At the forefront of the conversation in technology is additive manufacturing, better known as 3-D printing.
Naturally, Penn State is a leading innovator with its state-of-the-art research lab, but 3-D printing has also taken form in an area business and school district as a tool for the entire community.
The UPS Store, located on Colonnade Way near Wegmans, has been offering 3-D printing options for about five months now. Store co-owner Jim Small says that three years ago the company decided to test 3-D printers in a dozen stores. After the test proved to be successful, the company offered its top 100 stores the opportunity to have the printers.
“They asked us if we wanted to get into it and we said, ‘Sure,’” Small says. “It’s a pretty expensive proposition, but being in … (the) high-technical area that we are in, (we thought) it might be a good opportunity for us to get into it.”
“The UPS Store is the first national chain to offer 3-D printing in a retail environment,” says Bob Sanginari, a print service specialist at the store. “So, it’s exciting to get on board with that.”
Since offering the service, which Small notes involved a substantial investment, and beginning demonstrations from 4 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday evenings, he says it’s garnered a lot of interest. Sanginari says customers often stop to admire the machine even when it’s not in use.
Most who utilize the store’s 3-D printing services do so for prototypes, which can range from household items to parts for an industrial-grade machine.
Small explains that, before 3-D printing, if you wanted to design and mold a custom part for a machine, it would be at least a thousand dollars and a time-consuming process. But now, if someone is computer savvy enough, they can design an object with one of the many computer-assisted drafting programs available and send it to the store to print.
The UPS Store uses durable ABSplus plastic for the finished product. The store’s machine can also print movable parts, such as wheels and screws. Sanginari says cuts are accurate to 100th of an inch. The time it takes to complete a job depends on the size of the object being printed. A chain with movable parts that’s about a 1 foot long and 2 inches thick takes about four hours to print, he says.
“3-D (printing) about five years ago was about a $1 million or $2 million,” Small says. “It has expanded and keeps growing, and growing and growing. I think there is an unlimited potential for what could happen. It is the future and an amazing product.”
It’s only a matter of time before 3-D printers are a staple in homes throughout the world. Right now, someone with more than a slight interest could buy a used MakerBot, a popular brand, for a couple hundred dollars, Sanginari says.
3-D printing has also been part of the curriculum at State College Area School District.
Park Forest Middle School has been using the innovative machine for four years now.
“It’s teaching kids design and prototyping,” says PFMS technology education teacher Greg Wilson. “They’re learning how to go from a CAD file to the 3-D printer. They’re seeing the advancements in the future of 3-D printing.”
Wilson also notes his students are learning that items don’t have to come from overseas. 3-D printing will ultimately cut down on the packaging, handling and transportation of parts, which will save consumers time and money.
The school district offers free software downloads for students to use to create prototypes of objects. Wilson said that one seventh-grader, Jack Erickson, has even purchased his own printer and made a quadcopter, similar to a flying drone, with a camera.
“Students have taken a real interest in it,” he says. “It’s definitely the future.”
The district’s high school has been using a 3-D printer for about 10 years. Technology teacher Doug Ripka says that at first it was expensive to operate and was primarily used for drafting and architecture.
The high school purchased a MakerBot 3-D printer about three years ago which students use to design a variety of things.
“Some classes have to collaborate to make something that is assembled from separate 3-D printed parts,” Ripka says. “Other students have used the 3-D printers to make replacement parts, such as knobs and feet for appliances or class projects.”
Students have also made teaching aids for classrooms, such as molecules, and one student created an electrical-assisted trumpet enclosure for a special needs student to use.
Ripka notes that, unlike conventional manufacturing, a 3-D printer works faster, which means design mistakes can be found and corrected sooner.
