3D Printing in a 21st Century Engineering Classroom
My students need a 3D printer to harness their creativity and imagination and bring those ideas to life.
$684 goal
Hooray! This project is fully funded
Hooray! This project is fully funded
Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month
This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because
it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.
A typical day in my engineering classroom has students engaged in complex problem solving through applied robotics and cutting-edge 3D modeling design software. I want them to get their designs into the real world and be able to incorporate them into their robots but we don't have a 3D printer.
I have a highly-motivated group of about 200 students (in my 6 classes).They are a diverse group of college-bound freshmen through seniors who have elected to take a rigorous elective to learn more about the engineering field, automation, robotics, and computer integrated manufacturing.
They are curious about the world around them, and demonstrate creativity and ingenuity in their designs and solutions to problems.
My Project
I am requesting one 3D printer to learn about manufacturing and design in our engineering class. Students will design products themselves in our 3D modeling software and then 3D print them to bring their design to life. We will incorporate those designs into their robotics projects to get custom parts and advanced functionality not available with the parts we have in class. They will learn how to follow the design process, how to design around constraints of manufacturing, and gain hands-on experience with prevalent industrial technology.
It makes a world of difference to a student who is able to physically hold and USE a product that they designed themselves, as opposed to just seeing a virtual representation of it on a computer screen.
This will improve their motivation for continuing in the field, see relevance for what we are learning, and provide ownership of their learning.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mr. Whitfield and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
