CyberRunner: Supporting High School Robotics Through 3D Printing
UIUC Professor Sayan Mitra uses the MakerLab to support high school robotics education with custom 3D printed parts for the CyberRunner project.
Read More →MakerLab Blog
News, Updates, and Stories
Custom Eye-Tracking Sensors: How 3D Printing Enables Research
Custom eye-tracking sensor mount designed and printed at the MakerLab for faculty research collaboration with Jennifer Themanson.
Read More →Custom Keychains for MSBA Class of 2026
Custom Illinois-shaped keychains featuring #MsbaAtGies branding for the Master of Science in Business Analytics program at Gies College of Business.
Read More →Daft Punk Helmet: A Maker's Cosplay Journey
An ambitious cosplay project brings a Daft Punk helmet to life through 3D printing at the MakerLab.
Read More →ECE445 Senior Design: Custom Project Enclosures
Supporting ECE445 senior design projects with custom 3D printed enclosures for electronics prototypes.
Read More →Interlocking Tetrahedra: Where Math Meets Making
Exploring mathematical art through 3D printed interlocking tetrahedra - a beautiful demonstration of geometry in physical form.
Read More →Landscape Architecture: Prototyping Custom Tiles
Landscape architecture students use 3D printing to prototype custom tile designs before production.
Read More →Custom Headlight Mount: Automotive Innovation
A custom headlight mounting solution demonstrates how 3D printing enables automotive enthusiasts to create one-off parts.
Read More →Water Pump Components: Supporting Research Equipment Needs
Custom water pump components printed for research equipment, demonstrating functional part production at the MakerLab.
Read More →Illinois Makerlab Collaborates with Makers for Covid-19
Since this past September, the Illinois Makerlab has been serving as a chapter of Makers for Covid-19, a nonprofit dedicated towards providing Personal Protective Equipme...
Read More →Illinois MakerLab Launches 1-to-1 Virtual Tutoring
This summer, the Illinois MakerLab launched a new service where clients would be able to receive one on one tutoring in regard to 3D Printing and Design. Due to the current situation, this s...
Read More →Illinois MakerLab Collaborated with Thera-Solutions' Functionalhand
Earlier this Spring, the Illinois MakerLab nominated the Functionalhand by Thera-Solutions as the “Coolest Thing in Illinois” Makers Madness held by the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association. Thera-S...
Read More →Illinois MakerLab Assists in Research Study
Despite the current circumstances, the Illinois MakerLab continues to serve its community and of course, researchers on campus. Sean Preins and his team were struggling to find the perfect sized cu...
Read More →Illinois MakerLab Holds First Online Summer Camps For Young Students
In the past two weeks, the Illinois MakerLab held its first online summer camps featuring Adventures in 3D Modeling and Design with Tinkercad and SketchUp. Due to the current circumstances of the...
Read More →Illinois MakerLab - Empowering Innovations through 3D-Printed Cases
Have you ever wonder what 3D printing can contribute to innovations involving electronics? Illinois MakerLab has the answer. Recently, Illinois MakerLab was involved in printing cases for a maker J...
Read More →Illinois MakerLab's Story with Nameplates
Illinois MakerLab staff previously designed a 3D model of the nameplate on FUSION 360. We used to manually edit the name on the nameplate model when we receive an order. This requires a lot of effo...
Read More →Illinois MakerLab - Making Things Possible
Prior to spring break, Illinois MakerLab encountered a 3D printing order that focused on printing lids and molds of wells that were extremely small and precise. The small nature of the 3D printing...
Read More →Illinois MakerLab Spearheads COVID-19 Campus Response Efforts
The Illinois MakerLab is helping fight COVID-19 by participating in several campus and community efforts aimed at producing personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers. Workers at th...
Read More →Illinois MakerLab commissioned for 3D Model of New UIC Complex
While the Illinois MakerLab works on projects for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the immediate Champaign-Urbana community, they also complete projects for other clients across a...
Read More →Meet the Maker - Mengyang Li
3D printing has been around for more than 3 decades, but the technology is still relatively new to some people. Illinois MakerLab not only provides the opportunity for people with experienced to p...
Read More →Illinois MakerLab Makes Protective Mask Buckles for Army Covid Response
The Illinois MakerLab has recently completed an order to create buckles for face masks as a part of its COVID-19 response. An army personnel from the Champaign-Urbana area stationed in Philadelphia...
Read More →Illinois MakerLab Completes 3D Printed Hand
The Illinois MakerLab has recently completed a 3D printed hand to be part of the e-NABLE Community to work towards making prosthetic hands for those in need. The goal we have with this pr...
Read More →Illinois MakerLab Makes Replica of Nobel Medal in Chemistry
The Illinois MakerLab was commissioned to make a replica of the Nobel Medal in Chemistry for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. To make the replica, Illinois MakerLab poured epoxy material i...
Read More →Manufacturing Day at the Illinois MakerLab
The Illinois MakerLab hosted tours as part of the National Manufacturing Day events that took place in Champaign County on October 4, 2019. National Manufacturing Day celebrates modern manufacturin...
Read More →Making wood from .....
Gabe Tavas, a freshman in Industrial Design, and founder of Novel Printers, first began his venture in order to explore the idea between maintaining regular use of wood while still preserving the e...
Read More →Volunteer Reflection - Jakob Lteif
The MakerLab volunteers are a really important part of the lab. They help day to day welcoming makers, assisting with workshops and fixing printers. Today graduating senior Jakob Ltief,...
Read More →MakerLab Hosts Workshop for MBA Students
A few weekends ago, we were honored to host students from the MBA Stay tuned for MakerLab updates by subscribing to our newsletter, liking us...
Read More →Reaching Out to the Community at the Library
The MakerLab isn’t just on Illinois’s campus anymore! Every Monday, guru William Jones heads over to the Champaign Public Library to help with the after school program for teens. Will and a high sc...
Read More →From Social Innovation to Sustainable Impact: How to Turn Good Intentions into Global Change
Everyone is constantly talking about 'changing the world' but how many people foster real and actual change? 'Innovation' has become such a buzzword that we are losing sight of its real meaning and...
Read More →Digital Making 2019 edition starts off with an exciting new direction
The second week of class all of the students met at DRES and Adam Bleakney, coach of the Illinois Paralympic team, gave us a tour. We learned about the history of the Adapted Va...
Read More →MakerLab Hosts Physics Department Class
The Illinois MakerLab was proud to host Professor George Gollin and his design class, Physics 398DLP, at the lab recently! Their plan was to print PLA cases for the environmental data loggers that...
Read More →Illinois MakerLab at Illinois Women's Basketball Field Trip Day
This post was written by one of our dedicated volunteers, Jerry Baffour! The Illinois MakerLab was able to participate in the Illinois Women's Basketball Team’s Field Trip Day! Each year, the Illin...
Read More →Guru Spotlight - Almasa Krvavac
The MakerLab Gurus are a really important part of the lab. They run the lab day to day by helping start prints, facilitating workshops, troubleshooting printers, and teaching new volunteer! To...
Read More →Illinois MakerLab Participates at National Manufacturing Day!
This past Friday, the Illinios MakerLab was proud to be a part of National Manufacturing Day! Manufacturing Day is a day for celebrating modern manufacturing and revolves around inspiring other peo...
Read More →Volunteer Spotlight- Jean Pabon
The MakerLab volunteers are a really important part of the lab. They help day to day welcoming makers, assisting with workshops and fixing printers. Today, we will introduce you to one of...
Read More →MakerLab Aids in Scientific Research
There are many types of people who come to the MakerLab. Some for fun, some for school and others for research! 3D printing is revolutionizing research by offering quick and easy ways to get protot...
Read More →Illinois MakerLab Team Competes in National Make48 Competition
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 d...
Read More →#WeTheRosies
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,...
