By MARVA HALTOM
Student Reporter
A new 3D printer arrived at NWOSU a week before school started, so the natural sciences department is just now getting started with it.
Steve Maier, head of the natural sciences department, proposed that the school invest in a new 218 Makerbot 3D printer.
The printer like this costs about $6,500, although other types of 3D printers can run up to $20,000. 3D printers can print in different colors and also print metal material. The scanner Northwestern purchased prints plastic material and heats up to 200 degrees Celsius.
Once the operator finds an object to recreate, he downloads the code from an online site onto a flash drive and plug the flash drive directly into the printer. The printer will then read the code and begin processing the information to make the object. Maier said he likes to use the site thingiverse.com to find specific objects that have already been made by other 3D printers.
The purpose of the 3D printer is to help students recreate objects to help students learn more about the subject they are obtaining information on and how an object works. For example, nursing majors could recreate an exact replica of a heart module. They can build each individual piece of a heart and reconstruct it as a hands-on learning experience. Students could even reconstruct bones from the human body and put and entire skeleton together. Engineering majors would be working with code to create their own devices and will eventually be able to check out laptops to work from home.
Along with the 3D printer is a scanner that students will also be able to use. Students will be able to pick out an object in the room, set it on the scanner and the scanner processes the object and sends the code to the 3D printer to print the object out. One of the biggest things Maier has already printed is called the tower of Pi; the circumference and diameter of the object comes out to 3.14.
3D printing is now being used by large companies to cut costs. Companies can save up to 70 percent by not spending money on shipping and packaging. It also cuts out middlemen out and goes straight to the manufacturing process. One of the first things someone made with a 3D printer was another 3D printer.
Maier said students will be learning at a faster pace by creating what they need right there in the room. The science department will be able to create the parts they need without spending extra money on modules and other products used in a classroom setting.