A workshop dedicated to Engineering students that exceeds expectations, through additive manufacturing

Old Dominion University employs Ultimaker 3D printers to introduce a fresh wave of innovation and boost the confidence of its engineering students. In 2017, engineering student Aric Veatch started contributing to the university’s newly established Innovation and Invention Center (EMIC) and quickly developed an interest in the center’s Ultimaker printers. Aric noted that the performance and long-term reliability of the Ultimaker systems significantly outshined their nearest competitors, while their affordability stood out as well. Testing whether these printers met those high expectations became his immediate focus.

In 2017, the dean of the Frank Batten College of Engineering and Technology at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, wanted to create an ultra-endowed space that would be owned and operated by students. As a result, the $1.5 million Center for Innovation and Invention in Engineering was founded with the goal of becoming an accessible resource for any student wanting to try new design ideas. The center offers a range of resources including CAD design and testing, electronics manufacturing, metal, wood and composites fabrication, welding, finishing and 3D printing.

“The Center was built with the mission of producing engineers as critical thinkers, leaders and problem solvers,” said Rafael E. Landaeta, Ph.D., associate engineer and chair of the department of invention in the Frank Batten College of Engineering and Technology.

“Our goal is to provide engineering students with the help they need to develop the skills they need for the job market.”

With 3D printers, the intention was for students to have access to rapid prototyping tools, so they could create finished parts whose production they could compare to their traditional production. According to Veatch, however, the quality of 3D printers and materials has been high enough that most designs can not just be prototyped in the manufacturer’s space, but produced as final 3D printed parts.

“We wanted to have a variety of different printers, but we paid particular attention to the reputation of the manufacturer, the long-term reliability of its services and the ease of use of its products,” said Dr. Orlando Ayala, director of EMIC. “Undoubtedly, Ultimaker meets all the criteria.”

Constant evolution in learning

EMIC was designed to allow prototyping of these ideas, and many students were eager to take advantage of the opportunity. The two Ultimaker S3 desktop 3D printers and one S5 quickly became part of the engineering department’s curriculum. Veatch was named director of student operations as part of his graduate studies to manage 3D printers and other engineering systems in EMIC.

“The use of 3D printers has grown rapidly,” he said. “By November 2019, all printers were in constant use and we had ordered another Ultimaker S3 to meet demand.”

Ultimaker systems use FFF (Fused Filament Fabrication) technology and are compact enough while still offering generous build sizes: the S3 offers build sizes up to 230 x 190 x 200 mm with dual-material fusion and the S5 can build up to 330 x 240 x 300 mm, both with layer thicknesses up to 20 microns.

These specifications allow students to think on a large scale. The ideas and parts created quickly progressed to the point where students were not just designing and producing parts for class, but experimenting and producing parts for other engineering challenges.

The parts produced range from fictional characters and masks to hard-to-obtain vehicle parts.

Ultimaker also offers more than 150 materials for its customers, and engineering students have quickly identified their preferences.

“The materials provided by Ultimaker, particularly TPU and PLA, make it appropriate to provide end-use parts for certain areas of engineering, such as bushings for a gearbox,” Veatch said. “It’s been amazing to watch the evolution of what students think about 3D printing, and they’ve quickly moved from basic projects to very advanced projects.”

Ultimately, he says, 3D printing enables a generation of better engineers who think in 3D space and evolve at a faster pace.

“The Makerspace experience with the Ultimaker caused our engineering students to completely exceed their expectations of what could be achieved,” said Dr. Landaeta. “We were completely blown away by the students’ work.”

Simple process

Veatch cited the following benefits of manufacturing using Ultimaker platforms: ease of use, ease of maintenance, high-quality materials, comprehensive software and low cost of ownership.

“Once I took the 3D printer out of the box, it took me half an hour to get it up and running,” Veatch said. “Because you can easily change print cores, it’s easy to maintain one printer while repairing another.”

He also cites the high-quality materials that come with the Ultimaker, including PLA and TPU materials, but also the freedom to source and use filament from other sources without limitations.

All Ultimaker systems come with Cura software, a free, high-performance software solution for 3D printing preparation. It works with all major CAD file formats and is open source, making it available to anyone.

“Cura software is great just for print preparation,” he said. “You can also make on-the-fly changes to print data during a print, which is great for fixing a problem without having to completely restart the build.”

Engineering in online school

Online school during the Covid period represented for both Dr. Landaeta and Dr. Ayala a very quick and unexpected pilot study on how engineering studies can be carried out in a virtual environment.

“Virtual engineering processes have been successfully implemented across commercial organizations,” said Dr. Landaeta. “However, this required a good investment in time and technologies. Three months of the pandemic accelerated what we thought would take years to become normal in the engineering field.”

Dr. Landaeta points out that much of engineering requires hands-on work to produce parts and products, meaning that while design work can easily be done in a virtual space, the prototyping, testing, manufacturing and maintenance phases still require an extended team in a physical space. However, 3D printing helps overcome some of these limitations.

For the upcoming Summer Bridge program, which introduces high school students to the university’s engineering program, 3D printed parts became a cost-effective option to continue the course in a virtual environment. The team cost-effectively 3D printed and delivered complete printable models to the students so they could continue the program in a virtual environment.

“Low-fidelity 3D printing technologies are affordable enough to have at home,” Landaeta said. “When you work with prototypes, you have to feel them, see them.”

To prove the theory, 3D printers were brought to Veatch’s home during lockdown, where the small desktop footprint remained manageable.

“Moving 3D printers is quick and easy,” Veatch said. «It’s harder to move production lines. The Ultimakers are clean and small enough to use in my home.»

The 3D design data is sent to Veatch via the university intranet, the parts are printed and then sent back to the student for analysis and testing.

“The Batten College of Engineering and Technology intends to support the education of this new engineering normal. Now we must teach our students how to become successful engineers in virtual engineering environments,” said Dr. Landaeta. “3D printing technologies are at the forefront of these efforts, allowing students to make prototypes from campus or at home.”

EMIC now plans to expand the fleet of available 3D printers from 12 to 20 in the future. It is also looking to expand its 3D printing operations with Ultimaker Digital Factory software to help manage its fleet of 3D printers as it grows.

“We are very satisfied with the Ultimaker 3D printers. The students were able to work on amazing projects with ease,” said Dr. Ayala. “We plan to purchase more Ultimaker 3D printers in the future.”