Carnegie Mellon Offers 3D Printing Courses
Carnegie Mellon University has launched an
undergraduate engineering course in additive manufacturing, also known as 3D
printing.
The course, Additive Manufacturing for Engineers, teaches students the
business, design and engineering aspects of product development. During the
semester, students work in teams to develop an idea into a product while
learning about the additive manufacturing process. They upload their designs to
the Shapeways 3D printing
marketplace and service, where customers can order the products.
"Students conceptualize, 3D design, 3D print and market their own unique
product in a very short amount of time," said Jack Beuth, professor of
mechanical engineering and creator of the course, in a prepared statement.
"This stimulates entrepreneurial, creative problem solving."
Students use CubePro
maker-scale 3D polymer printers and 3D metal printers. According to information
from the university, "Carnegie Mellon is one of only three academic
institutions that has both types of these 3D metal printing capabilities."
While 3D polymer printers are becoming relatively common and desktop versions
are even available for home consumers, 3D metal printing is a sophisticated
process that involves fusing metal powders in either a laser powder bed or an
electron beam powder bed.
For other students, the university's Integrative Design, Arts and Technology
(IDeATe) network has launched a collaborative 3D printing facility called
IDeATe@Hunt. Students from any major can take IDeATe courses, which teach
students how to use 3D printers in their field of study. For example, computing
students may 3D print enclosures for circuitry and architecture students may 3D
print scale models of their designs. IDeATe also offers studio classrooms with
3D printers that are available to all students.
About the Author
Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].