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 been home to one of Champaign's finest performing arts center and movie palace. You can see anything from live music to comedy shows to dance competitions. Currently, Virginia Theater has been in the midst of renovating and that is where we come in. Architect, Neil Strack, came into the MakerLab to duplicate some hundred year old light fixtures that hung at the entrance to the auditorium. He choose to 3D print the light fixtures because of how affordable it was and the fact that the light fixture was extremely difficult to duplicate on its own. Guru, William Jones, took the lead of designing this order to Mr. Strack's specifications. Will was able to scan the original piece, seen on the far right, and obtain the digital image of the object. From there he printed the orange practice piece in the middle picture to make sure that the piece meet Mr. Strack's expectations. After getting the go ahead, Will was able to print the final pieces for the light fixtures. These will now be hanging up as light fixtures for the newly renovated Virginia Theater. Stop by and see these 3D printed light fixtures in action!

Check out our other stories or create a new one by stopping by the MakerLab. Having trouble making your design come to life? Contact us for help ! And don’t forget to like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

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.com. This website has loads of 3D models to choose from. Merely put in the topic you which to search for and explore all the options that show up! Of course, you can always get inspiration from what other people have already printed. Always be aware of what day it is when coming to the lab. If you think your print isn't going to take very long, stop by Wednesdays! On Wednesdays, if your print is under an hour its free! Come take advantage of this amazing opportunity offered to experience 3D printing for yourself!

Still can't think of anything? Come in and get a print of yourself! Our sensor accurately scans your face and automatically puts the scan of your head into an STL file that can then be printed. A STL (stereolithography) file is a computer aided design file that can be transferred into the code that the 3D printer reads in order to print the object. In simple terms, an STL file contains the layout of your print. Using the sensors advanced technology, you could easily be leaving with a mini bust of yourself by the end of the day!

Still don't know what to print? Let's see what companies are printing around the world! Maybe you'll find some inspiration through their work. An organization known as ReFab Dar is currently working on making a 3D printer that can print using recycled materials! The pilot printer is currently being used to print medical prototypes in Africa. These medical prototypes being printed revolve around the 6 major healthcare areas in Africa: malaria, preterm babies, suffocation at birth, HIV/AIDS, and infections. The hope of the ReFab Dar is to be accessible to the public community as an easy way to print devices needed for society's wellbeing. With all printing being done with e-waste and recycled material! See what amazing things can be done with 3D printing, and this is only the beginning. Visit the MakerLab to see what you can do with 3D printing!

Don’t have time to stop in but still want something printed? Our online ordering option is now up and running! Stay tuned for MakerLab updates by liking us on Facebook, or following us on 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!

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 Carbajal, help an engineering company to design a conveyor system. Clark and Yazmine are both juniors here at Illinois studying Industrial Design. Clark's passion for design process originally drew him to the MakerLab. Yazmine hopes to use her knowledge gained at the lab to design medical devices for transplant patients. Both are a great addition to the MakerLab and love to turn 2D designs into 3D designs. Which is exactly what they did in designing the conveyor system. Using a software known as Solidworks, Clark and Yazmine were able to turn the company's 2D computer-aided design (CAD) of the conveyor system and convert it into a 3D digital model. Clark and Yazmine worked closely with representatives of the company to make sure that the design order meet all of requirements. Frequent meetings occurred between the designers and the representatives to clear up any questions and to keep on track with the time frame. Once our designers completed the model to the customers satisfaction, they sent it off to get 3D printed! Clark and Yazmine did a great job in designing this order!

Having trouble making your design come to life? Stop by the MakerLab and talk to one of our gurus or contact us for help! Don't have time to stop in but still want something printed? Our online ordering option is now up and running! And don’t forget to like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

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 Chinese executives about how business in the United States run. This programs includes seminars, visits to US businesses, tours around the university and fun social activities. The executives are awarded with a University of Illinois certificate upon completion of the training. We were very happy to welcome the ICBC executives and introduce them to the world of 3D printing!

We love to help people find and use 3D printing. Just recently, we were able to help a visitor create a finial. A finial is the ornament at the apex or top of the roof. The beginning stages of the print can be seen in the picture to the left. Sometimes prints require digitally designing the model first. A common digital design software we use in the lab is Autodesk Fusion 360. Fusion 360 allows you to create free-form models. Which allows the user to be more creative in their design. Free-form models is a lot like freestyle dancing. You can do whatever you want, there are no restrictions or rules to follow. If you would like to learn how to use Autodesk Fusion 360, sign up for our workshop!   This workshop allows you to explore the different features and settings of Fusion 360. All the while making a name plate for yourself! The pictures below are from the Fusion 360 workshop we held just this week!

Stay tuned for MakerLab updates by liking us on Facebook, or following us on 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!

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 thingiverse!

Don't know how to 3D print? That's okay! The MakerLab gurus and volunteers are here to help you make your ideas come to life. Better yet, attend our 4 workshops to obtain your digital maker certificate! These workshops include Basic 3D Printing, Basic 3D Design with Tindercad, Basic 3D Design with Fusion 360 and 3D Scanning. These workshops introduce you to a broad spectrum of how to 3D print and are a great way to get introduced to 3D printing! And afterwards, you could be 3D printing like a pro! Check out what some of our pro makers printed at the lab

Stay tuned for MakerLab updates by liking us on Facebook, or following us on 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!

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!

Monday: 11-2, 5-7:30 Tuesday : 2-7:30 Wednesday: 2-4:30 Thursday: 2 - 5 Friday: 11 - 7:30 Saturday: 2 - 5

Remember, Wednesday is our 1 hour free print day. Meaning that if your print is printed in one hour it's free! Who doesn't like free?

Speaking of free... If you don't have a lot of free time to stop by the MakerLab don't worry. You can now order your 3D prints online! The MakerLab is happy to announce that we have partnered with 3D hubs. 3D hubs allows you to send in your print file in STL format and we will print it for you. We will even ship it to you if you live out of state! If you are a Illinois student or have an email ending in .edu be sure to register at https://www.3dhubs.com/students to save 25% on our online rates.

Want to be a volunteer at the MakerLab? Apply to join the Spring 2017 MakerLab team! And don’t forget! Like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter and Instagram to get the latest news.