Hope3d has inspired me to inspire others…

I am a volunteer with a youth leadership development program that has a heavy emphasis in Aerospace education.  This organization’s program utilizes a variety of educational resources including a large selection of STEM Kits to provide hands on learning and experiences to inspire youth to get involved with various technologies and topics such as robotics, flight and computers. 

As an amateur maker myself, I often talk with our members about 3D modeling and printing things to solve every day problems.  I also talk about the various design competitions that I participate in discussing the themes and getting ideas from them.    I was excited to find that many of our youth were very interested in 3D Design and Printing and wanted to learn more.  Being familiar with STEM Kits, I sought to find a 3D Design and Printing STEM Kit to propose to our organization for use with our program.  To my disappointment, I was unable to find any complete all-inclusive STEM kits for this purpose.

I have been considering how to approach the need to put together a package that would fulfill not only our own organization’s needs, but to have a complete package that could inspire new makers around the world to enter the exciting and rapidly growing community of 3D Design and Printing. 

Thanks to MyMiniFactory and the Hope3D Design Competition, I am inspired to propose a concept of a true all-inclusive STEM kit for 3d Design and Printing.   I feel that with the availability of affordable 3D Printers, and the variety of available 3D Modelling Software at low or no-cost, along with the wealth of information on both topics, it would be relatively easy to create a complete STEM Kit on this topic.

There really would be 3 main components to this STEM Kit

1.       3D Printer + Filament

2.       3D Design/Modelling Software

3.       Learning Guide/Booklet

For the first part, a 3D Printer + Filament, a partnership with a low-cost, highly available 3D Printer manufacturer would be needed.  There are many low cost printers available, such as the Creality Ender 3 (~$230), Monoprice Mini Delta ($~$160) and many others.  Perhaps one of these companies would partner with the effort to either offer a discount, or bundle the STEM package.  In addition, partnering with a filament manufacturer to provide an initial supply of filament sufficient for several prints would be needed.

For the second Item, 3D Design/Modelling software, there are many options as well.  Fusion 360 offers hobbyists a free license, and there is Tinkercad, Freecad, and many more.   To be successful, partnering with one of these tools (which could possibly offer a discount for advanced versions) would be key.  Selecting a tool with a wealth of information online, community groups, and tutorials would be the most beneficial.

The last item, the Learning Guide would need to be developed to offer easy to follow steps and instructions for the fundamentals of 3D Design and Modelling and 3D Printing.   The 3D Design section could touch on the history of the topic, discuss various types of 3d Modelling such as CAD, vs 3D Modelling, and could give real-world applications to emphasize the importance and impact this has had on our world.   The guide would then take students through basic design concepts and functions of the selected/partnered software including best practices, hints and tips.  Students should be able to create basic 3D Models by the end of that section.   The second section would introduce students to 3D Printing.  A history of 3D Printing as well as information on the various types of 3D Printing (FDM, SLA, etc..) would be discussed.   Then students would be guided through assembly of the printer (if needed), discussing the various components of the printer and how they work, and discussing materials (PLA, ABS, PETG, etc..) and their differences.  Then students would next be guided through taking the model they created from the design tool, to a physical object.  The guide would discuss various slicing tools, how they work and how various setting can affect their prints and guide them step by step through importing their model, setting up the print, and printing the object!

The STEM Kit should be able to be offered for around $250 or less to ensure it's affordable and available to anyone interested.

The Maker community is a huge community that loves to share their knowledge and experience.  Picture a STEM kit created by Makers for Makers.  With A Crowdsourced STEM Education Guide on 3D Design and 3D Printing bundled with an affordable, popular 3D Printer, 3D Modelling Software and Filament, we can inspire the future makers of the world.