Category: Once a Semester Activity

Hi guys, as the semester is over, I just wanted to tell you guys about the awesome equipments that are located all around our school! When I first took this class, I wish I had knowledge to these equipment, instead of searching for them here and there. I have a list of equipment that you guys can utilize to create prototypes in the future! Even though you are not an art major like me, you will have full access to these equipment I am going to be telling you guys. This process is based on my process of our group project, the C-Leg protection. I will take you guys through each step and how we came to our final prototype at the Make-A-Thon.

Located everywhere:

1. Brainstorming and Ideation:

This is the very basic and most important step when it comes to design. In order to create a successful design, you need to specify the user and start brainstorming for opportunities. Come up with a few questions and search for your target user. Then ask them those questions and try to find an opportunity. For an example, our group found an opportunity to create a prosthetic leg protection for our user, Jenna. Based on the interview, you will start brainstorming different ideations. This process should be very quick and should always be open to opportunities. For me, the most important part was to keep in touch with the target user, so we know we are in the right track. So, our group drew a picture of Jenna’s leg and constantly referred back to the picture, to make sure we were on track. Throughout our entire process, we had to revisit this step multiple times, because we had to change out design. And this is natural. Do not rush this step, since you might get inspired by the most unexpected ideation.

Located in the Maker’s Lab:

1. 3D scanner

After you have a good insight of your direction, the next step is to make a 3D model of the product you are basing off of. For my case, we had Jenna come in with her prosthetic leg and we had it scanned using the “Occipital Structure 3D Sensor with Precision bracket”. This program allows the user to scan an object and turn it into an Obj file which could later on be converted into a stl file by using “Scrulptris”. The more complicated the object is, the more time the program needs in order to read the data. For the prosthetic leg, it took us about 15 minutes in total to scan the entire leg. It is really cool to see the model slowly mold into a 3D file while you are scanning.

2. Fusion 360 and Cura

With the obj file is converted to a stl file using “Scrulptris”, you can open the file in “Fusion 360” if you need further modification. For an example, you can add more bulge to a certain area or fill in the holes of the object. If the file has a rough texture, “Scrulptris” will be able to smoothen out the rough surface of the object. This is very important. If you don’t smoothen out the surface and make sure you have no holes, the 3D scan will fail and you will have to start over all again. So, you should always make sure you do it right at the first time. After you send the file into Cura, you can change the density of the object. For my model which does not have a lot of body structure, I have a 15 percent density which is enough to be used as a model. You should ask the workers for better insights on which density to use because it will determine how long the 3D print will take. For our C-Leg model, it took us a total of 10 hours to print out the three separate models. This may not be applicable for everyone but with this C-Leg model, our team saved a lot of time and effort to make it accurate as the actual model. At the end, even without Jenna at the Make-A-Thon, the model fit Jenna’s C-Leg perfectly.

Located in the Fab Lab:

1. InkSpace and Laser Cutting

InkScape is a digital program that is used in the Fab Lab in order to use the Laser cutter. If you have any experience with any of the Adobe Suite programs, it is very easy to learn. But even without any experience, you can learn how to use it within 20 minutes. The most important part is make sure the lines that will be laser cut should have a stroke of 0.01 mm and colored in red, RGBA: 255,0,0,255. If you would like to have vectors, just change the color to blue, RGBA: 0,0,255,255. Then save the file to a SVG format and print your file on the laser cutter. For my project, I used the laser cutter to cut the Acrylic according to our design. The laser cutter saves a lot of time and cuts the pieces precisely, so there is no wobbly cut strokes. Also, the laser cutter is great for anyone who is using brittle materials such as acrylic and glass. I think our team saved a lot of time during the Make-A-Thon by using the laser cutter.

2. Sowing Machine

The sowing machine is great when it comes to sowing fabric pieces together. I used to learn how to sow my pants in fourth grade using my hands. But after learning how to use the sowing machine, I now only use the sowing machine to sow any embroidery pieces. When you use the sowing machine, you need to first feed the thread through the holes according to the numbers and make sure you have the feeding thread underneath as well. Pulling back both threads, you can then start using the sowing machine. With enough practice, the final product will turn out to have clean seam or even seamless if you flip it inside out. For our C-Leg protection, we flipped the seamed side inside, so the product looked very clean without any seam to be shown. You can use the fabric as a pocket. For an example, our group inserted foam pieces inside the two fabric and made it accessible with velcro.