Read More →Employee Spotlight: Rachel Kuehr
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 i...
Read More →Untitled
Read more...
Read More →Meet the Maker- Sasha Tetzlaff
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 a...
Read More →Meet the Maker- Mitch Altman
Anyone can learn to solder! It's fun, it's easy, and it's useful. Mitch Altman, San-Francisco based...
Read More →#WeAreGies
#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 o...
Read More →Meet the Maker- Fritz
"The thing about being a designer is that the attitude and curiosity don’t retire." - Charles Danielson (AKA Fritz)Fritz may be retired from his job as an Art and Design Educator but his imaginatio...
Read More →Digital Making Week 2 Reflection
As the Spring 2018 Semester takes off so does Professor Vishal's Digital Making Course! Below is a reflection by student Ajie Mathew about week 2 of this course. G...
Read More →Illinois MakerLab makes prosthetic hands for a Civil War Tech Workshop
The Illinois MakerLab was excited to collaborate with the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum on a Civil War Tech Workshop. This event happened on January 6, 2018. This workshop...
Read More →Volunteer Spotlight- Tony Kim
The MakerLab volunteers are a really important part of the lab. They help day to day welcoming makers, and assist with workshops and fixing printers. Today, we will introduce you to one of our...
Read More →Meet the Maker- Nathan
With 55 fraternities, 36 sororities and over a fourth of the student population involved in Greek life it’s hard not to know someone in a fraternity or sorority. Recently, we had the opportunity to...
Read More →Volunteer Spotlight- Yuxuan Tang
The MakerLab volunteers are a really important part of the lab. They help day to day welcoming makers, and assist with workshops and fixing printers. Today, we will introduce you to one of our...
Read More →Guru Interview- Linxi Liu
The MakerLab gurus are a really important part of the lab. They manage the lab by helping day to day makers set up prints, facilitate with workshops and fixing printers. We had the opportunity...
Read More →Wood Printing at the Lab
There are many different things to consider when starting your print. Things such as print size or density and even filament. Choosing what filament to use when printing isn't always what color you...
Read More →Hearts for Carle College of Medicine
The University of Illinois is proud to be opening Carle Illinois College of Medicine. Olivia Coiado, a teaching assistant professor within the college, explains that this is the first college of me...
Read More →Designed and Printed at the Lab- Train Placard
For those born in the technology age, every wonder what people did before? How did people communicate without phones? What was it like having to travel by boat to cross the ocean? How did you keep...
Read More →Pygmalion Tech Demo
We were honored to participate in the Pygmalion Tech Demo hosted at Krannert Center a few weeks ago. As you can imagine, this demo involved hundreds of newly inspired ideas from prototypes t...
Read More →Volunteer Spotlight- Vanessa Yang
The MakerLab volunteers are a really important part of the lab. They help day to day welcoming makers, and assist with workshops and fixing printers. Today, we will introduce you to one of o...
Read More →3D Printed Pollen Grain Explains Changes in Landscape
Recently, the MakerLab received a request from iSWOOP, a program that helps national park managers aid researchers in their quest to explain their studies to the public. This makes sure that...
Read More →Welcome Back!
The Illinois MakerLab is now open for business! Check out our hours and find a good time to stop in to explore what's new at the lab?Snapchat GogglesWe are excited to announce that we now have Snap...
Read More →Mario Themed Birthday Party
A very happy birthday to Kirk! We were honored that Kirk decided to spend his birthday with us at the lab. It was a day to remember as we threw a Mario themed 3D printing birthday party! Guests wer...
Read More →Using 3D Printing to Enhance Learning
The MakerLab was honored to be invited by Infosys Foundation USA to participate in a talk on how 3D printing can be used to enhance and improve learning. Infosys Foundation USA is a "non...
Read More →3D Printing in Sports- Digital Making 2017
Guest Post: Carter CarrollThis collection of posts refers to the Digital Making Class offered here at Illinois. Each week students are required to write down what they have learned throughout the w...
Read More →Final Reflections- Digital Making 2017
This collection of posts refers to the Digital Making Class offered here at Illinois. Each week students are required to write down what they have learned through the week. Here are some of the stu...
Read More →Design Auditing- Digital Making 2017
Guest Post: Ana Maloles This collection of posts refers to the Digital Making Class offered here at Illinois. Each week students are required to write down what they have learned through the week....
Read More →Meet the Maker- Adrian Radocea
The MakerLab was proud to show off some 3D printing at Engineering Open House(EOH) this year! EOH is a two day event every year in the spring semester were every single engineering RSO sets...
Read More →Exploring the Fab Lab- Digital Making 2017
Guest Post: ChaseThis collection of posts refers to the Digital Making Class offered here at Illinois. Each week students are required to write down what they have learned through the week. Below i...
Read More →Scanning and Prototyping-Digital Making 2017
Guest Post: John BurkeThis collection of posts refers to the Digital Making Class offered here at Illinois. Each week students are required to write down what they have learned through the week. Be...
Read More →Looking at the Future of 3D Printing
What's new in 3D printing? Boeing has just announced its intent to 3D print structural titanium parts for its 787 Dreamliner. Miam Factory, a Belgium chocolate shop, 3D print's their chocolate stru...
Read More →Prototyping and Design-Digital Making 2017
Guest Post by: Carter CarrollThis collection of posts refers to the Digital Making Class offered here at Illinois. Each week students are required to write down what they have learned through the w...
Read More →Spring Break is a Great Time to Order Online
We may be closed over spring break, but that doesn't mean that the 3D printing stops! You can still order prints through our order online system with 3D hubs . With 3d hubs, ordering a print takes...
Read More →Meet The Maker- Shivani Patel
People come into the lab to print all sorts of amazing things. And every print has its own story. In Shivani Patel's case, that story involved an octopus and some bowls. Shivani came into the Maker...
Read More →Designed and Printed at the Lab- Light Fixtures
Champaign offers hundreds of opportunities to enjoy a night out with friends or family. Among all of these options lies the Virginia Theater. For about a hundred years, the Virginia Theater has bee...
Read More →This Week of Making- Week 8
Thinking about coming into the lab but don't know what to print? Try doing what one visitor did, print characters from your favorite movie. In his case, Lord of the Rings! Or check out thingiverse....
Read More →Get Ideas Turned Into 3D Models
Here at the MakerLab many of our gurus are quite skilled in digitally designing an order to the customers satisfaction. Just recently we had two of our lab designers, Clark Csiki and Yazmine Carbaj...
Read More →This Week of Making- Week 7
This week we were honored to have in our lab a group of representatives from ICBC bank in China! This group is part of the China Executive Leadership Program(CELP). CELP provides education to Chine...
Read More →This Week of Making- Week 6
With Valentine's day right around the corner, stop by the MakerLab to print something for your loved one! We have plenty of red filament and there are hundreds of options to choose from on thingive...
Read More →This Week of Making- Week 4
Welcome Back!The MakerLab is now open for the Spring 2017 semester. Be sure to come in and check out all of our new stuff we have. But before you come in, make sure to check our new hours!Mo...
Read More →Designed and Printed at the Lab- Sink Stopper
What will you make? This is the first question asked when arriving at the MakerLab. In this case, the answer to that question was a sink stopper. Phil Calhoun came in to 3D print a prototype...
Read More →3D Printed Torso
24. That is the number of ribs in a human body. It is also the number of ribs on a 3D printed design a visitor came in to print. He is printing an infant rib cage that can be used as a mold for an...
Read More →Take a Selfie with Max- and win a $50 full body scan and print
Take a Selfie with Max during the reading day Brunch with the deans (Dec 8th from 10:30 to 11:30 am) in the BIF Commons area, and win a $50 full body scan and print. We will b...
Read More →Online #3dprinting now available for all #illini
We are pleased to launch online ordering with our partner 3dhubs. You can order online until Dec 13th 2016 at our new 3d printing hub , even though we are closed for regular walk-in hours after De...
