We deploy the use of 3D printing to generate interest in manufacturing in the broader community in Rapid City, SD as well as teach mechanical engineering students Design for Additive Manufacturing. The use of open source systems allows our students can get into the guts of these machines and learn more than just manufacturing; they get to learn programming, machine design, supply chain management, and more.
We hosted a 3D Printing camp in the July 2014 with 18 High School students from around the US and challenged them to truly use these systems for iterative product development and product design. These 15, 16, and 17 year old students formed teams and competed to design a 3D printed water pump. After 6 days of mentoring, lectures and lots of 3D printing they competed to see which team could pump the most water in 15 minutes. The winning team pumped 8.3 gallons. We continue to accelerate the educational aspect of 3DP and have been integrating a program to train technicians how to operate advance manufacturing equipment (eg. Directed Energy Deposition, material extrusion, and vat-photopolymerization systems). Further we have developed engineering education programs with direct write technologies for security printing and advanced antenna manufacturing. We have 2 six-axis systems, one with a tool changer (for metrology and machining).

http://www.additivemanufacturinglaboratory.com/