3D Printing

A Carillon Tower for President Philly
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This one-of-a-kind 3D printed carillon clock tower now resides in the Office of the President at GVSU!

As an initiative out of the eLearning and Emerging Technologies team in GVSU’s Information Technology Department, the Technology Showcase is an: immersive and engaging environment to:  INTERACT, DISCOVER, LEARN, and SHARE how innovative emerging technologies can enhance teaching and improve student learning at GVSU.

After seeing a tweet by @PhillyGVPres, requesting ideas to fill her bookshelf in the Office of the President, Eric Kunnen and Samantha Krepel came up with an idea:

How about a welcome gift for our new president?

Taking that idea and running with it, Samantha, a GVSU 2020 undergraduate and showcase student assistant, 3D designed and printed a replica of the Cook Carillon Clock Tower, located on the Allendale campus.

By using Tinkercad, a 3D modelling software, she was able to recreate the clock tower to show her love for GVSU. After 30 hours of printing, the clock tower came to life! While this wasn’t made for any academic intent, Samantha found it to be a great icon to symbolically encapsulate Grand Valley!

Samantha is from West Michigan, and has been glad to call GVSU her home for her undergraduate career. She has a passion for creativity within her work at GVSU’s Atomic Object Technology Showcase, which provided the resources needed to print the Cook Carillon Clock Tower for President Mantella.

About the GVSU Atomic Object Technology Showcase

Located in room 012 of the Atrium in the Mary Idema Pew Library Learning and Information Commons, the showcase is an initiative of the eLearning and Emerging Technologies unit within Information Technology that provides faculty, staff, and students with an immersive and engaging environment to: INTERACT, DISCOVER, LEARN, and SHARE how innovative emerging technologies can enhance teaching and improve student learning at GVSU.

To date, the showcase has over 40 exhibits ranging across a spectrum of innovative technology.

Technology Showcase brings ideas to life with 3D Printing
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Sam Krepel – Emerging Technology Specialist Student Assistant and Team Leader

This post by Sam Krepel, Emerging Technology Specialist Student Assistant and Team Leader, in the Atomic Object Technology Showcase.

The showcase has been able to provide an indispensable 3D printing service to the body of Grand Valley students, faculty, and staff. While we have been able to provide people with personal projects, like soap dishes and GV logos, we also have been able to enliven the academic environment.

One of the projects that we have printed for faculty are cloud formations that were made for the Skywarn meteorologist training. They have been used by participants of the training that are visually impaired.

 

Along with the skywarn prints, we have printed numerous prototypes for MKT 370 –  New Product Development classes. The classes are focused on new, innovative ideas, and finding ways to take their conceptual ideas, and make them physically. Some of the ideas that we’ve 3D printed are pet-based ball launchers, adjustable phone stands, and knitting yarn bowls!

Another academic project that we’ve been able to help has been an intermediate engineering class that are working with mini computers called Arduinos. The students were tasked with using CAD software to create a housing unit for the mini computers. By using the CAD software, the students were then able to export their designs to be 3D printed and see their design come to fruition.

The mission of the showcase’s resources, such as our 3D printers, is to provide a way for people to understand how creative technology can provide an innovative and engaging academic environment.

Learn more about 3D printing at GVSU on the Atomic Object Technology Showcase Makerspace web page.