September 29, 2018

Illinois MakerLab Team Competes in National Make48 Competition

September 29, 2018/ Guest User

This year, the University of Illinois was one of the twelve schools invited to participate in Make48, an annual competition that invites teams of four individuals to participate in a weekend-long design competition. Participants must plan, prototype, and pitch a new idea, drawing inspiration from a given theme in just 48 hours! This year we were excited to send a team of 4 from the MakerLab: Yuxuan Tang, Dashiell Kosaka, Suixin Liu, and William Casey Jones. They got to travel to Baltimore, Maryland this past August to engage with makers from all around the country. And the best part? They were filmed lived as Make48 doubles as an educational tv series. So, our very own team will appear on season 3 which will air Fall 2019! Stay tuned and don’t watch our makers in action at Make48 next fall!

“I learned so much ranging from shop tools to marketing, knowledge that my major would never have given me alone. I knew being an entrepreneur was hard, but even with the constant assistance from the helpers there, we were very pressed for time. There were also so many sponsors and big names for the event we were able to meet [and] the team was able to get our names out there.”

— Dashiell Kosaka, MakerLab Guru

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September 10, 2018

#WeTheRosies

September 10, 2018/ Guest User

At the beginning of the summer, the MakerLab was proud to be a part of the #WeTheRosies movement! Run by We The Builders, #WeTheRosies involved building a 6 foot tall Rosie the Riveter! With ALL 2,625 parts being 3D printed! Our very own director, Vishal Sachdev, attended the event and helped to put Rosie together. Check out the finished product!

We The Builders mission is to bring together and inspire makers around the nation. As a result, 3D printing labs around the nation participated in printing pieces for Rosie! With the MakerLab printing 10 pieces! Below are some of the parts we printed! Can you pick them out in the finished product?

May 16, 2018

Employee Spotlight: Rachel Kuehr

May 16, 2018/ Sarah Hampton

Right before school let out for the summer, we conducted an interview with one of the Illinois MakerLab’s dedicated gurus, Rachel Kuehr. Rachel is a rising junior studying Supply Chain Management in the Gies College of Business. We were interested to learn about why Rachel loves working at the Illinois MakerLab.

What are your responsibilities when working the Illinois MakerLab?

I manage open hours, and help people start prints. I love when people come in with cool ideas and I get to help them 3D print it. I also 3D-print online orders, through our online ordering system.

How did you get involved with the Illinois MakerLab?

I truly just thought it was interesting and signed up to volunteer. It is one of my favorite RSO’s I am in on campus. The passion for 3D printing then expanded to my entire family. My brother is currently doing a research position that involves 3D printing at the University of Illinois.

What is your favorite part about working in the Illinois MakerLab?

I love seeing the awesome ideas that people come in with. There are some really cool buildings that are designed by architecture students. My favorite is watching someone’s idea come to life.

What are some of the coolest objects that you have seen be 3D printed?

I really like the life size, 3D printed man that we have in the Illinois Maker Lab. (Come take a selfie anytime!) Recently, a red 20-foot-long chain was printed. It is interesting because while 3D printing is fun, it can also be useful.

Pictured is Rachel holding the 20 foot-long-chain!

May 16, 2018

Meet the Maker- Sasha Tetzlaff

May 16, 2018/ Guest User

People 3D print objects for all sorts of things. They print for fun, for education, or even for prototyping. University of Illinois Ph.D. student Sasha Tetzlaff and his advisors, Brett DeGregorio and Jinelle Sperry are using 3D printing to preform research. Sasha originally came to the MakerLab looking to print about 100 turtles to help in their research. These 3D printed turtles were then placed in a field after being painted to mimic the Eastern Box Turtles. With video cameras mounted above the models, Sasha, Brett, and Jinelle were able to determine what animals are predators to the turtles. Eastern Box Turtles are very elusive but known to suffer high mortality from predators, so knowing who the predators are can aid in future management efforts. The first time they place the 3D printed turtles into the field it was almost immediately attacked by a raccoon! Now the team knows that raccoons are a major predator to the Eastern Box Turtles and can go about helping to protect the turtles in the future!

Stay tuned for MakerLab updates by subscribing to our newsletter, liking us on Facebook, or following us on Snapchat(uimakerlab), Twitter or Instagram. Want to be featured in a blog post? If you have an interesting story that you would like to tell about making at the lab, share it with us by emailing UIMakerLab@Illinois.edu!

March 14, 2018

Meet the Maker- Mitch Altman

March 14, 2018/ Guest User

Anyone can learn to solder! It's fun, it's easy, and it's useful. Mitch Altman, San-Francisco based hacker and inventor and UIUC alumnus, has taught tens of thousands of people to solder around the world. Just recently here in Champaign! Participants of all ages came to learn the basics of electronics, and how to make cool things! But most importantly, Mitch shows people how to use his invention: the TV-B-Gone universal remote control. This simple and powerful device can turn off almost any TV in public places, and do so up to 50 meters away. It's effective! It's safe! It's a fun unique way to turn TVs off. Below is a video of Mitch's remote in actions!

March 13, 2018

#WeAreGies

March 13, 2018/ Guest User

#WeAreGies. This hashtag has been trending for months at the University of Illinois. Why you might ask? Last year, CEO of Madison Industries, Larry Gies, donated 150 million dollars to the school of business. Sparking the naming of the school to the Gies College of Business. And now the Gies College of Business is welcoming the class of 2022 to the campus! Just last Saturday, 250 prospect freshman for Fall 2018 came to Illinois to learn more about the college of business as a whole! And when they got there? Each participant received a 3D printed keychain with #WeAreGies printed on it printed by yours truly, the Illinois MakerLab! Director of Undergraduate Admissions and Recruitment, Kelly Janssen, contacted us about 2 weeks before the event with a request to print 250 dual color keychains. We got off to a rough start struggling to get the keychains to print without curling on the edges but with the addition of a brim we were. By utilizing all 3 of our Ultimaker 3's we were able to crank out this order in no time! We hope all prospect freshman enjoy their keychains! #WeAreGies!

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