Read More →Volunteer Spotlight- Will Jones
The MakerLab volunteers are a really important part of the lab. They help day-to-day welcoming makers, and assist with workshops and fixing printers. Today, we will introduce you to one of our vol...
Read More →Supporting the #NationOfMakers
The lab was fortunate to be part of the inaugural cohort of schools, that pledged support for the White House, Nation of Makers initiative. The Nation of Makers is a new organization c...
Read More →A 3D Printed Skyrim Digital Book!
"The year was 3E 405." This is the first line in a digital book found in the video game, Skyrim. Now, it is not only found digitally but physically as well. This book was 3D printed for maker Justi...
Read More →This Week of Making- Week47
Update on Max (our 3D printed man): On Wednesday, November 9th we took all 88 printed pieces on Max and assembled him! It took about 3 hours to fully build the 6'1" replica....
Read More →Volunteer Spotlight- Dash Kosaka
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1309"] dash[/caption] The MakerLab volunteers are a really important part of the lab. They help day to day welcoming makers, and assist with workshops...
Read More →This Week of Making- Week46
Update on Max (our 3D printed man):We have officially finished printing all parts of Max!!! All that is left to do is to assemble him! If you would like to help assemble Max come to the BIF Atrium...
Read More →This Week of Making- Week45
Private Workshops:We had multiple private workshops this week. A private workshop means that your group rents out the whole MakerLab just to yourselves. One such workshop was for Business Council....
Read More →Meet the Maker: Allison Nowak
Our #makeroftheweek is Allison Nowak! Allison is a senior in Agricultural and Biological Engineering. She is specializing in Food and Bioprocess Engineering with a minor in Food Science...
Read More →This Week of Making- Week44
Update on Max (our 3D printed man):We have 8 parts left to print of Max! If you would like to help assemble Max come to the BIF Atrium on November 9th from 2:00-5:00pm! Here are some pictures of th...
Read More →Meet The Maker - Reese Richardson
Our #makeroftheweek is Reese! Reese is currently a freshman here at Illinois studying Agricultural and Biological Engineering. Reese came into the MakerLab to print a micro quadcopter frame. A micr...
Read More →This Week of Making- Week43
Update on Max (our 3D printed man):As of October 11th, we have 12 pieces left to print Max! The final prints include the remaining pieces of the torso and the legs. If you would like to help put Ma...
Read More →Meet the Maker: I-Ning Chen
Free prints on WednesdaysFree? Did someone say free? Did you know that on Wednesdays in the MakerLab any prints under 1 hour are completely free?One maker, I-Ning Chen, did.I-Ning is a student...
Read More →This Week of Making -Week42
We have started a new series of posts, with a weekly update on activities at the lab. This is being coordinated and authored by Rachel Kuehr, a College of Business student, who is volunteeri...
Read More →The Evolutionary Development of Man (Max)
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="342"] max1[/caption] Guest Post by William Jones.Come watch as our team of volunteers attempt to 3D print a life sized man, “Max”! Max is the result o...
Read More →Online Conference on the Future of Making
Join us at the MakerLab to watch (together, with Pizza sponsored by Autodesk!), to learn about the future of making from a great set of presenters. You will also get some tips on the Fusion 360 sof...
Read More →Guru Spotlight: Jim
The MakerLab Gurus are an integral part of the lab, helping with day to day functions, completing orders, and running workshops. We've decided to showcase some of the personal projects that our Gur...
Read More →Guru Spotlight: Billy
The MakerLab Gurus are an integral part of the lab, helping with day to day functions, completing orders, and running workshops. We've decided to showcase some of the personal projects that our Gur...
Read More →10 Reasons to have a birthday party at the MakerLab
It's educational - Learn about 3D printing and 3D ScanningEach participant gets to take home their own 3D printed objectGreat for all ages and skill levelsWorkshop is lead by our experienced lab gu...
Read More →High School Seniors Learn 3D Printing
Yesterday, the Illinois MakerLab in conjunction with the college of Business, hosted two groups of rising high school seniors and gave them an introduction into the world of 3D printing. The progra...
Read More →Kids learning design thinking with 3d printing.
One of many workshops offered by the Illinois MakerLab over this summer was Project City X, an international education workshop taught by Ron Duncan from University of Illinois Extension, who manag...
Read More →Catch #PokePrint on campus and print more at the Lab
Join us in the hunt for #3dprinted pokemon on campus. We will be placing some #pokeprint across campus and you keep what you find. Do share pictures of your find with us @UIMakerLab(Instagram/Twitt...
Read More →CU Makeathon envisions wearable future.
This CU Makeathon is a 30 hour make-a-thon where participants work together to build physical prototypes and mockups centered around a given theme. This year the them was designing for the body/we...
Read More →Celebrate your next birthday party with us!
WANT TO CELEBRATE WITH US? Our premium birthday party packages include:A 2 hour weekend Basic 3D Printing workshop specially designed for kidsA full head to torso 3D scan and print of the bi...
Read More →Watch a 3D Printer being built in the BIF Atrium
Update: 3/31 :Students had great fun at the event. Some photos from the event below, and some coverage on the Daily Illini as well....
Read More →Illinois MakerLab Supports Student Hackers
On February 19th-21st the Illinois MakerLab supported HackIllinois by providing our 3D-Printers and Guru's to help students rapid prototype their ideas. In the span of 36 hours, hackers were...
Read More →Illinois MakerLab supports Relay for Life
The Illinois MakerLab was present at Relay for Life, a cancer awareness fundraising event, on March 12th-13th. We set up a booth that consisted of two poster boards, two Ultimaker 2Go's, and...
Read More →The Annual CU-Makeathon!
CU Make is a 30-hour make-a-thon that brings together the wider Champaign-Urbana and University design/maker communities to build physical prototypes. This year's theme is “designing for the body”/...
Read More →Join us in KickStarting the #3dPrinting Mobile for the Makergirls
Join us and help the Makergirls reach for the stars. Kickstart their #3dprinting Mobile for Summer 2016 It gives us great pleasure to support the MakerGirls at the Lab. The video below says...
Read More →Beauty in Equations
Guest Post from Lois Holman in the DigitalMaking 2016 class at the MakerLab. Following through from inspiration in class, I want to look at physically rendering mathematical equations, and...
Read More →We are no Longer Alone!
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="960"] Yonsei Design Garage[/caption] Approximately three years ago, the Illinois MakerLab opened as the world's first 3D Printing Lab in a Business Sc...
Read More →Free Print Wednesdays Sponsored by Ultimaker
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="279"] free-stuff_jpg[/caption] As a service focused towards makers who are new to the world of 3D printing, we are happy to announce...
Read More →Bring 3D Printing to the world in the New Year with Coursera/Ultimaker/Autodesk
We started as the first business school based MakerLab in early 2013 and have had thousands of students, faculty,staff, community members, small businesses, and corporates learn about 'makin...
Read More →New Year brings New Printers!
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="2448"] MakerBot 1[/caption] After nearly 3 years and over 2o,ooo hours of cumulative printing, our Lab's original MakerBot Replicator printers were ne...
Read More →3D Printing Conference a Big Success
Earlier this month, the Illinois MakerLab successfully hosted its first 3D Printing Conference, with over forty faculty and students in attendance from across our campus. The conference began with...
Read More →Barnes and Noble Hosting "Mini Maker Faire"
Illinois MakerLab is excited to be sending one of our gurus, Scott Zelman, as a representative for the Mini Maker Faire! The Mini Maker Faire will be hosted at the Barnes and Noble store located in...
Read More →Fostering entrepreneurship and interdisciplinary team work
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="864"] Nora Benson - undergraduate student who used the MakerLab.[/caption] The MakerLab is featured as the cover story of this semester's Postmarks pu...
