Jun 16, 2015 | By Kira
Just about anybody who went to public high school will have a completely different set of memories and experiences, whether they were a jock, cheerleader, nerd, rebel, class president, or class clown. However, one thing they’ll most likely all remember is the sorry state of their school’s classrooms and facilities. According to a recent study, lack of financial support continues to be the number one challenge facing public schools in America, and in many cases, it shows.
However, 3D printing offers a novel solution to cash-strapped classrooms. An enterprising sophomore student in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, recently turned a few dollars worth of 3D printing filament into over $10,000 in savings for his district school board.
Sophmore student Tanner Hauger working in his school's 3D printing lab
Tanner Hauger, a student in the engineering and manufacturing classes at Laurel Highlands High, used the schools’ 3D printer and Autodesk Inventor software to reproduce parts for the fire doors and heating units that either couldn’t be bought separately, or had been discontinued. While the pieces themselves may seem trivial, their impact on the quality and safety of the district is undeniable.
The fire doors, for example, required a small part that would enable the door to shut automatically in case of an emergency. Since the actual piece had been discontinued by the original manufacturer and ordering a brand new door-closing system would cost $1,000, teachers had simply been keeping the door open with a wedge, and manually closing it during fire drills.
Hauger’s 3D printed replica, however, cost only $6 and solved the safety issue. So far, three doors have been repaired, saving the school $3,000, and there are 10 more fire doors within the district that could benefit from his invention in the future.
Hauger used a dial caliper to measure the parts, which he was then able to reproduce with Autodesk and a 3D printer
As for the heating unit, the broken piece was relatively small, but couldn’t be purchased separately, meaning that an entire new system, valued at $250, would need to be ordered. “It’s $1 worth of plastic saving $250, and $6 worth of plastic saving $1,000,” said teacher Chuck Smitley. “It’s crazy. It blows my mind.”
The entire district is rightfully proud of Hauger for his hard work and ingenuity, not only in this case, but in other class projects as well. “He’s a thinker,” said Smitley. “He’s going to go far.”
Aside from the financial benefits, Hauger’s work proves that students truly can learn real-world skills in high school that can be applied outside the classroom. “This shows how the Technology Education Department is always trying to give our students real world tasks that they can utilize in a job after or during high school,” said Earl Wingrove, a teacher in the Technology Education Department. “I also want the community to realize that the school has updated its facility and is using new technology to prepare our students for competitive jobs once they graduate.”
Perhaps the ultimate lesson to take from this story is that, when given access to new technologies and the freedom to create, today’s young minds are capable of solving real-world problems in completely unforeseen ways. With more and more schools gaining access to desktop 3D printers, who knows that the newest generation of makers will come up with next.
Posted in 3D Printing Applications
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ThatGuy, Did you read the whole article? The part can no longer be bought. It's discontinued! Whether or not that the part works flawlessly is still better than a DOOR WEDGE. Jeez, some people are grumpy in the morning!
ThatGuy wrote at 6/17/2015 12:59:53 AM:
All fun and games till there's a fire and hundreds of kids die because the door malfunctions... Replacement parts- either knowingly bought as re-engineered pieces or counterfeits of the real thing will cause issues if they are not to the service specifications of the OEM part. It's great that we can make parts for mundane things like doors and vents, and replacement parts for old cars- but it is only a matter of time before design or materials used cause failures. The story is that F86 fighters had a habit of their ailerons locking up in high G rolls. Chuck Yeager helped figure out it was a bolt that was binding because the seasoned worker in the assembly plant was putting a bolt in 'right side up' instead of the 'upside down' orientation in the plans. The head of the bolt had clearance until stress on the wing made it bind in aerobatic flight. This killed a few pilots.
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