Fusion Blog: 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is a production technique that creates three-dimensional objects from computer-aided design (CAD) files. This process involves depositing materials—typically plastics, metals, wax, or composites—layer by layer to build a shape. The entire procedure is controlled by a computer. Thus, making 3D printing a cost-effective, efficient, and accurate method to create objects of almost any geometry or complexity.
2 comments:
3D printing is such an incredible innovation that in the scope of educational innovations, we often forget about (or, at least I often forget about). There are so many cool things you can make relatively easily through 3D modeling and printing - many of which I am sure are incredibly useful in the educational sphere. One of my favorite channels I keep stumbling on on Youtube makes these crazy cool 3D modeled items that look like plants but have a second use - a pin holder, etc, etc. Both the educational content of learning how to 3D model and the creativity that 3D modeling allows people to explore seems like it would lend itself very well to education, and I’m glad to see it is. I hope the monetary barrier on these products continues to lower - 3D printers are quite expensive and being able to afford one or multiple (as well as maintenance and filament) is tricky on a budget.
I use 3D printing a lot for both school projects and personal projects. It’s incredibly versatile and as long as you can model it, you can make it. I’ve used it a ton in engineering classes, but as it mentions in the article, I’m sure it has a bunch of other practical uses in other classes like biology, history, math, etc. I’ve also used it in physics class to make demonstrations. There was a broken piece to one of the models we were using so I made a new one in SketchUp and 3D printed it and it worked. I think 3D printing teaches a lot of useful engineering skills but good work skills in general. It teaches the process of trial and error. It will take a while to get your model where you want it to be, and the only way to do that is to keep trying. It teaches patience because sometimes it can be a few days until your model is done printing. And it exercises your visualization skills. You have to be able to picture what you want in a 3D space, and be able to render it digitally.
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