3. Acrylic Bender and Heat Gun

Lastly, the heat gun is my favorite equipment to use in the Fab Lab. It is also one of the most dangerous equipment to use, due to how hot it could get. With maximum heat, it could burn your skin very badly, so it should be always be used with heat resistant gloves. Another similar product is the acrylic bender. This product only applies heat in a straight line, so it takes longer to bend objects. I found out that this equipment is best when it’s used to precisely bend an object in a certain angle. For our project, we first used the acrylic bender to get a general shape of the mold. Then we used the heat gun to warp the shape according to the 3D scanned C-Leg. When we were using the heat gun, we had to make sure we protected the 3D scanned C-Leg with fabric, so the 3D canned C-Leg won’t melt. With enough caution, the acrylic bender and the heat gun is a great tool to use.

Conclusion:

Throughout this semester, I’ve discovered all these gems located in our campus. And it was an awesome opportunity to learned how to use all of these equipments. I don’t think I would’ve been exposed to any of these if it wasn’t for BADM 357 class and the Make-A-Thon. This course has definitely made me hungry to explore other equipments located around the campus and I am going to give it a try. I will continue to use these techniques I’ve learned and use it create other prototypes as well. I also hope that this guide will attract other non-designers to take a chance and explore the beauty of designing prototypes.

Jae Lee

When I first chose to take this Digital Making course, I had no experience with Design or 3D printing. I knew 3D printing technology was becoming more advanced and accessible, so I enrolled in the course to learn more about the technology itself and its impact on different industries. In the first few weeks of class, I researched topics related to Digital Making in order to expand my knowledge of the field. One aspect of Digital Making I found very interesting was Bioprinting. Not only did the possibility of printing something living blow my mind, but I realized that this could have a drastic effect on the Medical industry. Thus, I chose to conduct further research on the Bioprinting industry: what has already been accomplished and where the industry is headed.

What has already been accomplished

The greatest opportunity I see with Bioprinting is organ transplants. According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, “154,324 patients waiting for a [transplant] in the United States alone in 2009. Among them, only 27,996 patients received organ transplantation and 8,863 patients died while they were still on the waiting list.” If Bioprinting becomes more accessible in the near future, it will drastically decrease these numbers due to more available and cheaper organs. Thus, hundreds, if not thousands, of lives could be saved each year in the United States.

Some phenomenal work is already being done in this field. In Poland, researchers are working on printing an artificial pancreas. The goal of this research is to create a functioning pancreas that will help those who struggle with diabetes. With an increasing rate of diabetes and thus more transplants, this bionic pancreas would affect thousands, if not millions, of people and save countless lives.

Another recent advancement is a Korean company, Rokit Healthcare, is testing a new method for treating lesions through skin grafts. The method involves using a patient’s autologous tissues and cells to then print a graft. Once the graft is printed, the doctors will place it on the patient’s wound and the skin cell will regenerate. Additionally, researchers in the industry have successfully printed DNA molecules onto glass slides utilizing inkjet printers. Inkjet printers have also been used in cartilage repairs and other types of cells.

However, there are still some obstacles to overcome with inkjet bioprinting. For example, the high heat of the nozzle may over-dry the cells. One approach to overcome this obstacle is to prepare the bioink in a water-based solution to prevent drying and clogging of the nozzle. This method of tissue engineering research is also very expensive and time-consuming, which makes it not very feasible. Moreover, there is the possibility that cells could be damaged in the printing process. Small nozzle sizes necessary for high resolution printing puts more stress on the cells. However, controlling the concentration of cells in the bioink allows researchers to control the number of cells in each ink drop, which could help minimize cell damage.

