3D Printing, Shaping The Future Of Manufacturing
If you ask a random selection of the general public about where 3D printing or additive manufacturing is making its biggest impact and the answers will likely be varied. Opinions might range from chocolate printing to the building of entire houses, to the unchartered territory of human organ printing. Even a good number of those who have some understanding of the technology will still cite prototyping as the mainstay of its capabilities
The truth is that, the technology has evolved incredibly, no longer confining itself to solely offering a faster, more cost-effective method of prototyping. Although still a significant area of use, 3D printing has developed to offer a much wider proposition to the industrial manufacturing world – particularly with design and manufacturing engineers in sectors such as automotive, aerospace and much more.
Some benefits of using 3D printing
technology in education
Becoming The Coolest School
You can’t deny that 3D printing is amazing. It gives you a tiny manufacturing plant right inside your school, where your students can bring their imaginations to life. Give your students (and yourself) the opportunity to see what awesomeness you can create with 3D printing technology.
Creating Inventors
3D printing technology positions students as creators. Instead of consuming the creations of someone else they become the inventors. Have a look at a boy, a diabetic, who invented a sanitary device for storing his used blood testing strips. What genius inventions are your students waiting to create?
Bring Art Back
Although art is already making a bit of a comeback with the advent of STEAM education, 3D printing will help catapult it to the top. With 3D printing students become designers and creators using cutting edge technology to visualize and create their own imaginations. Not to mention the growth students will have in their spacial reasoning skills and 2D to 3D conversion understanding.
Making Everything Hands On
Seriously, everything can be hands on. Learning about ancient societies? Design and print a model of a mummy or a pyramid. Learning about land forms? Design and print a peninsula or a mountain range. Learning about natural disasters? Design and print tools to protect you during a disaster. The list goes on and on…
Solving Real World Problems
3D printing is a technology that scientists and engineers are using to change the world. Put that same technology into the hands of your students and introduce them to some of the challenges facing your community. They will learn empathy, teamwork, and problem solving as you set them loose on a real world problem. Don’t be surprise if they come up with solutions you hadn’t even imagined.