How close are we to a society where there is a 3-D printer in almost every household? Now with the click of a button, you can create any object you desire: clothes, books, glasses, jewelry or food.
Unfortunately, it is not as close to an affordable level as we may hope, but the 3-D printing movement is growing by the day.
There is conclusive evidence that 3-D printing is the future of technology in which we can print any object we need on demand. Recently, 3-D printers have become useful in the manufacturing of customized products such as almost all in-ear hearing aids as well as the clear, customized pop-out “braces” called Invisalign. With faster and higher-quality printers becoming more commonplace, 3-D printers may soon be ready to make an impact in the manufacturing sector. Businesses will potentially save millions of dollars by printing thousands of customizable products through a few 3-D printers that cater to their needs. A clothing company, for example, could print thousands of T-shirt designs through a single printer.
Yet before 3-D printing can reach a global level affecting almost everything we manufacture and buy, it must be learned by regular people, so we can use it as a fundamental technological operative, just like Microsoft Word and Excel.
AJ Perez, CEO and co-founder of New Valence Robotics, which aims to offer 3-D printing opportunities for students, said that until there are employees with a proper understanding of 3-D design, it is unrealistic in the near future that every household will have their own 3-D printer.
“There are currently not enough people who have skills to leverage the power of 3-D printing,” Perez said.
New Valence Robotics is a 3-D printing company that focuses on leasing higher-end 3-D printers to schools so that students can bring their ideas to life. NVR has created the world’s first fully automated 3-D printers, in which, through a cloud-based interface, parts can be printed without any physical interaction with the printer.
These 3-D printers are starting to be incorporated into the curriculum of a few select high schools in the Boston area in subjects such as geometry, robotics and other sciences, but Perez suggested that the printers can extend beyond these subjects. It is thus clear that educating students on the software is key in raising a generation that can better work with 3-D printers. Students must become familiar with the technology that will define our future.
The University recognizes students’ needs to study and use 3-D printers, as it currently has seven “state-of-the-art” dimension 3-D printers for undergraduate mechanical engineering courses. These no doubt will greatly enhance engineering courses, given students’ ability to bring CAD — computer aided design — creations to life.
But the University also needs to recognize that 3-D printing goes well beyond engineering. In the near future, 3-D printing can be economically incorporated into architecture, geology, archeology, biology and other subjects. Imagine an architecture class where you can print out your 3-D designs, an archeology class where you can print out ancient artifacts, or a biology class where you can print out DNA or organelles. This is all possible from the same printer. There may even be the need for a class that teaches on the structuring of 3D printers.
According to The Telegraph, in the past month, the U.K.’s Department of Education revealed that a £500,000 fund is now being established for 60 “teaching schools” to “buy 3-D printers and train teachers to use the technology effectively with a view to expanding it across the state education system.” These printers are being incorporated into the curriculum of British secondary schools in order to drive up standards in STEM subjects.
To compete with our international counterparts and keep pace with technology, it is now more necessary than ever for schools to incorporate 3-D printers into their curricula. 3-D printers will not only provide a more hands-on and interactive experience in the classroom. They will also help students familiarize themselves with this expanding technology. The University has made strides to do this, but with cheaper, faster and higher-quality 3-D printers being created, it is time to adapt for the future.
Jared Fogel is an Opinion columnist for The Cavalier Daily. His columns run Fridays.
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