Read More →MakerLab would love to host YOUR next birthday!
Birthdays at the MakerLab! This past summer, the Illinois MakerLab hosted its first ever birthday party! What better way to celebrate your big day than making yourself a gift? This party consisted...
Read More →MakerLab Shows Off New Ultimaker 2
Quad Day featuring the Ultimaker 2! MakerLab and MakersUIUC welcomed students to campus on Quad Day 2015. Last Sunday, August 23, MakerLab was very excited to display its new Ultimaker 2 3D printer...
Read More →Autodesk's NEWEST Software - A first-hand account
Autodesk 360 Fusion Boot Camp My name is Scott Zelman, and I’m a Guru at Illinois Makerlab. This August I had the opportunity to travel to the Autodesk location in San Francisco, CA, to participat...
Read More →We're back in Business for Fall 2015
We are back in full swing for the Fall! Our new hours are announced. We had some exciting developments over summer and more to come in the Fall. We have recently received an Ultimaker 2 for testing...
Read More →Caterpillar supports the MakerLab with a $7500 course and program grant
Caterpillar representatives visited the MakerLab in Spring to learn more about how our approach to learning by making, was resulting in innovative new solutions to real world challenges. The...
Read More →Maker Spotlight: MakerGirl
MakerGirl has been running sessions since November 2014. This past fall and spring 80 girls have gone through our MakerGirl workshops. This summer with our more frequent sessions we hope to...
Read More →Session #1 of 3-Day HS Robotics & 3D Modeling Workshop: Huge Success!
Last week, we held our first session of our 3-Day High School Robotics & 3D Modeling Workshop for the summer. Teens of various ages participated in this workshop over the course of 3 day...
Read More →Giant Pollen grains helping kids understand climate change
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="965"] Pollen grains printed by the MakerLab. Orange represents a water-willow pollen. Yellow was taken from a white spruce. Photo by Kathryn Coulter[/caption]...
Read More →X-Y Positioning Table for Institute of Genomic Biology
Berkley Walker at the Institute for Genomic Biology, needed a low fidelity solution for elemental analysis, instead of a high fidelity and high cost off the shelf model. Our Guru, Bria...
Read More →Ideas to products in 24 hours - #imaginationU summer Camp
We had the pleasure of hosting high school students attending the ImaginationU Summer Camp organized by the College of Media. They visited the MakerLab to learn about 3d printing, and how physical...
Read More →Celebrating the #NationOfMakers and the Week of Making
The MakerLab was setup with a mission to allow users to experience "making" with digital technologies, and show them that it is possible for everyone to be a maker. We have had the pleasure...
Read More →Enabling the Future, one #3dprinted hand at a time
A selection of the hands available on e-NABLING the Future's website Guest Post by Nora and Sam, students in the first Digital Making class at the MakerLab. This semester Nora and I worke...
Read More →Meet the Maker : Arielle Rausin
Guest post by Arielle, Mark, Sebastian , students from the first Digital Making class in Spring 2015 We were already well into the first month of class, and I still couldn’t decide what I was going...
Read More →Congrats to Winnie & Ryan!
Congratulations to Winnie & Ryan on their recent graduation from the University of Illinois! Winnie and Ryan earned their BS in Engineering and are off to new adventures. Winnie will b...
Read More →We Have a Winner!
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="2500"] IMG_4342[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="2500"] Printing People[/caption] [captio...
Read More →Join us for a Summer of Making at the Lab
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="564"] projects-car[/caption] We have an exciting summer planned at the lab. We have open hours on M/W/F from 3:00 to 6:00 in most weeks( See the Event...
Read More →Souvenirs for Women In Engineering - 3D Printed!
The University of Illinois is undoubtedly one of the best schools for Engineering. Women in Engineering (WIE) is a community of women in Engineering at the University of Illinois that aims t...
Read More →Digital Making: What Have We Been Up To?
Ideation and Product Development This entire semester, our class has been learning a great deal about the process of making and what it means to take an idea from early beginning thoughts to...
Read More →Making Things Class Nears Home Stretch!
The end of the semester is nearly upon us!Last week's class began with a Skype visit by Lauren Slowick, Education Evangelist forShapeways, which is the world's leading 3D Printing marketplace. Laur...
Read More →Korean Scholar Visits Making Things Class
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="2500"] Subin[/caption] Last week's class featured Professor Subin Im from Yonsei University in Korea. Professor Im is an expert in the domains of crea...
Read More →Maker Certificate Featured on Local News Station (WCIA)
Last week, WCIA news featured our Lab's new Maker Certificate in its nightly broadcast. The Certificate program was founded about a month ago and has over 250 sign-ups! Listen to the story...
Read More →Dremel Donates Printer!
Recently, our friends at Dremel, donated a new IdeaBuilder 3D Printer to our Lab. This printer is similar to our standard Replicator 2 3D printers: both print using PLA (polylactic acid) filament....
Read More →Printing. Testing. Redesigning. Repeat - Making Things
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="2500"] Team Digicraft[/caption] Printing. Testing. Redesigning. Repeat. This seems to be the theme of our recent class sessions, including this past w...
Read More →MakerGirl launches with renewed enthusiasm
The mission of MakerGirl is to introduce girls from the ages of 7 - 10 to STEM fields. They conducted a pilot session at the MakerLab last fall and have launched there non-profit this spring. They...
Read More →Making Things Class Develops Prototypes
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="720"] Kevin[/caption] In last week's Making Things class, we focused on refining the prototypes for our products. Our team (Handmad3) is creating mult...
Read More →Digital Making Class learns Scanning and Geomagic at Beckman
This is a Guest Post by Sam Bohner, a student in the Digital Making 2015 Class. The past couple of weeks, the digital making class went to the Imaging Technology Group at Beckman Institute where we...
Read More →Making Things Class Conducts Design Audit
During last week's Making Things class, our teams conducted design audits. We did this through a peer review process in which one team audited the design of another team. This audit contained a var...
Read More →MakerLab Workshop Series Bought to you by Autodesk Fusion 360
The MakerLab workshop series has been a huge success and we have Autodesk Fusion 360 to thank for this. Thanks to their support we have managed to spread the Maker spirit across campus to students...
Read More →Making Things Class Refines Designs
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="2500"] IMG_4184[/caption] During last week's Making Things class, our teams worked on refining their product designs. This designing process is very i...
Read More →Fusion 360: Two Weeks Coming Full Circle
This is a guest post by a student in the #DigitalMaking class: Arielle Rausin...
Read More →Mark Cotteleer Visits Making Things Class
Last week's Making Things class was enriched by a (video) visit by Dr. Mark Cotteleer. Mark is a research director at Deloitte and a leading expert in additive manufacturing. He has written extensi...
Read More →Sharing our learning from the Making Things Course
Aric Rindflesich, the Executive Director of the MakerLab, was invited to present about the innovative approaches to student learning at the Teaching with Technology Brown...
Read More →Become a Certified Maker
We are excited to launch a set of workshops on 3d printing, modeling and scanning. Take all four and become a certified maker, along with a Digital Badge that you can show on your profile on social...
Read More →MakerLab + Weddings = Happiness
One of our departmental office administrators (Sarah) is getting married next month. To celebration this wonderful event, we recently held a wedding shower for her and her fiancee (Jared). Their pr...
Read More →Making Things Class Conducts Concept Testing
Last week's class was kicked off with a visit from Dr. Vishal Sachdev, the Director of the MakerLab. Dr. Sachdev gave our class some tips for making and provided an overview of his Digital Makings...
Read More →National Medal of Science : Designed and Printed at the Lab
Carl Richard Woese was a great microbiologist and a biophysicist. He held the Stanley O. Ikenberry Chair and was a professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. This great man passed...
Read More →Digital Making Class Learns Design Thinking
Guest Post by : Olzhas Ayazbayev, a student in the #DigitalMaking Course On the February 3rd.we had two guest speakers from the Design for America team. They showed us an interesting way of solving...