The future of bioprinting

Returning to the idea of solving the organ donor shortage issue, Dr. Anthony Atala, the Director of the Wake Forest Institute of Regenerative Medicine, is a leader in this area. He gave a TED talk in 2011 where he introduced a printer that could print a working kidney. Today, the kidney still has not been successfully transplanted into a human, but Dr. Atala stated that his lab’s research “has shown that 3D printed bone, muscle and cartilage structures, when implanted in animals, succeed in creating a system of nerves and blood vessels that integrate into the body.” However, this research is still being conducted and is not ready to try on patients.

The possibilities of bioprinting in the future are endless. Currently, most research is in the experimental phase. Living cells, tissues, and organs have been printed, but they are not yet in the stage of surgically implanting them into human bodies. There have been successful transplants in animals, but not humans yet. Because the industry is still in the Introduction phase of the industry life cycle, I predict that within the next ten years, successful transplants of different types of organs will take place and bioprinting will become more widely used once it is approved by the FDA.

Impact on the medical field as a whole

As further research on bioprinting is conducted in the forthcoming years, bioprinting will become more advanced and common. This will increase the availability of now-scarce organs and decrease the cost of transplants. Furthermore, companies are starting to partner together to conduct more research. For example, L’Oreal and Organovo, a 3D bioprinting company based in San Francisco, teamed up to explore 3D printed skins for cosmetics testing.

In addition to printing living cells and tissues, medical professionals have successfully printed body parts out of other materials and implanted them into people’s bodies. One recent success story is Professor Mashudu Tshifularo and his team of surgeons in South Africa have implanted a 3D-printed middle ear. This landmark operation consisted of the hammer, anvil, and stirrup ossicles that were 3D printed with titanium. Professor Tshifularo stated that “The operation went fantastically well and we are very excited.” Thus, it is evident that 3D printing is the future of the medical industry, whether the materials being printed are living or not.

Emma Bradford

Hi there! I am a Senior studying Marketing and Information Systems/Information Technology. I chose to take this course in order to expand my creative and design thinking skills that I can apply to my future career. I am grateful that we are provided the opportunity to take this course as Business majors.

I am a Computer Science major however, I have always had a passion for art. For years I’ve been seeking ways to utilize both of my passions for tech and art interchangeably. After seeing pictures of Gucci’s FW18 show in Milan I was stunned. Models were walking down the runway with their heads! I was so intrigued that I did some research into how Gucci made this happened.

“Representing the growth and self-awareness of a person as well as being conscious of one’s evolution, models walked the Gucci Fall Winter 2018 show holding replicas of their heads. To recreate their faces, the models’ moulds in silicone and plaster, and the models were scanned at Makinarium’s headquarters in Rome six months ago for a virtual 3D impression to capture their expressions. This advanced technology is then finished hand texturizing by artisans in the factory’s laboratory.”

The company Makinarium is famous for creating special effects for numerous movies. After finding this out I decided to dig deeper. Silicone has not only been of benefit in the art world but also in other industries such as the medical and aerospace industry, In an article by Alina Cohen it states, “[silicone] shape-shifting potential has inspired everyone from astronauts to plastic surgeons: Neil Armstrong wore silicone-tipped gloves during the first-ever moonwalk; cosmetic surgery has long relied on the material for breast implants;”

3D printing is used alongside silicone molding and casting. 3D printing and silicone casting have many similarities. One is that they are useful for making duplicates and prototyping. However, the traditional material used to 3D is a lot harder than silicone. Using them interchangeably allows for one to still leverage the ability to prototype efficiently while also being able to dedicate certain materials to certain aspects of the design. One team utilized both 3D printing and silicone casting to make a tail prosthetic for an alligator. In an article by Clare Scott, it states,

“The team 3D printed the model and used it to make a silicone cast. That cast was then used to make multiple prosthetic tails for Mr. Stubbs. Why didn’t they just 3D print a wearable prosthetic? While 3D printing has been used to create numerous prosthetics for animals, an alligator tail is especially large, and the team would have needed a large-scale 3D printer to print the prosthetic all in one piece. There are certainly 3D printers that could handle the job, but it would have been a time-consuming print, especially since they wanted to make multiple prosthetics. It would be easier to make one 3D print, use it to make a mold, and quickly cast several pieces.”

