3D Printer for Home, Education and Rapid Prototyping

Enhancing Education and Culminating Creations with 3D Printing

Mark Willis is the Tech Ed/Pre Engineering Teacher at Margaret Bell Middle School in Waynesburg, PA.

In the Beginning

Willis had never attempted 3D printing before getting the Afinia 3D Printer. “When it arrived, I just started printing things, learning from trial and error.

Willis’ print demonstrating the Afinia’s 5x5x5 inch build area.
Willis’ print demonstrating the Afinia’s 5x5x5 inch build area.

The printer was pretty easy to use. Afinia also sent their Vice President, John Westrum, to talk with teachers, walk them through how to use the machine, and demonstrate tricks for printing. It was a great gesture and I found it to be very helpful.“ [Read more…]

Leading the Way in STEAMM with Afinia 3D Printing

PLTW-logoTodd Hummer is a Satellite Teacher for Butler Tech, teaching a 7th grade Project Lead the Way STEAMM (science, technology, engineering, art/design, math, and medical) class. Butler Tech is a career-technical school for adults and high school students in Hamilton, Ohio.

Partnering with Butler Tech

“The partnership that our district has with Butler Tech is very exciting. Butler Tech offers classes to high school students, adults, and businesses wanting to educate their workforce. They also provide satellite programs giving 7th through 12th graders the opportunity to learn about engineering and the biomedical fields. Seventh graders are all encouraged to take the Project Lead The Way (PLTW) Design and Modeling class, and from there, have the opportunity to [Read more…]

Afinia H480 named “Reliable Performer” by Make: in 3D Printer Shootout

The H480 has done it again!Reliable Performer Badge

We are happy to announce that Make: Magazine has named the Afinia H480 as “Reliable Performer” in their Ultimate Guide to 3D Printing 2015, and has included the Afinia in the top 10 3D printers (out of the 26 tested). In recent years, we have also been awarded “Best Overall Experience,” “Easiest to Use,” and “Easiest to Set Up.” [Read more…]

Small School Gets 3D Printer for Student – and Community – Projects

Ron Smith is the Engineering and Metal Fabrication teacher at Nestucca High School in Cloverdale, OR.

Complex Concepts & Making the Connection

Ron Smith doesn’t shy away from teaching his students complex concepts. In his classes, he covers topics ranging from vectors and trigonometry, to statics, forces, and velocity. “Some kids in math classes think, ‘where will I ever use this?’ In my class, students apply the knowledge hands-on. They get a good grasp of the real-world applications for the concepts, and learn what engineers do on the job. They love seeing this real-world engineering, and it gets them fired up for going beyond graduating high school. [Read more…]

The Physical Realm of Natural Disasters and Crime: Doug McCune’s 3D Printed Art

Doug McCune is a programmer by day and artist by night. In his 10 years of programming, he has a lot of experience in mapping data such, as natural disasters. He decided to integrate his artistic side to transform the data he is exposed to professionally and to visually tell a story of his city.

“I live in San Francisco and experiment with data from this area. I love that my art tells me – and others – about where I live. I also work a lot with natural disaster data, which has been fun to explore artistically. I’ll take the data and work in my garage at night exploring ways to transform it into the physical realm with 3D printing. Most recently I 3D printed the South Napa Earthquake.” [Read more…]