3D printing workshops for schools

Looking for 3D printing workshops for schools? Yesterday learnbylayers delivered a one day intensive 3D printing workshop session with students from Christleton International Studio school. The school had two Ultimakers and were looking for a crash course session on how to use the technology to kick start the students into designing and creating their own models. Learnbylayers went into the school for the day and delivered topics on;

1. What is 3D printing and where are they used.
2. Different materials and sustainability issues.
3. 3D CAD skills using Fusion 360
4. How to slice models in CURA

As part of the session, students were exposed to the Project Daniel case study and the Robo hand project. They were also shown the different types of materials that 3D printers can print with such as PLA, Brassfill, Bronzefill, Woodfill, Algae, Coffee and Ninja Flex and how to consider sustainability issues with 3D printers. The students were given the opportunity to get hands on with example materials during the workshop and also questioned the use of rationale behind the materials. The main bulk of the 3D printing workshop was based on teaching the students to design models using Fusion 360. Fusion is free for education users and extremely user friendly. With the CAD software being cloud based, this meant that students could continue the learning from the workshop at home once the workshop had finished. The school has touch screen computers so it was a nice surprise to see students interactive with 3D CAD modelling by using their fingers as well as a mouse.

CAD Design Workshops

The morning workshop started with a quick session on reviewing where 3D printers have been used and the theory behind how 3D printers work, then there was a crash course lesson on how to design basic 3D models. All students had no experience of 3D designing so the basic skills of sketching profiles to extrude, revolves, chamfers, editing sketches etc were all covered. Then in the afternoon session these skills were applied to a series of design challenges based on the learnbylayers intermediate lesson pack.

CURA slicing workshops

Then in the afternoon students were taught the concept of slicing and how to slice a model ready for 3D printing using CURA. As the schools had Ultimakers CURA was the natural choice. Students were taught how to export their models as STL files from Fusion and then import them into CURA, where they would place in the models in the correct alignment for 3D printing and also set the layer height and the infill percentage for optimal printing.

Learnbylayers has to commend the students for an excellent day. They are a credit to their school and they thoroughly enjoyed the day. To contact us about workshops use the form below;