There are now 3D printers on the market that can print with silicone. In an article by Farai Mashambanhaka it states, “Wacker Chemie, a leading chemical giant, unveiled the first silicone 3D printer. This development brought great options in critical areas of application, especially in the health and medical areas, where silicone is considered to be biocompatible and tear resistant.” Researchers at the University of Southern California leveraged 3D printing silicone as they found a way to 3D print self-healing polymers, “Researchers at the University of Southern California Viterbi School of Engineering have done just that: created 3D-printed rubber materials that can quite literally fix themselves without human intervention.” (Tracey Schelmetic)

3D printers that print silicone are utilized in the medical industry especially for the new development of breast implants. After numerous failures with breast implants erupting surgeons are seeking new ways to create safe breast implants one-way of accomplishing this is through using 3D printers that print silicone.

3D printing and silicone will continue to integrate in the future if technology. I think it is amazing that this intersection ranges from art to the medical industry. It really speaks to the power of STEAM.

Brianna Richard

Once of the most influential factors in my decision to enroll in the class was seeing the partnership announced between ICON and New Story in early 2018. After settling down post 2017 crypto crazy, I began to look at other technologies which could impact the developing world. I had fallen in love with enabling digital and social finance and in 2018 I slowly began shifting my focus to housing. I had battled and worked through last mile internet solutions through my time with Mesh++, and now I wanted to delve into scalable solutions to solve homelessness, because everyone deserves at least that.

            While researching this topic, I familiarized myself with someone we all should know, Charles Hull, the inventor of stereolithography. This was a process discovered over 30 years ago and it has just begun to go mainstream as 3D printing. It blew my mind that this was a technology discovered before the internet. As with all innovations, it takes time and large institutional investments to drive the price down, but with companies such as Formlabs coming to prominence in the last decade, we can surely say 3D printing is here to stay.

           Nonetheless, concrete 3D printers are typically the type which are used currently in 3D printed houses, so it is still a niche within the industry that is not necessarily accessible or affordable for the average person yet. With that taken into account, they are typically reasonably priced, rarely crossing the $20,000 threshold. However, even the everyday firm architect experiences significant value adds from incorporating the 3D printing process into their workflow.

            For starters, 3D printing can help clients better visualize and scale a potential project. Mini-cities and structures could be easily developed to show urban planners how another building would influence the landscape, and let clients get a sneak peak of their dream home through scaled down models. It also allows for simple remote collaboration, as architects could edit the digital files anywhere around the world, and then print them remotely themselves.

Additionally, by moving this manual process to a digital format, architects will inherently save time and money throughout the design process. Yet the most important aspect could be what is the equivalent of the open source code community. By lowering the cost and time effects of creating digital models, architects will be more encouraged to start repositories of their 3D designs, allowing the greater community to leverage and build off them. I can’t wait to see the GitHub equivalent in the architecture or design industries!

            On the higher level, we see 3D printing continuously used more to 3D print houses directly. ICON is currently leading the field, with their printer being able to create communities with houses up to 2,000 square feet! The previously mentioned partnership with New Story subsidizes these types of houses for the developing world, specifically targeting families who live on less than $200 per month. It is reassuring to see industry trailblazers continuing to conduct business with a social impact; that is our responsibility as early adopters of disruptive technology.

            Even though I can’t wait to own my mini-empire of personal 3D printed homes all across the globe, 3D printing is making an impact in architecture far beyond replacing traditional home construction (as if that wasn’t enough already). Just this month, a team of Boston University researches unveiled a shape which blocks 94% of sound. The ring-like figure is “mathematically designed, [and made from a] 3D-printed acoustic metamaterial [that] is shaped in such a way that it sends incoming sounds back to where they came from” (Fast Company). 3D printing is literally spearheading an architectural and design movement which will serve as our infrastructure backbone for at least the coming decades.

           The influence of 3D printing in architecture has arguably even been felt. We’re finally closing in on an era of affordable housing in which entire communities can appear out of nowhere in a matter of days. Architects will delve into an age of newfound collaboration and digital innovation which will stimulate real estate development at a lower cost. And maybe scientists will even 3D print more ridiculous innovations which alter the sensory output of our environments. 3D printing will disrupt architecture in a way few expect, but in a way which will never leave our world looking the same.

