This week Jeff Ginger came in to talk to us about his passion for 3D printing. Jeff is the director of the campus fab lab. This is a place where any student can use the resources to learn, design, print, and collaborate. The area is open for creativity and experimentation. Jeff emphasized that fab labs are accessible to the public because this way everyone has an opportunity to learn and create. Jeff showed a map of fab labs around the world. Some of the locations were China, Australia, and South America. I thought this was fascinating how the advancement of technology is spreading throughout the world. We are all in this journey together trying to discover the future.
Jeff still identifies as a “librarian”, but not the typical one. He considers himself a modern librarian because he is providing an open space for learning 3D printing, instead of books. I went on the campus fab lab’s Instagram to view the pictures and examples of projects created there.
This picture shows kids at camp in the UIUC fab lab. It is great to see young kids learning and using their creativity in the lab. It creates a different way of thinking. Getting kids involved at a young age will expand their knowledge on the products.
Wow! A 10 year old was able to make this. This shows me all the possibilities that the fab lab has to offer.
Tinkercad:
Also, in class we got time to work with our teams on printing our logo. This was exciting because it was my first time experiencing the printing process. We were introduced to tinkercad. This virtual printing platform made me feel so high tech! I was able to pick designs, shapes, letters, and sizes. It reminded me a little of WordArt. I thought it was simple to navigate and use. We worked on including letters in our design, but had issues with spacing. Once we organized the design, we decided to make it smaller. Our first run through the printer did not work because the material spooled in the printer and got caught on something. This showed me that printing is not always going to be perfect. It is important to have patience.
Finally, the printing worked in just 36 minutes. It was so cool watching the nozzle create the shape. The process seemed very tedious, but came together perfectly. I am very happy with how our product turned out and I cannot wait to introduce the “Money Makers” team to the class.
This is a photo of our final product.
Hi Bridget,
I also liked how Jeff described himself as a modern librarian because he really is creating so many opportunities for people of all ages to learn using technology. I also really like how the fab lab works with kids a lot because it is now more important than ever to introduce kids to these types of technologies and thinking and develop the next generation of great thinkers. Seeing that car made by a 10 year old gives me a lot of hope in the future.
I was also very impressed with Jeff and everything he has been able to teach and create in the fab lab located so close on campus. It was exciting for me to learn about something so accessible to us that I had no idea even existed. I was also intrigued about how Jeff was able to use Minecraft to pique kids’ interest in 3D printing and make it easier to relate to them and teach them more about this creative world.