Way back in 2008, the Innovation Center got its first 3D printer, a Z Corporation Z450. At the time, it was very difficult to explain to most people what “3D printing” even meant, as it hadn’t yet entirely entered the public consciousness. Professor Dan Ross (Engineering and Computer Information Science) was an early adopter, and was in fact the first FLC faculty member to incorporate 3D printing into his courses.
Fast forward to 2017. The Z450 has long since given up the ghost, and we’ve got a few 3D printers sprinkled around the college, including a LulzBot Taz down in the Theater Arts shop, a few Makerbot Replicators in the Engineering classroom, and the U2E+s, U3s, Rostock Max, and Form 2 in the Innovation Center.
This semester, students in Dan’s Engineering 312 : Engineering Graphics course worked on designing and printing gear boxes.
I had the chance to talk to some of the students in the lab toward the end of the semester (which is winding down), and saw some of the parts-in-progress on the printers, but until Dan sent these photos, I hadn’t seen the completed student work. I have to say I’m pretty impressed, and it’s great students using digital fabrication to solve real-world challenges.