Michal Cymbalisty

As 3D printing increases in popularity and becomes more common, many industries are evolving to include the technology. A great example of this that many people do not normally consider is the fashion industry. As a user who was unfamiliar with 3D printing in the beginning of this class, I understand people might not grasp the impact 3D printing plastic can have on fashion. However, 3D printing has major implications for design, texture and innovation for fashion designers. 

A great example of this is LabeledBy a design studio in the Netherlands that works to incorporate innovation into their textiles and garments. The studio strives for personalization and sustainability within the fashion industry. LabeledBy says they have been able to use Ultimaker and 3D printers to make personalized garments that uniquely fit a person’s body. During their interview, LabeledBy explained that the 3D printer they use has been optimized for garments and textiles. The 3D printer can print all materials and they are making even more changes so they can print with more experimental and biodegradable materials. They also make sure to use materials that are suitable or the washing machine! LabeledBy is a great example of a company that is innovating the fashion industry with 3D printing. 

Another great example of 3D printing in the fashion industry is within movie props and costumes. In the movie Black Panther, the costume designed for Queen Ramonda was created with a 3D printer (see picture below). The technique used to create this design was SLS or selective laser sintering. It involved using lasers to heat a powder and fuse the particles together. The particles were fused layer by layer and then the excess filament was removed. A CAD software was used to create the 3D costume and was then tailored for the actress’s specific measurements.

The designer of the costume, Julia Korner, had previously worked on 3D printed designs for Haute Couture collections (including items for Chanel and Herpen). Haute Couture is the most exclusive, expensive segment of the fashion industry. This segment is so high fashion many people have never even heard of the designers. Even celebrities don’t normally participate in the Haute Couture fashion segment. This segment is meant for true fashion enthusiast who spend millions on a single piece only to never wear it and to save it to be admired for generations. Therefore, it is absolutely crazy to think that 3D printing is invading the Haute Couture fashion segment. This really has the ability to decrease the exclusivity of a fashion piece and allow it to be affordable or within reach for average consumers.  

3D printing has also disrupted the luxury fashion industry and caused many concerns for designers. Luxury fashion is what is still a very high end fashion segment but includes more well-known brands such as Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Gucci and Burberry. There is some overlap between luxury fashion and Haute Couture (example Chanel), but a brand can meet luxury fashion criteria and still not be high end enough for Haute Couture. The biggest concern of luxury brands with the introduction of 3D printing is intellectual property rights infringement. Global import of counterfeit goods is already over $500 billion a year however, with 3D printing luxury brands expect this number to grow. However, the article mentions how it is still important for luxury brands to embrace 3D printing and view the technology as a way to create a personalized product for an affluent customer. 

Personally, I view this shift in the industry as positive and I wish luxury brands would embrace affordability. (I understand this counterattacks the idea of it being a luxury brand.) I believe if everyone has the opportunity to access “luxury” fashion (even if it is 3D printed and “counterfeit”) socioeconomic disparities based on fashion would reduce. Sometimes people are quick to judge based on the clothing and brands a person wears. However, that isn’t fair in my opinion; just because someone does own a Chanel purse it doesn’t mean they are any less of a person. 

3D printing is also helping to increase the sustainability of the fashion industry. Currently, the fashion industry is highly criticized due to large amounts of clothing that end up as waste in landfills. However, with 3D printers’ designers are able to print new designs and create less waste. Designers are also looking into biodegradable clothing that could be 3D printed. According to St. Catherine University researchers, 3D printing has the potential to change the entire fashion industry and allow ready to wear fashion companies to create less waste. Within the shoe industry, 3D printing allows designers to easily prototype and reduce waste associated with making multiple shoe models. 

In class, we were able to understand how 3D printing applies to the fashion industry when we visited the Fab Lab in Champaign, IL. We actually were shown a fabric that had 3D printed thorns on it for a costume. This is only the beginning of the capabilities 3D printers can have for the fashion industry. As people continue to experiment it will be interesting to see how the fashion industry innovates with this technology. 

Maryam Siddique

Gies College of Business || May 2019

Supply Chain Management & Information Systems/Information Technology