Hello everyone,

With two more weeks of classes before Finals Week, the Spring semester is finishing up like a gust of wind, just like Ohio weather lately!  There have been lots of activities at Wayne College lately, including an Easter Egg Hunt and lots of student and community-welcome activities offered at the Wayne College Library!  Want to know more, just contact the library!

Brett Lanz of Tri-County Educational Service Center announces an upcoming event, the 2025 Tri-County ESC STEAM Camp!  In conjunction with the Wayne County Schools Career Center, Schantz Makerspace, and Wayne County Children’s STEAM PLaylab, it is an engaging multi-day camp designed for students in grades 3-8. Throughout the course of this camp, students will learn principles of design and engineering to create a remote powered robot using a VEX IQ kit. Students will work and collaborate safely to complete challenges testing students’ designs, engineering, and skill.

This event is being held at the RAMTech Lab at the Wayne County Schools Career Center in Smithville during July and August.

Volunteers are needed!  If interested, the attached flyer shows dates/times/location.  Training would be provided but the basic function is to assist students as needed for their VEX building.  If you are willing and available, please complete this form.  If you needed any kind of verification for volunteer hours/experience, Brett would be happy to provide that.  

Our staff and students at the Wayne College 3D Lab enjoy experimenting with new ways of making things!  Staff member Cait tried a special type of 3D printing called “vase mode” to print large, hollow objects quickly.  In this case, a Oddish-styled, Pokémon themed planter! 

Vase mode is 3D printer setting where it creates a single continuous spiral structure without any infill or top/bottom layers.  Instead of printing solid layers, the printer follows a continuous path, resulting in a hollow object with a single wall thickness.  This printing technique allows for the creation of vases, bowls, cups, and other objects with a seamless and elegant appearance.

Gabriel, one of our students, tried a new technique that surprised us, heat pressed vinyl into leather!  We didn’t know if that was possible, but after enough Internet research he decided to give it a go.  The result was spectacular!  The vinyl strongly bonded to the leather and the colors and fine details were sharp.

Gabriel used our Roland GX-20 vinyl cutter and heat press for the job.  He downloading the bitmap graphics, converted them to “vector” format, then cut the stars and rooster separately.  These were pressed for only 15 seconds at 300 degrees, just enough to let the vinyl bond to the leather with damaging the latter.  Great job!

Students from our Integrated Expressive Arts in Primary Grade class had a blast in the 3D Lab earlier this week.  Makerspaces and education are perfect for each other, especially when teaching and learning STEAM!  Aspiring teachers learned about digital fabrication that evening, engraving images onto acrylic with the laser engraver, 3D printing fidget toys, using Canva to design & print large posters, and die-cut stickers with our solvent ink printer!  Everyone enjoyed “making” together and will be back with more ideas!

Stay tuned next month as we reveal more interesting things happening the 3D Lab!

Until then,

Tom

Inside the World’s Largest 3D-Printed Neighborhood In Texas
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/23/07/28/2111239/inside-the-worlds-largest-3d-printed-neighborhood-in-texas

The 40 Best 3D Printed Chess Sets & Boardshttps://all3dp.com/2/3d-printed-chess-set-pieces

Their next meeting is Monday, April 21st and includes Greg Short who is building an airplane with support from the Romich Makerspace. They will also have a discussion with Jennifer Winkler about her contacts with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame museum!  Click here to learn more.

What is 3D printing? How does it work? These questions and more will be answered in this introductory class. You will work on a basic 3D printer(supplied) learning how to set up, print and do basic troubleshooting of problems.  Thursday, April 24th, 6:00pm – 8:00pm.  Click here for more information!

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.