Read More →Making Mr. Jaws at the MakerLab
This video introduces the Illinois MakerLab and demonstrates the workflow for getting something printed at the lab. The example used in the demo is called Mr. Jaws, which is a test print that is us...
Read More →Making Things Class Conducts Concept Audit
The goal of the this week's class was to narrow down our three ideas from the previous week to just one! To do this, each team conducted a Concept Audit. The audit required each team to descr...
Read More →Meet the Maker : Austin Keating
Sometimes you can settle for a $20 lamp from Target, but other times, you want something more. Recently, an amateur Maker came to the Makerlab to look at his options.Austin Keating, a Junior at the...
Read More →Making Things Class Narrows Down Ideas
During last week’s Making Things Class, we discussed some tips for creating innovative products. One is to do the opposite, when everyone else is designing towards one direction, go towards the co...
Read More →Chambana Area Firms visit the MakerLab
Makers from Chambana area firms Pixo Tech and Taylor Studios converge on to the Illinois MakerLab to learn about 3dPrinting. This visit was a result of the MakerLab presentation to the Champaign Co...
Read More →Digital Making Course discusses 3D Printing and Supply Chain Disruption
The third industrial revolution is upon us, and we have the ability to create functional products on our desktop by using some inexpensive and accessible tools. This course was designed to help get...
Read More →Making Things Class Examines 3D Printing Opportunities
During this week's Making Things class, we began brainstorming 3D printing opportunities. Four students from last year's class (Brady, Jon, Jake, and Kevin) visited and shared some great advice bas...
Read More →Making Things 2015 Begins!
The 2015 edition of our Making Things Class began last Wednesday with 21 students (7 each from Art & Design, Business & Engineering). During our first session, these students formed interdi...
Read More →MakerLab Featured in Emerging Tech. Report
The new Illinois Emerging Technology Report (created by Jamie Nelson) prominently features the MakerLab as an exemplar of the emerging Maker Movement on the University of Illinois campus. According...
Read More →Welcome Back!
After a long and cold winter break, the spring semester is just around the corner! Students, faculty, and staff are gearing up for the start of classes. Our Lab is no exception. The MakerLab...
Read More →Happy New Year!
Welcome to the new year. 2014 was a busy year for our Lab--we experienced a 30% increase in our number of users, added more 3D printers (we now have 14 in total) and a new 3D scanner, and obtained...
Read More →MakerGirls project a resounding success
MakerGirl, a University of Illinois student venture, launched a pilot session of its program on Tuesday, December 2 in the Business Instructional Facility’s MakerLab. The project was co-founded by...
Read More →Meet Rex
Meet Rex, our new MakerLab mascot. Rex is a large scale version of a T-Rex Skull (designed by MakerBot) that we downloaded from Thingiverse (Thing 308355). This skull was printed in 14 different pi...
Read More →Our new Toolchest!
Due to our expanding operations, our lab has been running a bit short on storage space. This new Craftsman Toolchest is just the answer. As shown here by Guru Winnie, this new toolchest is huge and...
Read More →MakerLab gets New Signage!
Earlier this week, our friends from the sign shop at Facilities and Services (F&S) stopped by the Lab to install our new sign. This sign reads, "What will you make?" and is posted on our main e...
Read More →Make your own Gifts
Christmas is the season of giving. The things that we give to our friends and family during the holiday season are typically bought in a store and manufactured in a distant land. 3D Printing disrup...
Read More →Meet the Maker: Katie Kinley
The International Sustainable Electronics Competition is one which urges the industrialized world to move towards more green initiatives and develop a more sustainable system for the development, u...
Read More →Meet the Maker: Boyu Ji
3D printing allows us to create, limited only by our own imagination and creativity. Boyu Ji is a prime example of this. He took advantage of an opportunity during his Agricultural and Biology Engi...
Read More →Illinois Ranked in Top 5 3D Printing Universities
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300"] top-5[/caption] An article recently posted in Inside 3D Printing recognizes the Illinois MakerLab as one of the Top 5 3D Printing facilities in...
Read More →Serving Makers Across Campus
Although the MakerLab resides in the College of Business, we are proud to serve our entire campus. Our Lab provides a unique space for majors from across campus to come Learn, Make, and Share. The...
Read More →Meet the Maker : Jacob Holland a.k.a Iron Man
Jake is the Iron Man. He is an avid maker, so much so that he made his own Delta 3D printer.His other interests are in Welding, Woodworking, Electrical wiring, Soldering and Laser cutting. For Hall...
Read More →Spring 2015 For Credit Courses at the Illinois MakerLab
Due to the phenomenal response we got last year, we are proud to announce that we will be bringing back the “Making Things” class this spring along with a new seminar course in Digital Making. To l...
Read More →Friday Workshops are Back!!!
We are happy to announce that Friday workshops are now back at the Illinois MakerLab. Stop by to learn more about 3D printing and 3D modeling. Sign up for one, right now.
Read More →Make your own Halloween Costume!
Halloween is just around the corner. If you are like us, you are still trying to decide what costume you will wear this year. Store bought costumes are cliche, expensive, and often fit poorly. For...
Read More →MakerLab Hosts MSBA Students
Last Friday, our Lab hosted 40 students from our College's Masters of Science in Business Administration (MSBA) program. These students received a tour of the Lab and had the opportunity to create...
Read More →MakerLab supports student startups at 54.io
The MakerLab is a sponsor for the weekend startup event 54.io organized by students for students, at the University of Illinois. Teams of students working on physical products for their startups wi...
Read More →Film & Filament Night (September 26)
On Friday, September 26 (from 6pm to 8pm), the MakerLab will host its second Film & Filament night. We will be premiering Print the Legend on our big 70 inch HDTV and designing a...
Read More →Free Print Wednesdays are Back!
In response to popular demand, the MakerLab brings back Free Print Wednesdays! Every Wednesday from 1pm to 3pm, all prints (one hour or less) are free of charge! In less than an hour you could pri...
Read More →Meet the Maker : Matthew Schroyer
Matthew Shroyer is a tinkerer bar none. He is journalist, robotics enthusiast, STEM educator and Maker all rolled into one. He is designing a new board with sensors for urban air pollution and is...
Read More →Try our New Flexible Filament!
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="2500"] Flex Filament 2[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="2500"] Flex Filament 1[/caption] [caption id="" ali...
Read More →Meet the Maker : Greg Damhorst
Greg Damhorst(http://gregory.damhorst.net/) is a bio engineering student (we seem to be getting a lot of them!) who designed and printed a custom piece of equipment for his lab over a weekend, sta...
Read More →Things we Make: Eiffel Tower
We are often asked, "Can you make a large object using a 3D printer?" This is a good question. Although most of the objects that our users make are fairly small, it is possible to make large items...
Read More →MakerLab partners with the Marketplace literacy project for USD 300,000 UI extension Grant
The MakerLab has partnered with Dr. Madhu Viswanathan, the lead on the Marketplace literacy project and the UI Extension office, and received a grant for USD 300,000, to create two new community ba...
Read More →MakerLab Installs 3D printer in a village near Chennai, India
The MakerLab has partnered with the Marketplace literacy project to see if providing rapid prototyping equipment to consumers in subsistence marketplaces can help create products customized for the...
Read More →Things We Make: World Cup Mascots
This summer, World Cup Fever spread to the MakerLab. Since many of our users are soccer fans, we regularly broadcasted World Cup games. In addition, Guru Kevin printed a set of World Cup Mascots. T...
Read More →MakerLab featured in College of Business Video
We have been featured in a video created by the College of Business communications team, which is to be advertised to all prospective students and other audiences who engage with us. This clearly s...
