UAWC3 Lab (Page 16)

Hello everyone, Things are humming along smoothly in the 3D Lab this week.  All of our printers are (thankfully) in working order, providing high availability to students, community members, and engineering classes that need them.  Our first 3D printer (a Makerbot Replicator 2X provided by the Laura B. Frick Charitable Trust) was recently repaired at Makerbot headquarters.  After eight hours of labor and lots of worn, replaced parts, we have a working printer again.  Makerbot’s excellent service plan allows these repairs to be provided at no-cost, a worthwhile yearly investment. We also have the portable 3D printer working better.  In the past, this printer (anRead More →

Hello everyone, With the 3D Lab soon entering its second year of existence, this polytechnic initiative and service to the public shows no sign of slowing down.  It is exciting to see designs become reality for our engineering students, community members inventing useful things that you just can’t find in stores, and mentors visiting the lab to provide teaching, advice, encouragement to our students. Wayne College is grateful to the many donors who make this lab a success, notably the Romich Foundation, Laura B. Frick Charitable Trust – PNC Bank, Trustee, Wayne County Community Foundation, Orrville Area Boys and Girls Club, P. Graham Dunn, andRead More →

Hello everyone, With the semester finishing its ninth week of classes, the 3D Lab is as busy as ever.  Our two newest printers (Lulzbot Taz 5 printers provided by the Wayne County Community Foundation) have proven to be workhorses, running flawlessly practically all day, every day.  Each day brings new activities with student assignments, community projects, club involvement, mentoring, and more. We are also thankful for our older printers (two Makerbot and one Affinia brand printers provided by the Romich Foundation and Laura B. Frick Charitable Trust).  Makerbot (based in Brooklyn, New York) is currently the most established consumer 3D printing company.  They offer serviceRead More →

Hello everyone, Sorry for the missing blog entry last week, as yours truly was on vacation and needed a break!  Now back to the job and refreshed, it’s time to dig into the latest exciting things happening in the 3D Lab at The University of Akron Wayne College. With engineering classes in full-swing, the 3D printed weighted cubes worked well for the LEGO Mindstorms robots that tossed them.  Now students are building robots to carry and drag heavy loads.  3D printers are currently creating student designed sleds that their robots will pull.  More about this activity in the next blog. As mentioned last week, theRead More →

Hello everyone, It’s amazing how far we have come since the 3D Lab’s opening in January 2014.  Looking back, we’ve collaborated with 18 community organizations, a dozen businesses, and another dozen schools.  We’ve made over 20 visits to these locations to demonstrate 3D printing, using the portable 3D printer provided by the Romich Foundation.  Our impact to the community is substantial, a testament of the need for polytechnic skills to be introduced to all generations. A case in-point, an employee of Orrville City Schools brought his son and friend to the 3D Lab for a laser cutting and engraving project.  They wanted to construction aRead More →

Hello everyone, The fifth week of the semester draws to a close.  Engineering students built robots for a ball tossing competition, so the lab was full of moving parts and whirring motors.  Their next assigning is to build robots that will seek and capture colored objects in a defined area.  But here in the 3D Lab, that is only half of the story.  Students of various disciplines print pre-designed objects from Thingiverse, others learn how to use the laser engraver to create beautiful gifts, and community members spend time interacting with students and inventing things in CAD.  It is wonderful to see the different activitiesRead More →

Hello everyone, As to be expected at this point in the semester, the 3D Lab is a bustling place.  Engineering students are engrossed in their latest class assignments, flight club members build and test planes, community members design and print inventions, students finish homework, and others meet and socialize.  The lab has so much energy this time of year; it is exciting to watch the interactions and fun going on there. The two new 3D printers arrived early last week and are installed.  They could not have come at a better time as our oldest 3D printer has broken-down, needing a replacement motherboard.  Students areRead More →

Hello everyone, Exciting things are preparing to happen in the 3D Lab.  Now into the third week of the semester, engineering students will soon begin robotic designs that will use 3D printing for some of its parts.  These robots have specific tasks to perform such as throwing a weighted ball a calculated distance, locating and capturing an object in a confined area, and more.  The creative robotic designs never cease to amaze us. Later this week, we will receive two additions to the 3D Lab, matching Taz 5 3D printers!  These highly rated machines were provided by the Carl E. Congdon, Jr. and Susanna CongdonRead More →

Hello everyone, With the first week of the Fall semester at its end, the 3D Lab proves a busy place for students and community members.  We are interested to see what the engineering classes will cook-up in the lab for projects.  The lab is also used as a hang-out place for students to socialize, do homework, and help each other create cool things with the equipment.  The Wayne College R/C Flight Club had their first meeting there on Monday evening; be sure to stop by the next Monday at 6:00 if you are interested in joining! As introduced in a previous post, did you knowRead More →

Hello everyone, The first day of the fall semester begins with a bang in the 3D Lab.  Students already have all three printers running simultaneously, visitors are given tours of the room, and the R/C airplane club is slowly taking over every inch of free space with their designs.  We are interested to see what engineering students and community members will create this semester.  It’s always exciting to see non-engineers become interested in the technology as well; they are becoming makers! A few weeks ago, a community member well versed in CAD design used our first 3D printer (affectionally known as “P-Ter” and donated byRead More →