This week the six of us get to explore laser cutting, which is quite eye-opening because I have only heard laser tech’s application in organ surgery but have never actually seen a laser cutting machine before. This week was the last week that we spend at the Fab Lab, and I just want to thank the people there, for how they have been helping us to get familiar with various interesting technology.

To laser-print, the first step is to design what you are going to print. You can either download a silhouette image or you can design your own image on Inkscape. The instructor Duncan said there are other similar software but he thinks this one is probably easier to use. For me, I downloaded a Chinese Dragon silhouette image (which represents power and positiveness not evil) and used Inkscape to clear the lines to make it easier to print. Second, you get to choose a object for you to print the design on. I chose the front cover of a notebook. Other people chose wooden plate to make a key chain. You can also print the design on a bottle, you can basically print it on anything as long as you know what the object is made of so when melted by laser-cutting machine it won’t be toxic to those in the same room. The last step is just copy the design (in pdf ) and bring it up on the laser-cutting computer and place the object in the machine, and it will just start printing for you.

I think the best part of the class is that we are introduced another tech that is so close to our daily life. I can’t tell exactly how it’s going to change my life. But I want to say life about accumulating inspirations, and I can at least make my personalized notebook covers!