You've heard of 3D printers being used to create or replicate everything from guns to human kidneys in the news lately. Now groups of Michigan educators are learning all the possibilities of the hot new technology at the U.P.'s
Michigan Technological University.
Tech professors and researchers will guide teams of teachers through the process of creating products or projects with 3D printers--after building one of the printers themselves.
The open-source technology works with CAD files and 3D printer software to tell the 3D printer to replicate thousands of tiny layers of plastic, metal or ceramic to create the objects desired.
The workshop is sponsored by General Motors and PACE, or Partners for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering Education, and teachers from Chassell, Dollar Bay, Calumet, L'Anse and Wakefield are among those participating this year. The downstate teams are from Alpena, Clarkston, Livonia, Oak Park, Roscommon, Sterling Heights and Stockbridge.
When they're done, each team of teachers will take a 3D printer back to their school, where it can even be used to make more 3D printers--a self-replicating technology.
Writer: Sam Eggleston
Source: Michigan Technological University
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