3D Printing Conference for Educators Heading to Atlanta in October

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 01/16/18

Educators interested in 3D printing will have a venue this fall to learn more about how to use it in K-12 and higher education. The second annual Construct3D conference and exposition will be taking place at Georgia Tech in Atlanta Oct. 5-8.

The emphasis will be on professional development to help faculty, staff and students learn new skills and promote the adoption and use of 3D printing in the classroom. Last year's event held more than 100 talks and workshops, as well as a vendor area where companies could demonstrate their design and digital fabrication products and services. Keynotes were delivered by representatives from MIT's Self-Assembly Lab, Duke University's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and Maker Media, which hosts maker faires around the world.

The event was co-founded by three people: Duke Digital Media Engineer Chip Bobbert has developed one of the largest 3D printing-focused makerspaces in higher ed. Ultimaker education community strategist Lizabeth Arum has long worked with 3D printer companies and researchers to explore the needs of teachers who want to use the technology in their classrooms. Matt Griffin, director of community for Ultimaker, recently finished a massive, open, online course for Coursera on 3D printing hardware.

While staff from Ultimaker co-founded the event, the Construct3D team has committed to making the event company-agnostic, promising to speak to "all of the approaches to desktop 3D printing and digital fabrication equipment, software and materials in use by educators."

"As digital fabrication continues to develop as an integral aspect to all levels of education, we are thrilled to host the upcoming Construct3D conference," said Amit Jariwala, director of Design & Innovation for the School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech. "Our goal is to leave attendees feeling inspired to bring new 3D printing skills to their schools and programs, and ultimately shape the next generation of creators and innovators."

Registration, including a scholarship application process, will open in April on the Construct3D website.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • glowing brain, connected circuits, and abstract representations of a book and graduation cap on a light gray gradient background

    Snowflake Launches Program to Upskill 100,000 People in Data and AI

    Cloud data platform Snowflake is embarking on an effort to train and certify more than 100,000 users on its AI Data Cloud by 2027. The One Million Minds + One Platform program will provide Snowflake-delivered courses, training materials, and free access to Snowflake software, at no cost to learners.

  • two abstract humanoid figures made of interconnected lines and polygons, glowing slightly against a dark gradient background

    Microsoft Introduces Copilot Chat Agents for Education

    Microsoft recently announced Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat, a new pay-as-you-go offering that adds AI agents to its existing free chat tool for Microsoft 365 education customers.

  • hand touching glowing connected dots

    Registration Now Open for Tech Tactics in Education: Thriving in the Age of AI

    Tech Tactics in Education has officially opened registration for its May 7 virtual conference on "Thriving in the Age of AI." The annual event, brought to you by the producers of Campus Technology and THE Journal, offers hands-on learning and interactive discussions on the most critical technology issues and practices across K–12 and higher education.

  • Three cubes of noticeably increasing sizes are arranged in a straight row on a subtle abstract background

    A Sense of Scale

    Gardner Campbell explores the notion of scale in education and shares some of his own experience "playing with scale" — scaling up and/or scaling down — in an English course at VCU.