3D Printing

   Len Grabowski sent me an article recently. It was from Make:, a publication devoted to information about the DIY (Do It Yourself) world. This particular article was titled "Man Saves Wife's Sight By 3D Printing Her Tumor." Got my attention!
   I'll admit that 3D printers, like wearable computers (e.g.: Apple Watch, Google Glass) or Segways, seem to be a sign that the future is here.  Not that long ago, at least to me, a 3D printer seemed only possible in the world of science fiction. And then fairly quickly, 3D printers went from a concept to a very expensive, highly specialized tool to a household device that was at least as much plaything as productivity tool.
   We have two 3D printers at school. One is in the Middle School in Frank Corrado's classroom. He oversees a 3D printer club. After school, interested students gather and work through software designs to select objects to print.  In doing this, students begin to learn coding. They also get a better sense of the relationship between computer code and resultant actions. Code, after all, is a set of instructions.  Understanding how instructions affect outcomes is important learning.  They also learn about how a machine functions; in this case, of course, the machine is the printer.  And finally, they have fun. Really, it's lots of fun seeing 3D objects take shape based on your software input.

GSB students admiring the Middle School 3D printer. The green and grey spools are the raw material for printing.

    In the Upper School, a 3D printer is used primarily by our robotics team to teach some of the same skills Middle Schoolers are learning, albeit at a more sophisticated level.  But additionally, the printer is being put to work in the service of Robotics. Custom parts can be designed and fabricated by team members.  Design ideas can be more easily tested because custom design work can now be done in-house.  And students can replicate parts because the Upper School set-up includes a scanner that scans 3-dimensional objects and then creates software instructions that can be uploaded to the printer.  

An Upper School student examines an object printed by the Maker-Bot Replicator.

   Getting back to that original story that got me thinking about 3D printers, it's the story of a husband with some technical training who learns his wife has a tumor near her eye. The article recounts a few medical misdiagnoses which prompted the husband to think about what he could do. Using some digital scans that had been done of his wife's cranium, he was able to use existing software to instruct a 3D printer to create a three dimensional rendering of her skull which physicians could use to guide a surgical procedure.  

The graphic above can be manipulated by placing your cursor on the image and moving your mouse.

   
   A couple of other items from the frontiers of the 3D printer world:  The NY Times recently reported on a 3D printer being used to print an automobile. (There's a video included in the article.)  OK, admittedly this is probably not the car of your dreams. But still, the idea of a printer being used to fabricate an auto body seems to suggest that there could be an exponential growth in how these printers are used in the coming years.

   And in November, 2014, the International Space Station made news when the first object was printed in space. With perhaps intentional irony, the first object the 3D printer printed was a replacement faceplate for itself. In other words, this printer was illustrating that not only could it fabricate parts that might be needed for space station repairs, it could actually fabricate parts that might be needed for its own repair. 
   Connect all the dots and a picture begins to emerge of a growing presence of 3D printers finding applications in fields as diverse as manufacturing, medicine and recreation. That's why it's good to see our students enjoy learning opportunities with 3D printers. I'm certain we'll build on our current program and find ways to expand it in the years ahead.