Print your own ideas in 3D: 3Ducation HUB

Science LinX is inviting researchers and university and school students to explore the world of 3D printing and digital fabrication. It is opening a ‘3D HUB’ for use in education. To mark this, an exhibition on 3D printing opened in the Bernoulliborg on 27 March. It will run until 1 June.

Science LinX organized the exhibition in collaboration with FabLab Groningen and 3D printer manufacturer Ultimaker. The exhibition includes a working 3D printer, and you can have a say in what emerges from it. Send your idea in a mail to sciencelinx@rug.nl . The exhibition is in the hall outside the large lecture hall on the first floor of the Bernoulliborg and is open during office hours; admission is free. After the exhibition has finished (in June), the 3D printer will move to FabLab Groningen, where it will be available for use in education.

What is 3D printing?

3D printers come in all shapes and sizes. The most popular model prints objects from a thread of liquid plastic, just like squeezing toothpaste out of the tube. But 3D printing is not limited to plastic: nowadays you can print models from wax, wood, clay, metal, cement and even chocolate!

The possibilities of 3D printing for the future are endless. We may be able to print solar cells or templates that cells can grow on, thus enabling us to grow whole organs. There are various special search engines on the internet where you can find the codes to print all sorts of 3D models. All you need to do is download the code and print.

Build your own lab

It is already possible to print your own equipment for lab experiments on 3D printers. You can download free information on how to print it, so for little outlay you can do your own experiments at home or school, whereas in the past you would have needed a big, expensive research lab. Science is about sharing ideas, theories and protocols, so why not share designs for scientific equipment with others?

About FabLab

FabLab is a knowledge centre, meeting place and digital design and production studio with digital fabrication machines like a 3D printer and laser cutter. You can make (almost) anything here. Designs and processes are shared in a global network of FabLabs, thus speeding up innovation enormously.