MakerBot Announces MakerBot Academy: 3D Printers, Supplies and Curriculum for Schools

MakerBot wants to put a 3D printer in every school in America.

The company has partnered with DonorsChoose.org, America Makes, and Autodesk on this initiative. “To get this done, we are going to have to do it together,” said Bre Pettis, CEO of MakerBot.

MakerBot was inspired by President Obama’s call to action to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. In the most recent State of the Union address, the President said, “a once-shuttered warehouse is now a state-of-the art lab where new workers are mastering the 3D printing that has the potential to revolutionize the way we make almost everything.”

MakerBot Academy is the company’s answer to this call. Beginning this week, individuals and corporations interested in helping put MakerBot Desktop 3D Printers in schools can visit DonorsChoose.org, a crowd funding site for teachers, and pledge to financially support the program. Teachers then register on DonorsChoose.org for a MakerBot Academy bundle.

Each MakerBot Academy bundle contains a MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer, three spools of MakerBot PLA Filament, and a full year of the MakerBot MakerCare Service and Protection Plan. MakerBot will also support the teachers with the development of ongoing 3D printing curriculum that teachers can participate in and utilize in the classroom. MakerBot will leverage Autodesk’s software and educator curriculum as well.

Bre Pettis, CEO of MakerBot, has personally pledged to put a MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer in public high schools in MakerBot’s hometown of Brooklyn, N.Y. In addition, Ralph Crump, original inventor of FDM 3D printing technology and founder of Stratasys, has pledged his support.

“As a former teacher, I believe strongly in creating a new model for innovation. A MakerBot is a manufacturing education in a box,” said Bre Pettis. “We need to encourage our teachers and our youth to think differently about manufacturing and innovation. When you have a MakerBot Desktop 3D Printer, you see the world differently. Instead of waiting for someone to create a product for you, you can create your own. It can change the whole paradigm of how our children will see innovation and manufacturing in America.”

Pictured above, Bre Pettis and Scott Crump.

The White House has responded positively to this initiative. “We are thrilled that MakerBot and America Makes are joining a growing coalition of citizens working to give American students the ability to design and make almost anything,” said Tom Kalil, deputy director for Technology and Innovation, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. “As the President has said, we all need to think creatively about giving our young people the tools to be ‘the makers of things, and not just the consumers of things.’”

MakerBot is also launching a MakerBot Thingiverse Math Manipulatives Challenge. Math Manipulatives are one of the most requested items on DonorsChoose.org and are an item that can easily be 3D printed in the classroom. The MakerBot Thingiverse website will hold a week-­‐long design challenge, from November 12 through 18, 2013, for its members to quickly develop a variety of different math manipulative 3D designs that can then be available immediately to teachers that receive the MakerBot Academy 3D printing package.

For more information on MakerBot Academy, visit makerbot.com/academy. For more information on supporting or registering for the program, visit DonorsChoose.org.