This semester in Digital Making, I learned far more than I anticipated. Not only did I learn how to 3D print and use software like Fusion360 to design prints, which is what I expected to learn, I also learned how to do digital scanning, digital embroidery, wood cutting, laser engraving, and even a bit of coding and Arduino use. This ended up being my favorite class in my Undergraduate career, which is saying a lot because I actually hate waking up early. Below, I will summarize what I have learned in a few of my favorite areas.
Scanning:
I am choosing to talk about scanning first because my mini-Shayna scan gave my friends and me unlimited amounts of entertainment. I was surprised at how easy it was to scan someone using a simple add-on to an iPad. The scan was extremely accurate and looked exactly like me, as did the print that resulted. There was a slight mishap with my nose, which didn’t get quite scanned correctly, but the “fill” option on the software allowed me to fill in the missing chunk of my nose before printing.
I mentioned earlier that the print provided my friends and me with a great deal of entertainment. My friends all thought the scan of me was pretty funny, and thus dubbed it “Lil’ Shay,” insisting that Lil’ Shay come with us on our trip to Nashville that weekend. We documented all of Lil’ Shay’s antics and compiled them on Snapchat- I know this is not the most practical business use of a product but I thought it was fun and worth mentioning nonetheless. Below are a few of the photos we compiled, so I hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoyed taking them.
Digital Embroidery:
One of the things that was most surprising about this class was that we got to learn how to make embroidery with sewing machines that were equipped with digital embroidery capabilities. I decided to embroider the Chicago skyline and Duncan helped us find images online that would translate well into the embroidery software. He showed us how to clean it up to ensure the stitching would come out in the way we want. I wanted a very colorful embroidered piece but I failed to realize that this would mean I would be constantly switching out thread. I also didn’t realize that I could have had the machine stitch ALL of the thread that was the same color at the same time, leaving space for the other colors in between; this also contributed to how long the piece took, but if I were to use a machine like this again I would be better prepared to tackle the project. One thing I especially liked about this part of our learning at the FabLab was that I could see the real-life applications of this activity. I used to Irish Dance and the costumes we had to wear were all intricately embroidered, unique, and could cost up to a few thousand dollars to purchase. If I had the knowledge and capabilities to embroider back when I was still dancing, I could perhaps have made my own costumes! I have attached what I made in the FabLab as well as a photo of an Irish Dance dress for reference. 
Arduinos:
I was lucky enough to be put into a group with Scott and Aubrey, both of whom have technical experience- Aubrey is not only an ISIT major like Scott and me but is in the T&M program where she has used Arduinos before. Scott, on the other hand, has had some experience coding in R and SQL. They were great guides, as I am a pretty poor coder (SQL only) and had never used anything like an Arduino before. I was so surprised how much we were able to accomplish in just one class period per week- from conceptualizing our idea for a digital counter for people entering and leaving a space to the realization that this product may not be the most useful thanks to Google Analytics. When we came to this realization, we altered our prototype to register movement in different areas. This opens up the possibility of tracking what products or displays are the most interesting to customers based on the amount of time they spend in an area. I’m really proud of how well our project turned out, as well as how we presented. I think this is actually a viable business idea if we were to follow through with producing it.
Final Thoughts:
I loved this class and felt that I was able to learn more than in any other class because of the hands-on nature of each lesson. I thoroughly enjoyed producing physical products that I could be proud of and actually inspired a few of my friends to try out the MakerLab and FabLab spaces because of my not-so-subtle bragging about what I made. I hope to stay involved in the Maker World in some facet as I enter into my career, which shouldn’t be hard as there are many maker spaces in the Chicagoland area where I will be post-graduation. Thank you to Vishal and to my classmates for such a fun semester!
Link to my previous posts in this course:
https://publish.illinois.edu/digitalmaking2018/author/patt2illinois-edu/