3D Printer for Home, Education and Rapid Prototyping

3D Printing and How to Make Almost Anything

Jeffry Abel is an Engineering and ECAD instructor at Century College in White Bear Lake, MN. Abel has many years of 3D printing experience under his belt, and teaches both introductory, advanced students, and community members the art of 3D design, 3D printing, and making, through courses such as “How to Make Almost Anything.”

The Introduction to 3D Printing, and the Afinia 3D Printer

3D printing test
Abel’s class printed a test block to check the accuracy of dimensions of the printer.

As an Engineering and ECAD instructor, Jeff Abel is a 3D printing expert. “I began using 3D printers in 2004, to do prototyping for medical industry projects,” explains Abel. “When I began working for Century College in 2012, they already had their Fab Lab, which consisted of a number of tools, including some non-Afinia 3D printers. Right around the time I started is when we added the Afinia 3D Printers to our arsenal of equipment.” [Read more…]

3D Printing Completes the Process for Professional Engineer

Patrick Logan is a professional engineer with 33 years experience in manufacturing products from Bicycles to Space Stations. He currently works with small and start-up companies as a consulting engineer, designing products for performance and manufacture. He uses the Afinia 3D Printer to provide clients with a 3D print of their part. His website can be found at www.kridleytech.com.

With over 30 years of manufacturing products under his belt, Patrick Logan is no newcomer to functional 3D design, or even the concept of 3D printing. However, it was only recently that Patrick began 3D printing designs himself, with the help of the Afinia 3D printer. “Currently, I work with small and start-up companies. They come to me with an idea, and I take it, do what I can to improve it, and overall make it manufacturable and cost effective,” explains Logan.

In-house 3D Printing Completed the Process

Before getting the Afinia 3D printer in 2012, Logan would use a 3D printing company to create parts with an SLA printer. “I’d send the design to one company to 3D print it so I could test it,” says Logan. “If it didn’t work, we made adjustments and had it re-printed. When it did work, it then would go through another company to have them make a urethane mold. It was an expensive process, since each step had its own cost associated with it, but it was still less expensive than to simply get a mold that didn’t work.” [Read more…]

Gateway Technical College’s Fab Lab Creates Opportunities with 3D Printing

Greg Herker is the Fab Lab Program Coordinator for Gateway Technical CollegeGateway Technical College. He designs and coordinates the programs and is in charge of Fab Lab operations. Herker describes the Fab Lab as “A movement. A place where ideas and innovations happen.”

The Lab is open to students, businesses, and the entire community. [Read more…]

Dr. Williams is Bringing Education Back to Life with 3D Printing

Dr. Keith Williams is a visiting professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Virginia and a program manager for a research division of Leidos, based at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington D.C. Leidos is a company that assists the US in combating threats to national security. Dr. Williams tweets about his UVa Introduction to Engineering class using the Twitter handle @engr1620.

The Technological Cloud

If you stumble upon Dr. Williams’ blog, it appears that he is opposed to using technology in the classroom, terming it a “technological cloud” hanging over education. But dig deeper and it becomes clear that his complaint is [Read more…]

3D Printing the Imagination: Educating for the Future

Ebelt is a pilot, participated in NASA’s Zero Gravity flight, and enjoys gliding on the weekends.

 

Kaye Ebelt is an inspired educator and life-long learner who has a BA in Elementary Education, ME in Computer technology, and MS in Science Education. She is currently an Albert Einstein Fellow, serving as the Directorate for Engineering at the National Science Foundation. Ebelt also participated in NASA’s MicroGX and Reduced Gravity Flight in 2011.

The Power of Passion

It is clear from Kaye Ebelt’s background that she has a passion for learning. During her interview, we learned how she is passing that passion on to other teachers and students. As the Directorate for Engineering at the National Science Foundation, Ebelt provides her expertise forming STEM education programs. When we asked how Ebelt was awarded the Directorate position, she admitted, “It started with me wanting to know what a 3D printer was. A fellow teacher connected me with John Westrum from Afinia, and he set me up with a printer. When I got it, it was the only thing my students and I focused on for two months. They would skip lunch and recess to print!”

Ebelt recognizes the impact that teaching has on students. “When you have a teacher who is so passionate about what they are dong, you get excited about it. A teacher is supposed to share their experiences. When a teacher shares their passion for STEM, their students are more likely to go into a STEM career.” [Read more…]