Did you know that the Nittany Lion Shrine was replicated using a 3-D printer? Did you know that this occurred right here on our very own campus? Co-founded in 2013 by a group of engineering students, the 3-D Printing Club has successfully prototyped a variety of items, including a chess rook, an owl figurine, plastic guitar bobbins and even DIY cookie cutters! The club itself has six 3-D printers, four of which were hand built by the students themselves. The 3-D Printing Club has evolved into a community of about 30 3-D printing hobbyists interested in the hands-on aspects of printing, building and modifying 3-D printers. Among its crowd of engineers, the club also has members from the College of Agricultural Sciences and the Smeal College of Business.
Wesley Hart, a senior studying supply chain management, knew nothing about 3-D printing when he joined the club last spring. At the time, Hart was doing research for his independent study about experimental pickup design for electric guitars. Instead of ordering expensive pre-made bobbins or custom molds, Hart began to use the 3-D printers to create prototypes of plastic bobbins, which are a component of an electric guitar's pickup. Hart believes that the power of 3-D printing today is in prototyping, sharing, “"You can take an idea and test things very quickly and inexpensively and then go back to the drawing board if needed.” This semester, Hart is planning to 3-D print a guitar with an interlocking body design with a conventional neck and strings. Just like a traditionally manufactured guitar, Hart will be able to plug the instrument into an amp and play. With the assistance of the 3-D Printing Club at our very own university, he not only knows how to use the printer, he's hoping 3-D printing, along with his business knowledge, will help him fulfill his career dream to one day manufacture electric guitars.
In addition to the student club, the University offers a 3-D printing class in the College of Engineering and printing services for students studying architecture, information sciences and technology, and mechanical and nuclear engineering, among others!
Today, this additive manufacturing technique is playing a key role in advancing such areas as medicine, food, and the aerospace and automotive industries. Recently, surgeons at a New York hospital have credited 3-D printing with helping to save the life of a 2-week-old baby who required complicated heart surgery. Using MRI scan data, Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital in New York City 3-D printed a copy of the child’s heart, which was both perforated with holes and structured unusually. Normally surgeons see the heart for the first time when the chest is open, but this 3-D printed heart provided the surgeons the opportunity to study the organ and develop a detailed surgery strategy beforehand.
After learning of this superior technology, I still have trouble grasping the concept of this phenomenon. Reading how this technology has the potential to save lives and promote dreams is incredible. Luckily, we, us students, have the opportunity to watch this in action on our very own campus. As Wesley Hart puts it, 3-D printers can make dreams a reality, so go out there and do it!
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| The 3-D printed plastic heart studied by a surgeon before performing surgery on a 2-week-old baby. |
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/3d-printed-heart-saves-babys-life-as-medical-technology-leaps-ahead-9776931.html
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