Expectations and Reflections: 

It was out of curiosity and a suggestion from a friend that made me pick this class from a extensive list of Electives I could have picked in my last semester as a Senior. I had briefly heard interesting things about 3-D printing and making almost anything you wanted from scratch. I hoped to learn how to prototype, design and apply myself in a way which I had never done before. Looking back after the semester long course I have come a long way as not only an engineer but also as someone who cares deeply about the things around us and making a difference in our community.

The Experience: 

My experience kicked off with some motivating and inspirational Guest Lectures from Jeff Gringer and John Hornick who talked about the Maker movement and where its headed. It instilled in me some kind of responsibility to be a part of the movement and make a difference in a way where I could leverage my skills as a Materials Engineer.

In the next few weeks we had an opportunity to attend a workshop conducted by representatives from the Design for America team at UIUC. I gained a deep understanding about what designing actually is and what it entails from the user and who it impacts. As a team we came up with a novel idea about using Goggle Glasses for deep sea diver which was pretty awesome. This experience helped me shape ideas during my next few weeks of the course and was fundamentally very important to the success of our tea, JJJ inc. 

The next week we got a chance to work with Fusion 360 which was of great use moving into our final projects. This powerful application helped us create almost any object we could think of and was pivotal in our making journey. More about this software can be found using this link.

This is the part where everything kicked off into full steam where we were not only thinking about the next big idea but also making it. Our final semester project started off with a brainstorming session, we came up with 3 issues we each faced in our day to day life and ideated some crude solutions to those problems. I learnt how much we over emphasize coming up with a product rather than solving the problem with the product in hand. Here are our initial few ideas we sketched for the final project this semester :

Week 6,7 and 8 the class spend learning and making at the Champaign Urbanas Fab lab! From learning how to code an Arduino to soldering and laser cutting plywood we learnt useful skills which we could implement while making our final project.

It was finally time to put our CADing, ideation and prototyping skills into action. Our group, JJJ inc, is designing a smart switch which can potentially pave way for cheaper smart homes and user customization. The next few classes we worked on designing and prototyping our Smart light switch. Here are some images from our initial sketches, mechanical designs and our final working switch seen as the bottom most picture.

I was so content with myself and overall really happy with the hard work, time and effort put by team JJJ inc to make the project from a mere idea to something which actually works like how we had imagined it. This class led me to belief that if you want to make something happen, there are enough resources, technology and like minded people to help you along, you just need to apply yourself and grind till you see the results unfold. I would finally like to thank Vishal Sachedva for his expertise and help!

The Maker Movement has gained momentum in the automobile, aerospace and interestingly even in the sporting industry. With Adidas running trials on printing sports shoes in their SPEEDFACTORY  and Nike following suit, there lies tremendous potential in what can be done in the sports industry. Sporting equipment manufacturers are slowing testing the waters for what could be a game changer in how sporting goods are made. Professional athletes sponsored by manufacturers more often than not customize their equipment based on their body type and performance needs. With the advent of 3-D scanning and printing, these athletes, in collaboration with equipment manufacturers, can easily custom build their goods. In the future for example, Michael Phelps could 3-D scan his body, send it to SPEEDO and they can custom print his swimming suits and googles according to his body type.

One of the games I am really passionate about is Cricket, and its absolutely mind blowing as to how much can be done using 3-D Printing. As Cricket uses a lot of equipment which is often customized to suit the players needs, 3-D printing can be made applicable in the near future by printing custom Helmets, Bails, Gloves and shin pads for the player. At the Materialise Press Conference during the latest edition of the Asia Pacific Conference in India, 3-D Printed Helmets, Bails were displayed and even used in a cricket match. 

Cricket players and enthusiasts could easily have personal 3-D Printers at home to print out helmets, balls and stumps. Instead of running to the nearest sport shop to buy a ball, I can see young children just setting up a print to have a quick game. This could not only engage people to play more sports but also promote the sports popularity within communities who have never experienced or played the game.

The biggest constraint in the 3-D printing of sporting goods is the kind of materials which can be printed. We all know that almost all plastics and some metals can be printed, but what about composites, which are materials made up of a combination of plastics,ceramics or metals. Sporting goods are often made up of complex materials and intricate designs. For example a simple Cricket hand glove uses rubber, some plastics and other fabrics to protect the batters hand against impact, absorb moisture and be flexible. This functionality is hard to achieve using 3-D printing and a lot of research still is under way. One such advancement in 3-D printing of highly functional materials is under the scanner at the University of Bristol, where they have created an innovative way to 3-D print composites. Dr. Richard Trask at the University of Bristol has successfully pioneered a way to 3-D print composite structures using ultrasonic sounds. Here is a video :

As a future Materials Engineer I am excited to see and be part of what can be done in the field of 3-D printing the next generation of innovative and functional materials.