Tag: CAD

3D ThinkLink Advanced Training Focuses on Job Readiness

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3D ThinkLink Advanced Training November 2019

The 3D ThinkLink students chosen to attend Advanced Training in our Northern Virginia lab gain valuable experience they can’t get in their classrooms at Youth ChalleNGe academies.

YouthQuest Director of Instruction Tom Meeks and 3D ThinkLink Advanced Training students from Freestate and Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academies
Tom Meeks and the cadets

Last month’s sessions were more focused than ever before on preparing our students to compete for jobs that require 3D design and printing skills. They worked with professional-level equipment and learned about digital fabrication processes that go far beyond the simple, plastic-extrusion 3D printing they did on campus.

Cadets Hassan Lancaster and Jesse Henriquez from the District of Columbia’s Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academy, and Cian Moody and Christian White from Maryland Freestate ChalleNGe Academy, enjoyed four days of intensive learning in the lab with YouthQuest Director of Instruction Tom Meeks.

We prepared for the week by studying current job postings to make sure every activity we planned was relevant to what’s happening now in the fast-growing and ever-changing world of advanced manufacturing.

3D ThinkLink students repair a Z310 3D printer during Advanced Training November 2019
Repairing a Z310 3D printer

One highlight of the week came courtesy of our 2019 Community Partner Award winner, Fairfax County Public Schools, which donated two used Z Corp 310 powder/binder 3D printers to our lab. We’ve had one of them running since summer, but the other hadn’t been in operation for years. The cadets eagerly took it apart, cleaned and serviced it and did some troubleshooting. By the end of their first day in the lab, they had brought the old 310 back to life.  

We were also pleased that YouthQuest volunteer Kanean Cruz was able to join us one morning to show the students how a desktop CNC machine works.

CNC (Computer Numerical Control) machining is an example of traditional subtractive manufacturing. A cutting tool spinning at high speed carves an object out of a block of material. In additive manufacturing (3D printing), a moving print head deposits material in patterns, layer by layer, to form an object without any waste.

YouthQuest volunteer Kanean Cruz with 3D ThinkLink students from Freestate ChalleNGe Academy at Advanced Training November 2019
YouthQuest volunteer Kanean Cruz with students at Advanced Training

In watching both processes side by side, our students learned that CNC and 3D printing are really two sides of the same coin. In both cases, the tool’s movement is guided by digital instructions called G-codes. The same design files our students create for 3D printing with Moment of Inspiration CAD (Computer Aided Design) software can be used to make objects with a CNC machine. Rapid prototyping shops and other digital fabrication businesses use a combination of additive and subtractive methods, so the CAD skills our students learn are doubly valuable to those employers.

Tom and the students got to try out a new Matter and Form 3D scanner that arrived just in time for Lab Week. Scanning is an alternative to CAD for creating virtual objects to be printed.

The students also got a taste of 3D printing with ceramics, something few people in the field have tried. Thanks to our Advanced Training, they can say they’re familiar with two methods of printing ceramics – powder and liquid resin – as well as using microscopes to examine the ceramic powder and a kiln to fire the printed pieces.

After four days of hard work, the cadets had an impressive list of experiences to add their resumés.

3D Printer Operation, Maintenance and Troubleshooting
– Operated SLA resin printer
– Repaired FDM (plastic filament) printers
– Repaired and serviced Z Corp 310 and 450 powder/binder printers
– Designed parts and printed them on Z450 full-color powder/binder printer
– Handled gypsum and ceramic powders

3D ThinkLink student Christian White from Freestate ChalleNGE Academy cleans 3D-printed ceramic parts during Advanced Training November 2019
Cleaning 3D-printed ceramic parts

Post-Processing 3D Printed Parts
– Curing, support removal, sanding of SLA printed parts
– Depowdering and coating of powder/binder printed parts

Kiln Operation
– Performed ramp and hold firings of 3D-printed ceramic parts

Microscope Camera and Software
– Used focus stacks for ceramic powder particle distribution tests

CNC Machining
– Operated Carbide Nomad desktop CNC machine

Software
– Experience with Moment of Inspiration (CAD) and Cura slicing software

While all four cadets are interested in engineering, each has his own unique career path in mind. We wrapped up the week with a resumé review session, taking time to go over each student’s situation and tailor a plan for their next steps – community college, trade school, employment, military service or a combination of those.

Tom Meeks with 3D ThinkLink students from Freestate and Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academies on the final day of Advanced Training November 2019
It wasn’t ALL hard work!

