The ability to learn how to harness the potential of 3D printing technology at St. Clair College has never been easier.
The first online workshop on 3D Printing will take place Thursday, February 24, at 2 pm in the Genesis Entrepreneurship Centre at St. Clair College’s main campus. This online event is free and open to all students, staff, faculty, and the public.
3D printing is the construction of a three-dimensional object from a CAD model or a digital 3D model in which material is deposited under computer control to create a three-dimensional object, with the material being added together, typically layer by layer.
Kevin Roy, the 3D Printer Technologist at St. Clair, will be teaching the free online Intro to 3D Printing Workshop on Feb. 24 which will cover the history of 3D printing, its uses, and how to get started.
"It is something new and exciting on campus. A lot of people have heard of a 3D printer or know what it looks like, so it catches their eyes when they walk by the GEC," Roy said. "We get a lot of inquiries about how to use the printers, so we wanted to offer up their use to students and faculty."
Roy believes the group of 3D printers in the GEC are an untapped resource for staff and students and can help them achieve rapid prototyping of their unique designs and projects.
"If you are in an architectural class, maybe we could print the 3D models of something you have made in your class, or they could come up with projects specifically for the 3D printers," Roy said. You can look at something on a computer all you want but until you have the physical object, you don’t know. Maybe this part is too small, this part is too weak or it's not ergonomic. But if you can 3D-print it, then the students can see and reiterate their design. That would be rapid prototyping.
Susan Taylor, Program Manager of Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Student Experience at the College, said there are plans for the Intro to 3D Printing Workshop to become a monthly recurrence and there is also potential to add intermediate and advanced level workshops in the future.
"These workshops are open to anyone. They don’t have to be a student or even affiliated with the College or with the community. If they can access it on Eventbrite, anyone can attend," Taylor said. "Initially we will start with virtual events and then if things change with provincial restrictions, we can look toward having these events in person.
There is no fee to sign up for this online event and is open to all staff, students, faculty, and the public. If you are curious about 3D printers, how they work, and how to use them, you can sign up for the free online Intro to 3D Printing Workshop at the following link:
Intro to 3D Printing Tickets, Thu, 24 Feb 2022 at 2:00 PM | Eventbrite
- Brett Hedges