Hello everyone,
Now into the halfway mark of the semester, activity is picking up in the 3D Lab for student projects. The Dynamics class builds model rockets this semester based on custom designs, aerodynamic studies, and various fabrication methods (including 3D printing). We are thankful that all three printers are working well; they have been running simultaneously for most of the week.
One of our students is building a two-stage rocket, creating the design in CAD and building it with our first 3D printer provided by the Laura B. Frick Charitable Trust. It is a modular design with stacking sets of fins to support each engine. The student created interlocking tabs to hold the stages together.
Notice the rough plastic on the bottom of the green rocket? This is “support material” that the printer creates to reach areas that hang in mid-air. This is important as the printer creates objects from the ground-up. After printing, this material snaps off then is placed in plastic bins for recycling into new filament.
Morgan uses the vinyl cutter extensively to create window decals for the Periodic Table of Elements. This means well over 110 decals that will adorn the Chemistry Lab. She is our expert with vinyl cutting and assists anyone needing this work done. Please stop-by the lab if you have a project for her!
On Thursday, we had a wonderful visit with representatives from the Laura B. Frick Charitable Trust – PNC Bank. They expressed interest in seeing the lab’s progress especially since the 3D printing initiative started a year ago. Needless to say, they were quite impressed! We grew from a side table in the T.S.S. office to a dedicated room with teaching area, workspace, and sophisticated makerspace equipment. Many of our students and lab staff were present to relate their activities, experience, and excitement for the lab. We are glad to have earnest support from the community in this endeavor.
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Sadly, Dusty is no longer among us, as he was abducted by aliens. This is evidenced in the above photo taken just seconds before he vanished.
In other exciting news this week, the laser engraver arrived! The maintenance department is busy preparing an area in the 3D Lab for its use. This is no small undertaking as the engraver requires an external exhaust port for smoke and fumes, an air compressor feed to keep materials from being scored/marred by the laser during engraving, and dedicated power for the engraver and exhaust fan. Thankfully the room has plenty of dedicated circuits, as it was an industrial arts classroom in the past. We already have a lot of laser engraving requests from the College, University, and social organizations in the community, so we are excited about its usefulness. And the students are even more excited than us. Stop-in and take a look!
3D printing makes continuous news in the medical field. See how scientists 3D print cartilage to repair damaged windpipes:
http://www.engadget.com/2015/01/28/3d-printed-windpipe-cartilage
Printing organs and body parts is no longer the stuff of science fiction! Startups in the U.S. are working on printing bits of liver tissue, while a Russian provocateur claims to have on-demand thyroids:
https://medium.com/backchannel/where-s-my-bioprinted-kidney-already-25d8c2a5d676
Check-back next week for the latest happenings in the UAWC³ 3D Lab; there is always something interesting and new going on.
Tom