By Christina Rice

Students at Horace Mann Laboratory School can see their drawings come to life during 3D printing club.

Northwest Missouri State University students who are part of the Plastic Artificers Lab have volunteered their time to teach graphic design and printing techniques to Horace Mann students. Club members wanted to utilize the technology within the community.

During the first phase of design, students draw a rough blueprint of their object on paper. Once they have their draft, they work with the college students on the computer to compose a 3D version of their drawing.

The students use a modified graphic design program called Autodesk 123D Design, a simplified engineering program geared toward younger students. The program is a version of AutoCAD, the program used by industrial engineers. The modified version features a drag-and-drop component, making it easier for children to use.

“This is where everything is going. Robots are doing surgeries now,” Northwest student Hunter Bartelt said. “If you start off early introducing this to kids, then when they go into the workforce they will be comfortable.”

Once the students have completed their 3D designs, the college volunteers convert it to make it compatible with the 3D printer. The image is printed by melting small plastic filaments and layering them upon each other. The entire process takes a long time. The college students said it took several hours to print a single four-inch shape.

“What kid hasn’t dreamed of taking their drawings and making them come to life? We try to make it fun for them,” Bartelt said.

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