Read More →Lab Closure for the rest of Summer
We have been fortunate to have the Lab guru's available during summer to keep the lab open, but they need a break too. To allow our Guru's some well deserved time off for their vacations, the Lab w...
Read More →Does the ability to customize design affect product adoption and satisfaction?
This post is contributed by Greg Fisher, who conducted research on the question above, in partnership with the MakerLab. This post is part of our series on research at the lab, in addition to our i...
Read More →MakerLab Featured in ICIC Webinar
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="746"] ICIC_CEO_Series746_267_june10[/caption] Earlier this week, MakerLab Executive Director Aric Rindfleisch gave a presentation titled, "3D Printing...
Read More →Makerlab at the Alumni Spring Luncheon
The College of Business alumni association put up a great event in Chicago, bringing together over a thousand alumni for the annual spring luncheon. It was a privilege to provide 3D printed souveni...
Read More →Making Things Class Shoots Videos
Last week's class focused on shooting professional videos for each of our product teams. These videos were shot by John Tubbs and his crew from the eLearning Office at the College of Business and a...
Read More →Making Things Class Nears the Finish Line!
This week's class was focused on refining and finishing up our final models. Many of us were finalizing details and were able to make progress on the scripts for our video pitches as well. We had a...
Read More →3D Prints in the Alma Mater Time Capsule
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="250"] Time Capsule[/caption] Earlier this month, the Alma Mater returned to campus and withit a time capsule was placed into the base of the statue. I...
Read More →MakerLab supports students at HackIllinois
The Illinois MakerLab partnered with HackIllinois to lead a workshop on 3D printing conducted by our Guru, Danny Lohan. Students learned the capabilities of 3D printing in both small and large scal...
Read More →Visiting Scholar Attends Making Things Class
Our “Making Things” class was excited to host Alex Mitchell for the past two weeks. Alex(@MarketTheory) is a PhD candidate at Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada and is researching how 3D printi...
Read More →Making Things Class begins Developing Videos
This week's Making Things class began with a lecture from John Tubbs, a digital media specialist from CITES. John discussed the process of promoting one's product using video appeals, a la Kickstar...
Read More →3D Printing at Admitted Student's Day
The College of Fine + Applied Arts demonstrated 3D printing with MakerLab printers, to the newly admitted students at Temple Buell Hall during the welcome reception. The display was organized by Kr...
Read More →Making Things Class Refines Prototypes
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="2500"] photo-64[/caption] Throughout the week before spring break, the teams in our Making Things Class worked on refining our product prototypes. Bas...
Read More →MakerLab hosts several CU area schools.
There is tremendous interest in 3D printing across industry today and in schools as well. We are pleased to host several free tours/workshops for area schools, in line with the university's mission...
Read More →MakerLab and UI Innovate at EOH
This past Friday the MakerLab partnered up with student organization, UI-Innovate, to share the magic of 3D printing at the Engineering Open House. Each year Engineering Open House attracts thousan...
Read More →Making Things Class Refines Product Designs
In this week's class, the teams in our class conducted a peer review of each others' designs. Our team reviewed Team 2’s design. Their product (currently unnamed, although we suggested the name “Ea...
Read More →Making Things Class Designs Objects
This week the Making Things Class worked on the designs for our objects! We just recently changed our concept and have been moving very quickly since then. We decided to create a door stop that doe...
Read More →Making Things Class Finalizes Concepts
During last week's class, we analyzed our product's concept (customizable clip-on dip bowl) test data to ascertain consumer interest in our product, willingness to pay, and potential questions and...
Read More →Getting started with Arduinos
An Arduino is a micro-controller board, which has been used for thousands of projects. An arduino can be powered up by simply connecting it to the computer via USB cable or using AC/DC adapter or u...
Read More →Meet the Maker : Sergio Poo-Dalidet
Sergio Poo-Dalidet is a Phd student in Education and Policy Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has a Master of Education at UIUC. His main interests are technologies on e...
Read More →Making Things Class Tests Product Concepts
This week's class began with a Skype call with Kristen Turner, Marketing Director of Sculpteo. Kristen told us about different 3D printing business models. For example, some makers use Sculpteo as...
Read More →MakerLabbers Make RGB Trippy Wave Lights
This past weekend, the MakerLab hosted a special workshop led by Mitch Altman. Mitch (and Illinois alum) is Co-Founder of Noisebridge (one of the first hackerspaces in the US) and CEO of Cornfield...
Read More →Making Things Class learns about 3D Scanning
Team Four had a great day in the Making Things class. We started out hearing from Travis Ross, Manager of the Beckman Visualization Lab. Travis talked about 3D scanning and the resources VisLab can...
Read More →Things we Make: Altgeld Hall
In recent months, our Lab has received lots of requests to make things for various units across our campus. Most recently, the Illinois Geometry Lab asked us to print 20 copies (Orange & Blue)...
Read More →3D Printing: An Interdisciplinary Perspective
Guest Post by : Joe Bradley, Adjunct Professor of Business Administration, who is interested in challenges at the interface of product development, technology management, intellectual property...
Read More →Mitch Altman & Chris Hall visit Making Things Class
Our third class session began with a fascinating and inspiring speech delivered by a special guest, Mitch Altman. Mitch, an Illinois alum, is the co-founder of Noisebridge (one of the first Hackerp...
Read More →Will 3D printing Revolutionize Architecture?
Guest Post by : Therese F Tierney, PhD @tierneytooDirector, URL: Urban Research Lab School of Architecture, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Cross-disciplinary...
Read More →Become a Member of the MakerLab!
Starting with the Spring 2014 semester, University of Illinois Students, Staff, and Faculty are invited to become official members of the Illinois MakerLab. For a low price ($20 for a semester for...
Read More →MakerLab hosts Countryside Students
Last week, Ms. Zielnicki's 8th grade class from Countryside School in Champaign visited the M...
Read More →Making Things Students Begin Ideation
The second week of Making Things began with a warm welcome from Professor Deana McDonagh from our School of Art + Design. She spoke to the class about authentic human behavior and finding opportuni...
Read More →Help us win - Vote for our Video!
The College of Business has submitted a video of the MakerLab for a competition hosted by Educause. This video competition focuses on six emerging educational technologies: the flipped classroom, l...
Read More →Making Things Class Begins!
Our new Making Things class has begun! This innovative new course teams up 21 undergraduate students across business, engineering, and art & design. Each of these 7 teams will be conceptualizin...
Read More →The 3D Printer That Can Build a House
The University of Southern California is testing a giant 3D printer that could be used to build a whole house in under 24 hours. Professor Behrokh Khoshnevis has designed the giant robot that repl...
Read More →MakerLab obtains Corporate Support
Over the past couple of months, the MakerLab has obtained significant support from a number of corporations. JP Morgan executives (including alum Jason Mueller) visited the lab this past fall and p...
Read More →Looking Back and Moving Forward
2013 was a busy year in the World’s First Business School 3D Printing Lab and the New Year promises to be even busier. Here are some highlights of what we’ve done thus far and the new initiatives o...
Read More →Make your own Christmas Gifts!
Christmas is the season of giving. The things that we give to our friends and family during the holiday season are typically bought in a store and manufactured in a distant land. 3D Printing disrup...
Read More →"Make" it a Merry Christmas by Making Ornaments at the Lab
Come by the lab and make some programmable LED lit ornaments and pick up the block I ornaments to show your Illini spirit this christmas . Or you can pick any ornament from this list and make away...
Read More →MakerLab Featured on TV (Once Again)
The MakerLab was featured in a news report about the Maker Movement that recently aired on WAND (Channel 17, NBC) TV. This report features Executive Director, Aric Rindfleisch and Guru, Danny Lohan...
Read More →Mark Rivera gets Scanned & Printed
Last Friday, WAND (Decatur, IL) news reporter, Mark Rivera stopped by the MakerLab to learn about 3D printing. During his visit Mark was scanned using our new Sense handheld 3D scanner (made by 3D...
