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From Superhero Rings to Tangled Plastic Spaghetti: Our Year With a 3D Printer Wendy Prince Greg Toth Ken Wierzbowski The College at Brockport Slide 2 3D Printer Slide 3 Introduction The Drake Memorial Library has been working with a MakerBot Replicator 2 for almost a year. The initial excitement was quickly tempered by questions of logistics, management, application, and policy. During the Spring 2014 semester, we made an effort to answer these questions, establish a place for the 3D printer in the library, and garner interest on campus from students, faculty and staff. We will discuss the challenges we encountered as we try to move from a knick-knack factory to active faculty and student involvement. Slide 4 Spring/Summer 2013 Timeline Spring 2013 o LITS (Library, Information & Technology Services) purchases a MakerBot Replicator 2 3D printer Summer 2013 o 3D printer is moved to the Drake Memorial Library o Library also receives a NextEngine 3D scanner through a Faculty/Staff Technology Grant Summer spent learning how to operate and use the 3D printer Librarians enraptured. Stare at printer for upwards of 2 hours each day. MakerBot is brought to the Faculty/Staff Opening of School Convocation in late August. Slide 5 Drakes 3D Tech Work Space - Fall 2013 Slide 6 Fall 2013 Timeline Fall 2013 o Received approval from library director to offer prints for free for the semester o Acquired a dedicated student assistant and a student volunteer to work exclusively with the 3D printer. o Created a 3D Printing libguide portal http://library.brockport.edu/3d o Accepted project submissions from campus community through webpage form Slide 7 The Nitty Gritty Filament supply chain secured through library secretary All submissions reviewed by staff o We reserve the right to refuse any request. This includes requests for multiple copies of the same item, weapons and *ahem* "inappropriate" objects. o Received submissions for shot glasses, non-working gun Statistics kept through submission form application, MachForms (similar to Google Forms) Patrons informed via email that their projects were ready to pick up Projects generally printed in order they were received, as submission numbers boomed projects were printed in batches by print color Vast majority of files sourced from the ThingiverseThingiverse Slide 8 The Numbers We were inundated! 172 submissions during the Fall 2013 semester until we shut down the submission form to catch up. Primary submitters were students. Most popular color was clear. A few enthusiastic patrons requested multiple builds Slide 9 Mistakes were made. Slide 10 Challenges Hardware offered a learning curve Hobbyist printer, quirky procedures & frequent breakdowns Overwhelming demand Unprintable or inappropriate requests Slide 11 Obstacles in the Printing Process Slide 12 Interlude: Overview of 3D Technologies Computer-Assisted design 3D Contour Mapping CGI simulation Data-generated imaging Medical Imaging/Scanning Slide 13 Drawing: Computer-Assisted Design Slide 14 Drawing: Sketchup Study of Drake Main Floor Slide 15 Scanning: Contour Mapping Slide 16 Lockheed-Martin Flight Simulator Slide 17 Plot: Space Junk Tracker Slide 18 Medical Imaging Slide 19 Diagnostics Homer SimpsonMelvil Dewey Slide 20 Applications of 3D Technology: A Not-Very Technical Schematic Create/Capture --copy --draw --scan --generate --plot, etc. 3D File Display Print Replicate Animate? Modify, Remix, Mashup, etc. Slide 21 NextEngine tabletop laser scanner Slide 22 Replicating a Solid Object Slide 23 Spring 2014 Timeline Scanning Printing scanned objects Art Faculty members test objects Pay-for-printing system Student assistants Scholars Day presentation Presentation to faculty to promote academic use Slide 24 Pay System Shift 1st semester free printing 2nd semester developed payment system Decide on price How to inform patrons of change How to convey potential cost o Size/Cost Example Chart Size/Cost Example Chart How to accept payments Slide 25 Printing Requests per Semester Slide 26 Promotion any way we can Slide 27 Academic Use April 4, 2014 Effort to inspire academic use Presented at CELT (Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching) Slide 28 Student Presentation April 9, 2014 - Scholars Day Joint presentation by student employee, Evan Spencer, and student volunteer, Brian Fitzgerald Poster presentation earned an article in the online campus newspapercampus newspaper Slide 29 Whats Next? Grant for 2 more printers and a filament recycling machine in collaboration with Art Dept. How will collaboration with Art Dept. work? Training for classes/groups, individuals? Create a Makerspace: location? scope of projects? Slide 30 Q&A