Hello everyone,
This year is poised to be one of the hottest on record globally. NASA’s data revealed each month in first-half 2016 was the warmest globally in modern temperature record, which dates to 1880.
With all of this heat and humidity, now is the perfect time to hang-out in the Wayne College 3D Lab! Even in the middle of summer with students taking a break from studying, they and community members visit the lab each day. This week witnessed the creation of laser engraved dedication plaques for the new PlayLab experiential playground in Wooster, a video game programming camp for kids, custom designed t-shirts, and more.
Despite the heat, summer is also the perfect time for Maker Faires! There are over 200 faires this year alone, all around the world. The next one in our area is in Grand Rapids, Michigan this weekend. These are extraordinary events; try to attend at least one and you will be hooked.
Last month, a handful of folks from the Wayne College 3D Lab and the Schantz Maker Space traveled to Michigan for the Detroit Maker Faire. I have been to “mini” maker faires before, but this was a full fledged faire with over 20,000 people in attendance! Words can’t explain how huge, fascinating, weird, welcoming, and passionate this event was. It’s the perfect place for kids, adults, entrepreneurs, inventors, hobbyists, tinkerers — really everyone, a perfect place to explore and be amazed by so many inventions.
If words can’t express the heart of a maker faire, perhaps these photos will!
Kids building air floating contraptions
Bicycle for two?
Star Wars and cos-play
Full-color 3D printing
Yarn making and crafting
Custom-built go-kart races
Battling robots
Electronic sound effects machine
Ride a dragon!
Build-and-fly model rockets
Six-person, six-pedal bicycle
Crazy science demonstrations
Huge 3D printers
Mark your calendar; Wayne College is hosting its own Maker Faire on Saturday, May 20th, 2017. Be sure not to miss it! Better yet, be a part of it! Bring something you want to show and are passionate about or be a volunteer. It will be an unforgettable experience.
Back at the Wayne College, Leslie brought her family to the 3D Lab to create a decal for their boat. Not just the single-color vinyl decals that we usually make, but a large, three-color design! We learned a lot about Corel DRAW that day, a vector art program perfect for the job.
Will from Wayne College Tech Support designed the original artwork. We then separated the artwork from the lettering so that the vinyl cutter could cut shapes into three separate colors. Back at home, Leslie and her husband carefully applied the sticky vinyl in layers to create the final decal.
Cutting the design out of vinyl
Removing vinyl backing, revealing the design
The finished result!
Even Leslie’s family had fun in the 3D Lab making 3D printed cars, trucks, and stickers. There were many “family days” in the 3D Lab this summer.
The “chuck glider” summer camp finished last month with a lot of happy kids and colorful, flying gliders! They learned how to user a laser engraver to cut their planes from foam board, color them with markers, assemble, them fly them! Many thanks to Chris, Sami, and many community members who taught the camp, the basics of flying, and simply having fun with the kids. If you are interested in building your own chuck glider, please reply to this email and we will tell you more.
Laser cutting glider parts
Coloring day!
How planes fly
Happy campers
Stay tuned next week as we reveal more interesting projects and the result of our first-ever video game programming camp!
Have you ever heard of an “acoustic voxel”? Neither have I! Read how similar 3D printed objects can make different sounds inside:
http://newatlas.com/acoustic-voxels-unique-sounds/44438
See how this inventor 3D printed a violin that produces enchanting music:
http://formlabs.com/stories/designing-a-3d-printed-acoustic-violin
Soda and popcorn naturally go together, quite literally! See how pop cans can be modified to become a popcorn popper!
http://www.instructables.com/id/Recycled-Coke-Can-Popcorn-Maker
Until next week,
Tom