Kodak 3D printing partners with learnbylayers

Kodak 3D printing and Smart International (the global brand license for Kodak 3D printing products) has officially partnered with learnbylayers to help expand 3D printing education into schools around the world. This week we are pleased to announce that we have formed this ground breaking partnership with one of the world’s most recognisable brands. Kodak are one of the first ‘household names’ to enter into the market and are sure to shake up the industry with their impressive device the Portrait 3D printer.

Kodak Portrait 3D printer

Kodak are set to enter the 3D printing market next month with  the ‘portrait 3D printer’. The device is unique as it has many features that other competitors machines don’t feature and is set an immediate impression upon the FDM market. The  3D printer is aimed at the classroom and education, office or an industrial environment and ticks all the boxes for teachers and schools. In an ever safety conscious world that we live in, safety is the number one requirement for classroom and education use is safety. The Kodak Portrait 3D printer has impressive features. Firstly the device is enclosed, so children’s inquisitive hands can’t get anywhere near any of the moving parts. Secondly,is has an air filtration (Hepa / activated carbon filter) system that eliminates odours and microscopic particles. This is one of the most important features along side an enclosed build chamber. With the need to ensure that 3D printers are safe to use near children, and with ongoing research exploring this area, any printer without a built in air filter will be struggle to find it’s way into the classroom in the near future.

Designed for Education

There is also a pretty handy feature called ‘End of  filament sensor’. This means that if a spool of filament runs out then the second spool can automatically continue 3D printing. This is a huge feature and can bring in endless design possibilities without the fear of running out of filament. One of the most frustrating things is when you have some left over filament you can’t use as it’s not enough to print even a small part. There is also a ‘colour light signal’ that means the interior colour of 3D printer will indicate if there is any intervention needed. There is also wifi connectivity, auto levelling, touch screen controls with USB pendrive ports and an impressive build volume of 200 x 200 x 250 mm. The inclusion of a USB port is a welcome addition to a 3D printer, especially for education use. From our teacher first hand experience in the classroom, trying to use SD cards (and in some cases micro SD cards) to save files into and then load into the 3D printer can be frustrating to say the least. Many time the micro SD cards have been misplaced as they are so small and then you also need a SD card adaptor to save the files into as hardly any computers in education have SD card slots in. It’s clear that when some brands of printers designed their devices, the end user experience was an after thought and not the main focus. The Kodak Portrait 3D printer solves all of these issues and will be a breath of fresh air into the education market.

High quality 3D printer with an internationally taught curriculum

Learnbylayers is currently taught in 6 countries with over 10,000 children being taught high quality 3D printing lessons that have been designed by teachers. Schools in the UK, USA, Australia, UAE, Netherlands and Singapore have embraced the curriculum and with the Kodak partnership this will keep the curriculum growing further. Kodak will offer the learnbylayers curriculum as part of a bundle package with the portrait 3D printer when selling to schools and education institutions. This will give teacher the complete package when introducing 3D printing into the classroom. So many times we hear of teachers who want to introduce the technology into their lessons, but the task can be over whelming and they don’t know where to start. This education partnership takes the stress out of teaching 3D printing. The teacher will get a proven high quality, internationally taught curriculum, with one of the most user friendly and innovative 3D printers set to hit the market in years. Also Kodak is a trusted brand and brand loyalty counts for a lot. When buying a Kodak product you know you are buying quality.

Phil Cotton our founder explains, “this is going to be one of the most powerful collaborations in 3D printing set to hit the education market. In all the years that I have been 3D printing in the classroom, not one manufacturer has ever offered a high quality curriculum as part of their 3D printer. This partnership will benefit teachers and students as longer will teachers have to spend countless hours trying to create projects for teaching 3D printing. Our curriculum takes the stress away and allows them to concentrate on teaching 3D printing with a high quality 3D printer that is designed for education’.