Read More →Film & Filament night (Thursday, December 12)
On Thursday, December 12 (from 6pm to 9pm), the MakerLab will host its first Film & Filament night. We will be showing National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation on our big 70 inch HDTV and designin...
Read More →Ping Fu visits the MakerLab
Ping Fu, Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer at 3D Systems and a former researcher at the University of Illinois, recently visited the MakerLab. She was quite intrigued to hear about a 3D pri...
Read More →MakerLab Featured in USA Today
The MakerLab was recently featured in a story in USA Today titled, "Universities Create 3D Printing Spaces but at Unequal Paces." This story identified the University of Illinois as a leader in the...
Read More →Free Print Wednesdays
As a service focused towards makers who are new to the world of 3D printing, we are happy to announce Free Print Wednesdays! Every Wednesday from 11 am to 1 pm, all prints (one hour or less) in th...
Read More →Things we Make: Thor's Hammer
Thor: The Dark World, is a current box office smash and a favorite film for many in our Lab. Thus, in anticipation of its release, we printed our very own Mjölnir (Thor's Hammer). This hammer was d...
Read More →3D Printed Wooden Objects!
One of the questions that visitors to our Lab often ask is: "What types of materials can be 3D printed?" Most are surprised to hear that 3D printers can print a wide range of materials, including p...
Read More →"Making Things" Class
During the upcoming Spring 2014 semester, Professor Aric Rindfleisch, Executive Director of the Illinois MakerLab will be teaching a new class in which teams of undergraduate students from Business...
Read More →MakerLab Featured in Smile Politely
The MakerLab is in the news again. Hannah Pitstick recently published a wonderful account of our recent grand opening in Smile Politely, Champaign-Urbana's Online Magazine. Hannah did a great job...
Read More →Learn, Make, Share at the MakerLab on Fridays
On Fridays from 11:00 to 12:00, the MakerLab will be holding workshops on a variety of digital making topics including, 3D scanning, 3D printing, and how to tinker with open hardware. A list of sc...
Read More →3D Printer Repairs 2D Printer
Earlier this month, one of our faculty members had a problem that is common to many of us: His 2D Printer stopped printing! Upon closer inspection, he realized that one of the small plastic guides...
Read More →New Filament Colors from Inventables
New colors are in! Our Lab has recently expanded its array of plastic filament to include silver, gold, brown, and neon orange! These colors, and many more, are available from Inventables, a compan...
Read More →Grand Opening of our New Lab (October 18)
We have finally moved to our new lab location in 3030 Business Administration Facility! Our new space is bigger, brighter, and equipped with more digital making equipment, including 12 MakerBot Rep...
Read More →The Digitizer Arrives!
Earlier this week, the MakerLab received one of the first shipments of MakerBot's new Digitizer 3D Scanner! This revolutionary new device converts physical objects into digital files. In essence, i...
Read More →MakerLab is Coming to Chicago
On Thursday, October 10, Aric Rindfleisch, Executive Director of the Illinois MakerLab will be visiting Chicago to discuss the 3D printing revolution and how the College of Business at the Universi...
Read More →Things we Make: Adjustable Wrench
One of the most impressive aspects of 3D printing is the capability to create complex mechanical objects with moving parts in a single print. Unlike traditional manufacturing techniques which produ...
Read More →MakerLab Draws Crowds at MakerFaire
Last Saturday, Aric, Danny, Nick & Vishal represented the MakerLab at the Urbana-Champaign Mini-MakerFaire. We demonstrated 3D printing, displayed many of the objects that we have printed in ou...
Read More →MSTM Students Visit MakerLab
Last Friday, over 100 Masters of Science of Technology Management (MSTM) students visited the MakerLab. Our Gurus demonstrated 3D Scanning and Printing and helped teams of students print out a vari...
Read More →Things we Make: Birdhouse
In addition to making useful items for humans, 3D printing can also be used to make things for our animal friends. For example, in 2011, MakerBot sponsored a competition to design 3D printed shells...
Read More →Come See the MakerLab at Local Fairs
The MakerLab will be participating in two upcoming local enterprise fairs. On Friday, September 20, 2013, we will participate in the University of Illinois Research Park's annual Prototyping Fair....
Read More →MakerLab Featured in German Business Magazine
The MakerLab is once again in the news. This time in Germany! The leading German Marketing Magazine, absatzwirtschaft published a recent story on the maker movement and prominently featured our lab...
Read More →Things we Make: Dalek
One of the main characters in the hit British television program, Doctor Who is the Dalek, a race of extraterrestrial cyborgs that seek to take over the universe. One of our Makers is a big Doctor...
Read More →Our New Build Surface: BuildTak (by Ideal Jacobs)
The MakerLab is proud to announce that Ideal Jacobs, a multinational corporation that specializes in graphic overlays, injection molding, laser cut components, and rapid prototyping, is the supplie...
Read More →Nearly Ready!
Our new Lab in the Business Instructional Facility is nearing completion! The only remaining renovation work is the installation of the flooring. Once the floor is in, the furnishings (including a...
Read More →Things we Make: University Keychains
The MakerLab receives many requests from students and faculty for 3D design and printing assistance. One recent request was from Greg Fisher, a marketing doctoral student here at Illinois. Later...
Read More →Things we Make: 3D Printed Chess Set
MakerLab Gurus Danny & Ryan recently created a 3D printed chess set. The entire set, including all of the pieces and the game board, were digitally designed and 3D printed in our Lab. Stop by...
Read More →Our New Lab is Close to Completion!
Over the past few weeks, our new lab location in the Business Instructional Facility has made good progress. The drywall and electrical work has been completed. In addition, both the front and side...
Read More →MakerLab to Speak at Illini Center
This Thursday (July 25), our staff will be in Chicago to discuss "How 3D Printing will Change Business." The event will begin at 5:30pm and will be held at the Illini Center (across from the Wills...
Read More →Things we Learned at the 3D Printing Expo
The MakerLab (Aric, Danny, Ryan, and Vishal) attended the Chicago 3D Printing Conference & Expo at McCormick Place last week. Thanks to Hod Lipson, we were given the opportunity to speak at the...
Read More →MakerLab Closed on Thursday (July 11)--Headed to Chicago
The MakerLab will be closed this Thursday (July 11). Our staff will be in Chicago that day to participate in the Inside 3D Printing Conference and Expo. This conference is being organized by Hod Li...
Read More →Progress Continues on our New Lab
Construction of our new lab space in the Business Instructional Facility is progressing nicely. The drywalling has been completed and the electrical work is nearly done. The photo below was taken f...
Read More →MakerLab Featured in BizEd Magazine
The MakerLab is in the news again. This July/August issue of BizEd Magazine (the official publication of the American Association for Collegiate Schools of Business) published a one page overview o...
Read More →Songang Students Visit the MakerLab
Earlier this week, a group of students from Sogang University in Korea visited the MakerLab as part of their Certificate in Technology Management, which is offered through our College's Masters of...
Read More →Things we Make: Replacement Parts
Many visitors to the MakerLab are intrigued by 3D printing technology but wonder how they could apply this new tool in their daily lives. One emerging application is replacement parts. For example,...
Read More →Drywall goes Up in our New Home!
A quick update on the progress of our new home in the Business Instructional Facility: --The frames for both our front & side doors have been installed --Drywall is going up --Electrical lines...
Read More →Things We Make
Cuddling Owls (Thingiverse Thing 50212, Designed by Moses) Super cute. Makes a great gift for a close friend.
Read More →MakerLab visits Innovation Factory, 3DPX and 1871 in Chicago
The MakerLab recently visited Chicago to connect with Makers at the Innovation Factory, 3D Printing Experience (3DPX) and 1871. Chicago is quickly establishing itself a hotbed of innovation and has...
Read More →Any Early Preview of our New Home!
