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 using the printers in our Lab. Our MakerBot Replicator 2 printers have a print capacity of 410 cubic inches (11.2 L x 6.0 W x 6.1 H) or about the size of a small loaf of bread. We can also make objects larger than this by printing separate parts than can be fit together. For example, this summer, we printed a model of the Eiffel Tower than stands This model was designed by LeFab Shop in Paris and is freely available via Thingiverse. It is composed of seven different parts, which were individually printed and then glued together, and once assembled, stands over 24 inches tall! We have this tower proudly displayed near the entrance of our Lab. Stop by and have a look!

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 based Makerlabs, in south Illinois and the west side of Chicago. This grant will help us implement an outreach program in Illinois that leverages our strengths in subsistence marketplace literacy and digital manufacturing. Enhancing marketplace literacy has been recognized as a key area within the economic development theme in the Chancellor’s Visioning Future Excellence program. The Subsistence Marketplaces Initiative within the College of Business has pioneered research, teaching and social initiatives for low-income, less-literate individuals around the world. Marketplace literacy is best coupled with specific livelihood skills, particularly in contexts of extreme constraints. This grant will allow us to couple such education with the forward-looking technology of digital manufacturing (i.e., 3D Printing). Individuals from impoverished regions would be trained to create marketplace products via 3D printing and other forms of digital making, based on our experience in operating the Illinois MakerLab, the world’s first 3D printing lab in a College of Business.

We will establish a marketplace literacy program and set up maker spaces in rural and urban locations across Illinois. We have UI Extension Unit 27 as a partner represented by Ronald Duncan, and Illinois SBDC representative Phiilip Fairweather at Bethel New Life in Chicago as implementation partners. Bethel New Life has space allocated for this project and is providing in-kind support for marketplace literacy curriculum collaboration and marketplace literacy training. This is a collaborative, change-oriented project, drawing expertise from across multiple disciplines for outreach into disadvantaged communities. We aim to empower members of these communities to participate in the marketplace by enhancing their “making” literacy.

Read more about the project at IMMLP.Illinois.edu

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 their needs and even create lively hood opportunities. As part of this experiment, Vishal Sachdev, the director of the Lab visited the village to install a 3D printer and orient the villagers to the possibilities of this new technology. They were immediately seeing possibilities in creating objects such as molds for candle making, and toys as potential sources of income. The Marketplace literacy project also helps mentor women self-help groups in Chennai, which work as cooperatives to support individual members by giving them funds to start small home based businesses. The meetings with these groups also suggested possibilities for leveraging additive manufacturing to create prototypes for products. The 3D printer installation is an experiment to see if a technology that shortens the lead time from ideas to products, can enable low income, low literacy communities to create products that can create sources of livelihood, or perhaps help solve local problems with local solutions. The executive director of the Lab. Dr. Aric Rindfleisch is also visiting the location soon, so stay tuned for updates.

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. These mascots were designed by Ultimaker, downloaded from YouMagine, and printed in our Lab. Pictured below are the mascots for the Netherlands (Orange), United States (Brown), Brazil (Green), and Portugal (Red). Stop by our Lab this fall to make your own mascots or anything else that you can imagine!

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 shows the importance that the college places in initiatives which allow us to offer a world class education to our students, who can now explore the implications of this new technology in their careers while "Learning by Making". http://youtu.be/qDEz9srH0pk

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 will close for the rest of summer and we will open again in the first week of classes in Fall 2014. We look forward to having an exciting lineup of free Friday workshops for you in the Fall. Do visit the other making resources on campus, while we are closed. Check out the Useful Links in the right navigation to find these spaces.