Hello everyone,
The first week of the Fall semester has ended and what a week it was! Energy was felt throughout Wayne College as crowds of students flooded the halls. Students are already hanging out in the 3D Lab and trying out the equipment. Professor Gold is teaching the Tools for Engineering class to a large number of students this semester, which means competitions with LEGO Mindstorms robots and other challenging projects, some involving 3D printing. This will be a fun semester, no doubt about it.
Over the summer, Nathan and I were busy repairing equipment in the 3D Lab, notably upgrading our multi-color Prusa 3D printers to the “MK3S” model with improved reliability and multi-color printing improvements. Rahul also got the DaVinci Color Mini printer working well (courtesy of the Romich Foundation), which uses inkjet technology to create full-color printed objects. And I repaired our Taz printer that was accidentally broken by yours truly. The 3D Lab is fully operational and ready for this semester’s use by students and community members alike.
New this semester is the Wayne College Makers Club! It is focused on creating opportunities to develop confidence, creativity, and interest in science, technology, engineering, art, and math through making. Club activities may include team projects as well as the opportunity to work on individual projects.
Activities are designed to combine content areas in meaningful and inventive ways – inviting students to pick up a hand tool, putz around with loose parts, and learn to use equipment as they interact with a community of makers. Available equipment includes 3D printers, laser engravers, CNC machines, electronics, and much more.
The Makers Club’s first meeting is Tuesday, September 10th in the 3D Lab! Feel free to drop-by and help shape the club’s activities this semester.
Over the summer, Emeritus Professor Warren A. Dick from the Ohio State University School of Environment and Natural Resources visited the 3D Lab with a student to fabricate a simple spectrophotometer used as teaching tool in an analytical chemistry class. Spectroscopy is simply the measurement of light. It is used in laboratories, but can also be used in the field to measure things like water purity. The 3D printed tool captures images of water samples using a smart phone camera.
Images taken with the tool are cropped using the free ImageJ program which also creates a Plot Profile of the color spectrum. The data is then imported to Microsoft Excel for analysis to calculate absorbance, concentration levels, and trend lines.
Warren and his student printed several spectrophotometers on our Makerbot printer, the first machine that graced our 3D Lab! If you made it to the Wayne County Mini Maker Faire in the past several years, you probably met Adam Smith who showcased a similar tool at his booth.
Also over the summer, Schantz Makerspace offered a robotics summer camp held at the Wayne County Schools Career Center. It was attended by dozens of kids forming teams and building Vex robots, competing in skill contests at the end of each week. It was exciting to see kids from all over Wayne, Holmes, and Ashland Counties come together for a terrific learning experience.
The Wayne College 3D Lab was proud to participate in this successful event at WCSCC! Click here for the Daily Record’s write-up of the experience!
The 3D Lab is open this Fall semester for students, faculty, staff, and community members alike. Feel free to stop-in! We have student staff who are happy help you learn how to 3D print, fix broken items, or create something new. Our hours of operation are posted here.
Stay tuned next week as we introduce interesting folks who participated in this year’s Maker Faire!
Until then,
Tom
See how South African Surgeons use 3D Printing to Reverse Hearing Loss:
https://all3dp.com/4/south-african-surgeons-use-3d-printing-reverse-hearing-loss
Would you eat a 3D printed steak?
https://all3dp.com/2/3d-printed-steak-the-latest-advancements-in-2019
Like puzzles? Try playing this 3D printed, 3D maze: https://www.instructables.com/id/Three-Dimensional-Maze
How to make a 3D model of your face:
https://all3dp.com/2/3d-face-model-how-to-make-a-3d-model-of-your-face
Wayne County Mini Maker Faire 2020 is coming! Mark your calendar on May 16th for this unforgettable event. We need makers like you! Participate for free by signing up here. Space is limited, so please sign-up soon.
Don’t miss the next Maker Monday on Monday, September 16th at 7:00 p.m. at the Schantz Makerspace in Wooster. Find out more at www.schantzmakerspace.com
We offer a free “listserv” that allows to you ask questions to members in the makerspace. It’s great for sharing ideas, forming friendships, and helping & advising each other. To join, send an email to listserv@lists.uakron.edu with “SUBSCRIBE MAKERSPACE-GROUP” in the subject line.