd International Conference on Advanced Research in Virtual and Rapid Prototyping, held in Leiria, Portugal in September 2007. Essential reading for all those working on V&RP, focused on inducing increased collaboration between industry and academia. In addition to keynotes dealing with cutting-edge manufacturing engineering issues, contributions deal with  topical research virtual and rapid prototyping (V&RP), such as: 1. biomanufacturing, 2. CAD and 3D data acquistion technologies, 3. materials, 4. rapid tooling and manufacturing, 6. advanced rapid prototyping technologies and nanofabrication, 7. virtual environments, 8. collaborative design and engineering and 9. various applications.