The engineers, designers, and entrepreneurs of tomorrow are in university today and, fortunately, more institutions than ever are equipping their students with state-of-the-art 3D printing labs.
Whether it’s learning new uses for 3D printers in tomorrow’s business and factories, or pushing the boundaries of what 3D printers are capable of, universities worldwide are hotbeds of innovation (think university spin-offs Desktop Metal, Carbon, and BCN3D).
Companies and corporations hoping to profit from innovations in AM are partnering with universities to conduct their proprietary R&D while business of all sizes are turning to the consulting wings of these University labs to help them best incorporate 3D printing into their processes.
Let’s take a look across the globe at the top university additive manufacturing labs!
Not quite as fancy as the labs that the big guys have but my local college has a cool program that started a few years ago.
https://selkirk.ca/program/digital-fabrication-design
It’s a 2 year program that covers design for additive and subtractive manufacturing and how to use and maintain the machines. The lab is set up as a business so there are lots of real world project opportunities. There is also a portion that covers reverse engineering and uses various types of 3d scanners.
When I took a tour of the space a few months ago there were no shortage of toys. They have FDM, resin, carbon, and metal printers, as well as laser cutters, vacuum forming, water jet, 5 axis cnc, large 2.5d cnc.
I’m enrolled for September, I’m pretty pumped about it.
University of Ottawa has an awesome makerspace, they offer free use to all of their 3D printers and laser cutters. It’s where I got my first taste of 3D printing!