Exciting news! Work has begun for our new home in the Business Instructional Facility. This new space will expand our workspace by 50%, provide us with greater visibility, and make our lab more ac...
Read More →Meet the Makers: Martina Pillay and John Jacobs
When you think of 3D printing, what types of students come to mind? Architecture majors, Engineers? Indeed, both types of students have been frequent visitors to the MakerLab. However, our lab has...
Read More →Birmingham visits the MakerLab
Earlier this week, Mike Robinson, Anna Woodham, Sara Jones, and Diana Spencer visited the MakerLab. Mike, Anna, Sara and Diana are professors at the University of Birmingham and members of the I...
Read More →MakerLab draws crowds at Faculty Summer Institute 2013
The MakerLab team presented on a new approach to learning, Learning by Making, at the Faculty Summer Institute 2013. The conference attracts faculty from schools across Illinois, who are interested...
Read More →MakerBot Webinar (May 22, 2013)
MakerBot just announced that they will be hosting a free webinar next Wednesday (May 22) at 11pm CST. This webinar will focus on how 3D printers can enhance product development. According to the...
Read More →Meet the Maker: Ben Riggins
Ben Riggins is an electrical engineering major, and a DIY enthusiast. He came to the MakerLab to build a faceplate to mount some cool electronics in his car. "I'm building a device which will be m...
Read More →Art, Design, and the MakerLab, Oh My!
When you hear the term 3D printing, a lot of things may come to mind such as rapid prototyping or do-it-yourself projects but what about art and design? As an art and design major (and DIY enthusia...
Read More →MakerLab meets MakerBot
Director of the Illinois MakerLab, Vishal Sachdev is recently attended the Inside 3D Printing Conference & Expo in NYC. This was the world's first business to business conference on 3D printin...
Read More →MakerLab Featured in the News (Once Again)
The MakerLab was featured in another news story last week on WCIA3 news. One of our College's faculty members, Jeff Lowenstein, is featured in story. Jeff is a regular visitor to the lab and has us...
Read More →Making the Thinker or Thinking about Making?
Come Make something at the world's first business school 3D Printing Lab. http://youtu.be/zf6RoWM5jsQ This excellent video was created by the communications unit within the College of Business. Vi...
Read More →Students Photocopy Objects with their iPhones!
On Friday, April 5, nearly 20 University of Illinois students stopped by the MakerLab to learn how to photocopy objects with their iPhones. This session was taught by Katie Khau, a UI student in Ar...
Read More →It's Easy as 123D Catch
So you want to learn how to 3D scan an object using 123D Catch? Don't worry it is easy to learn! 123D Catch allows you to create photo realistic 3D models from just photographs from your camera or...
Read More →Provost Adesida visits the MakerLab
University of Illinois, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost Ilesanmi Adesida , visited the MakerLab on March 26. He was very interested in this new space housed in the College of Busin...
Read More →Meet your Maker - MakerLab in the news
The article, "Meet your maker: a new approach to product development," written by Cathy Lockman, is the cover story in the Spring 2013 issue of the College of Business's bi-annual magazine, Perspe...
Read More →Scan and Print, Now in 3D at the Illinois MakerLab
2D scanning and printing is passe! Come visit the MakerLab on Friday April 5, 2:00 to 4:00 pm, and learn how to scan your stuff and print it, all in 3D. Learn to scan in 3D using a camera or smart...
Read More →Things We Make: Makerlab Keychain
Hot off the press! We are printing our own keychains. This keychain, which was adapted from a design by bradk2012, can be found on our Thingiverse webpage. Just go to: www.thingiverse.com/uimakerl...
Read More →Making Resources On and Off Campus
The Illinois MakerLab provides easy access to cutting edge technologies to enable experimentation with design and building or "Making" things. There are several other resources on and off c...
Read More →Our 3D Printers Print their Upgrades!
Our Lab's 3D printers (MakerBot Replicator 2s) are amazing machines and have been used to create lots of cool and useful objects. However, their stock extruders (i.e., the component that feeds the...
Read More →MakerLab Enables Faculty Research
Professor Jeff Lowenstein (from the Organizational Behavior Group of the Department of Business Administration) recently used the MakerLab to fabricate a prototype of a LED lightbulb for use in cl...
Read More →Our New Business Card
Read more...
Read More →MakerLab goes to Chicago
On March 1, MakerLab Executive Director, Aric Rindfleisch demonstrated 3D printing (by printing a bottle opener) to a group of marketing faculty from a number of Chicago-area universities, includi...
Read More →Illinois MakerLab In the News .... Again
The Daily Illini covered the MakerLab in the news today. Have a look.
Read More →Meet the Maker : Fish Yu
Meet Fish Yu, an architecture student, who is passionate about creating complex structures, using his favorite software, Rhino. He recently created a beautiful structure, shown below. According to...
Read More →The President discusses 3D printing in the State of the Union address
The President discussed the role of 3D printing in resurrecting manufacturing in the US and discussed the investments made in the sector in the State of the Union Address today. Quote "Last year,...
Read More →Tremendous Interest in the MakerLab Open House
The turnout for the open house on 8th February, was beyond our expectations. Over eighty students and faculty showed up. We start regular hours from the coming week, and hope to get a lot of...
Read More →Lets learn together
The MakerLab is an experiment in bringing together a community of learners who are interested in learning by making. As we open our doors, there is a great opportunity to participate as a group, fo...
Read More →Cover Feature on the NMC Horizon Report
Great News! The Makerlab has been featured on the cover of the 2013 NMC Horizon Report for Higher Education. The NMC Horizon project is "a decade-long research project designed to identify and desc...
Read More →Were open for Business
Come visit us at the MakerLab Open House, on Friday 8th Feb, from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm at 103 Surveying Bldg. Join the Maker Movement. Learn 3D design Make new products Share with the worl...
Read More →The Makerbot's are here!
This just in! The Lab is coming together, and the Makerbots are all set up, ready to go. Six Replicator 2's were set up last week in the lab. We are interviewing Lab assistants this week and expect...
Read More →Come work in the MakerLab
UPDATE: Jan 29th We have closed this search, and will get started soon with the lab. We are looking for an enterprising student to help manage the new MakerLab (MakerLab.illinois.edu ) being set u...
Read More →Atoms to Bits and Back .... a Big Success
It was great to see the student/faculty interest in the lab, at the 3D printing event organized at BIF jointly with AIS. Over 30 students/faculty got themselves scanned using the Kinect and the pri...
Read More →Atoms to Bits and Back
Come join the AIS students as they prepare to convert Atoms to Bits and back, using Kinect scanners and 3D printers in the BIF Atrium , Wednesday, Dec 5th, 11:00 to 4:00 pm. Willing volunteers will...
Read More →Business Council Tech Week presentation
It was great to see the enthusiasm among Business Council members, when we presented the 3D printer during Tech Week,on 23rd October in BIF. The students had great questions and we look forward to...
Read More →A New Industrial Revolution
It is quite timely to read of this new book from Chris Anderson, The Editor-in-Chief at Wired Magazine, titled "Makers: The New Industrial revolution". Chris Anderson has been a champion of the Mak...
Read More →3D printing in the news
There seems to be a lot of buzz around 3D printing these days. The recent cover of the Design issue of the Wired Magazine, claims that the new MakerBot Replicator2 will change the world . In the sa...
Read More →Welcome
Welcome to the home page of the new 3-D printing lab at the College of Business. This lab will be operational in Spring 2013, with several MakerBot 3D printers. Please stay tuned for updates on th...
Read More →Things we Make: Human Skull
Human skull!
Read More →Meet the Maker- Dino Petrov
Come see Fast and Furious at a miniature level! Maker Dino Petrov, loves to design miniature car parts. Dino is a junior here at Illinois studying economics. He got the idea to print mini car parts...
Read More →