The Digital Making Seminar was the last thing I expected to take this semester. I thought my last four months here would be absorbing semi-new knowledge about my major and minor from a traditional educational system. How I found myself picking this class is a blur to me. 3D printing is a technology I have seen on the internet in videos and articles since 2010, and from last week’s class, knowing that this technology has been around for three decades fascinated me. I honestly thought, prior to this that the 3D printing technology would be something of a consumer-based fad that would die out in the next five to ten years. John Hornick’s lecture opened my eyes to the facets of this technology and how versatile its applications are. Prosthetics, musical instruments, even food products are either being made and the industries are on the verge of partaking in the transition towards industrial 3D printing. I’ve learned from John’s lecture how beneficial 3D printing can be for many industries, and how potentially disruptive this tech can be for modern industry and society, handing the power of production from producers and manufacturers to consumers. I’m giddy with my eyes wide in wonder at how my perspective and skills will transform as I continue with the Digital Making Seminar as the semester progresses.

A few of the things I found as I searched for interesting uses of 3D printing are below.

One of the most interesting and, in my opinion, unconventional uses I’ve found is how musical instruments have been a focus in 3d printing. First, a 3d printed electric violin, and a piezoelectric violin. The latter was what fascinated me more than anything else because of how the creaters of these piezoelectric instruments, Monad Studio,are essentially using properties of different materials to modify how musical instruments work.

While searching for articles, I discovered this. Being able to 3d print a layout of dark matter in our galaxy, something that is still unobservable for us humans, blew my mind.

The applications of 3d printing are endless, and I look forward eagerly to see how this revolutionizes the world.

With machines purring all around me as I sat in class, eagerly awaiting the start of the very first Digital Making class, I can’t help but ogle at the finish products on every surface in the classroom. Unlike most classes that I attend at the U of I, this must be one of the most hands-on and interesting class to date. With 3D making, the possibilities are endless. Anything that you can design and create can be made in your own home (or in this class, the Makerlab). That excites me to no end, knowing that by the end of the semester, I would have the skills and knowledge to do exactly that.

This week, we had a guest speaker, John Hornick, the author of the book “3D Printing Will Rock the World”. John ran us through the basics of 3D printing, including some of its more interesting uses in the healthcare industry as well as the pros and cons of 3D printing made available to consumers.

The few basic types of 3D printing he mentioned included:

• Directed energy deposition
• Material extrusion
• Material Jetting
• Powder Bed Fusion
• Sheet Lamination
• Vat photopolymerization

From John’s lecture, I’ve learnt that 3D printing is a preferred method of prototyping product for startups, due to its high cost benefit ratio, since 3D printing is extremely cost effective, and takes a lot less time to create a product as compared to commercial alternatives. This has led to a huge impact on the manufacturers, since consumers now have the ability to create products instead of having to buy them.

John’s lecture has inspired me to look through the internet for cool and interesting uses of 3D printing, and by chance, I stumbled upon this video.

Novel 4D printing method blossoms from botanical inspiration by Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University and the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

A short excerpt from the article:

“A team of scientists at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University and the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences has evolved their microscale 3D printing technology to the fourth dimension, time. Inspired by natural structures like plants, which respond and change their form over time according to environmental stimuli, the team has unveiled 4D-printed hydrogel composite structures that change shape upon immersion in water.”

Do check out the video if you have time!

This week was my first official encounter with the world of 3D printing, and I have to say that it has been a pretty awesome experience so far! However, my first genuine experience with the 3Dp process was back at the end of August, just as the fall semester was beginning. Just some quick background on me for those of you who don’t know, I’m an athlete on the Illinois Wheelchair Track and Road-racing Team. Arielle Rausin, who was a student in Digital Making 2015, is also on the team and found a way to print our racing gloves. Rolling into DRES that day and seeing our gloves being created in a fraction of the time, drove me to pursue this class. Flash forward a few months, and here we are.

We started class of with a guest lecture from John Hornick on how 3Dp will rock the world. I had to say, I was a bit skeptical of that claim, but as he went on it was clear where John was coming from. These were the main points that I took away from the presentation.

• High Cost Benefit Ratio – 3Dp has the ability to create something in a fraction of the time with a fraction of the cost. Going back to the racing glove example cost can be brought down from roughly $350 to $30, with labor times greatly reduced.
• Accessibility – With the cost of actual hardware constantly getting cheaper and quality getting better, it is now a feasible dream that almost every household will have access to a printer, whether it’s at school, work, or home.
• Rise of the Makers – This is really a result of the two above points, but with cost and accessibility moving the way they are, so many people can just let their imaginations run wild again. It is possible to create (almost) anything you can think of – you just need the drive, idea, and resources.

Can any of my fellow 2016 makers add a comment on something they thought was important from John’s lecture? I think it would be interesting to see what you all have gotten out of it.

I truly believe that 3Dp will kickstart a new generation of movers and shakers, one that will only become more robust and refined as time goes on with new advances. I can honestly see amazing things coming out of this new revolution in the industries of healthcare, sport, and even security.

Evaluation

I’m going to be honest, 3d printing (3Dp) seemed kinda silly to me. Not having direct interaction with the field, all I was able to see from those who were involved in the technology were small keychains, toys & knick knacks, and your occasional functional item, like a comb. However, foregoing a required course, I decided to pick up this class because I promised myself to try new things this year—especially in the field of technology. After being introduced to what Making is conceptually, I think I might see an opportunity here. In the case of 3Dp, though the technology itself is not new, its applications are. Listening to the lecture given my John Hornick this week, I was able to learn about different types of applications 3Dp is useful for. Though I wouldn’t entirely say I classify 3Dp as a “disruptive game changer” as I’m not sure if I’m sold on its significance, I would point out that some people probably doubted the wheel.

My Interests

I’m a big software focused person, consequentially, I haven’t been able to really get involved with hardware. I want to change that through this course. After our first class I quickly consulted some of my double E friends and started brainstorming on possible projects that I could work on this semester. I was interested in working on a drone a couple semesters back but that idea, I believe, is out of the scope of what this class can offer. I came up with a couple ideas that, coupled with an arduino and maybe a raspberry, pi, just might work. I’m excited to share with the class the next time we meet!

Twitter!

Here’s something cool I found on twitter. A dog that lost his limbs to a lawnmower gets a 3D printed limb! Click the picture for more information.

#Dog who lost legs in lawnmower accident gets 3D-printed limb https://t.co/Z0bvBAttCQ #3Dprinting #animals pic.twitter.com/IoPMqYIATH

— ABC News (@abcnews) January 28, 2016