Tag Archives: education
Improving Education: 3D Printing Lab Equipment to Help Poor Schools
What can a school do when it does not have the budget to buy proper lab equipment for its students? The team at Tekla Labs believes they have a solution: 3D print your own.
Tekla Labs is an organization formed by students at University of California, Berkeley and has launched a PRINTmyLAB Design Challenge. They are looking for 3D printing blueprint submissions by April 30.
Some suggestions from the website:
1) DIY Alternative: A 3D printing blueprint for an item that can replace a commercial product or a specific component of a commercial product used in scientific laboratories or in scientific/engineering research. Especially helpful if this part tends to break or get lost.
2) Novel Gadget: A 3D printing blueprint for a novel item not commercially available that is of use in scientific laboratories or in scientific/engineering research. Invent! Imagine! Print!
Read more at Tekla Labs or in a feature by PC World.
Students image used under Creative Commons from lumierefl.
3D Printing for Kids – Kickstarter Project PotteryPrint Fails to Raise Funds
3D Printing for kids: it’s a noble and imaginative concept. Just as other disciplines, from math to basic science to foreign language, are being introduced to children at a young age, there could be many educational benefits to giving kids a hands-on 3D printing toolset.
The team at PotteryPrint launched a Kickstarter project to raise $12,000 to build an iPad app where kids could design pottery that would be 3D printed. Unfortunately, only $6,000 was raised by the deadline.
Why Did It Fail to Raise Funds?
First, perhaps the focus on pottery is too much of a deviation from the core developments in 3D printing today. Pottery is a decorative art, and pottery pieces can be quite fragile. 3D printed objects in production today are mostly utility, though some are art, but all are made from commercial polymers to ensure durability.
Second, the key deliverable of this Kickstarter project was the iPad app. What will truly drive kids education in 3D printing is access to printers, not access to software. The PotteryPrint concept outsources the 3D printing itself, thereby removing that hands-on experience from the educational cycle.
I hope PotteryPrint resubmits a new project with a promise to make 3D printing as accessible as its design software.
Below is their Kickstarter pitch.