The cadets reviewed listings of jobs for which they’re already qualified and practiced answering job interview questions in ways that will impress hiring managers.

These young men have compelling stories to tell prospective employers about overcoming mistakes and turning their lives around.

Now, as they graduate from the ChalleNGe program and open new chapters, they will continue striving to achieve their career goals with the failure-is-not-final attitude we have instilled in them throughout their 3D ThinkLink experience.

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Vocational Orientation Opens Young Eyes to Opportunities

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Students look at a 3D printed architectural model at 3D Systems in Rock Hill, SC, during 3D ThinkLink Vocational Orientation October 20, 2016

Introducing at-risk youth to 3D design and printing is only one part of YouthQuest’s 3D ThinkLink Initiative. Our larger purpose is to help troubled teens learn to think in new ways and dream big.

One way we do that is through Vocational Orientation events, which are a requirement for completion of the 3D ThinkLink training we provide for National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Programs in South Carolina, Maryland and Washington, DC. Students spend a day touring businesses and universities to see real-world applications for the concepts they’re learning about in class.

During an October 13 Vocational Orientation event, University of Maryland grad student Max Lerner tells 3D ThinkLink students from Maryland and DC about the 3D printers he uses in the Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Lab.
3D printers in the University of Maryland Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Lab

Many of the kids we serve have struggled with academics and their life experience is severely limited. Before they enrolled in a ChalleNGe Academy, few imagined themselves pursuing higher education or a career in a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math)-related field.

That’s why being in a college lab or a high-tech manufacturing facility for the first time can be a life-changing moment for these at-risk teens. In essays they write about how our 3D ThinkLink training affected their lives, students frequently mention being inspired by something they saw during Vocational Orientation.

In October, our Maryland and DC students enjoyed a full day of eye-opening experiences, starting with a visit to the newly opened City Garage in South Baltimore. The former bus garage has been transformed into a wonderland of innovation, anchored by Under Armour’s Lighthouse, a 35,000-square-foot design and manufacturing center. The UA Lighthouse includes a room equipped with more than 50 cameras for 3D scanning of athletes. Designers use the scans to create individually tailored sportswear. The students also learned that UA uses 3D design and printing to prototype footwear and apparel.

Josh Dunn of Bustin Boards tells 3D ThinkLink students from Maryland and DC how the company designs and builds skateboards during a Vocational Orientation tour in Baltimore on October 13, 2016.
Josh Dunn explains how Bustin Boards makes skateboards

Elsewhere in the City Garage complex, the kids had fun at the Bustin Boards skateboard company. Along with trying out the boards, they discovered that the Moment of Inspiration software they’re learning to use in class is the same type of CAD (Computer Aided Design) program the company’s designers use. That led to a discussion about how CAD skills are needed for both 3D printing, or “additive manufacturing,” in which machines build objects by putting material only where it is needed, and traditional “subtractive manufacturing,” in which machines cut away material to form objects.

All kinds of additive and subtractive manufacturing devices were on display next door at The Foundery, a large makerspace. In the midst of all that modern technology, the kids also got some hands-on experience with one of the oldest manufacturing methods – blacksmithing. After heating, pounding and bending red-hot steel, the kids surely gained an appreciation for 3D software that can turn a simple shape into something useful or decorative with just a few clicks of a mouse.

3D ThinkLink students from South Carolina Youth ChalleNGe Academy examine a 3D printed object during a Vocational Orientation visit at Duncan-Parnell's 3D printing shop in Charlotte on October 20, 2016.
Students visit Duncan-Parnell’s 3D printing shop in Charlotte

Students from South Carolina Youth ChalleNGe Academy also saw additive and subtractive manufacturing processes in action as they visited Duncan-Parnell’s 3D printing department in Charlotte, NC, 3D Systems headquarters in Rock Hill, SC and the University of South Carolina Department of Mechanical Engineering in Columbia.

The medical uses for 3D printing often strike a chord with our 3D ThinkLink students.

The kids from Maryland’s Freestate and DC’s Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academies were fascinated to see how 3D printing is used to develop things like bone and vascular replacements in the University of Maryland’s Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Lab.

South Carolina Youth ChalleNGe Academy Cadets look at a display on 3D printing in medicine during Vocational Orientation tour of 3D Systems in Rock Hill, SC, October 20, 2016.
Medical technology display at 3D Systems

At 3D Systems, the South Carolina students learned about the company’s work in the fast-growing specialty of pre-surgery modeling. A 3D Systems team recently worked with doctors at Children’s Hospital at Montefiore in New York who separated baby brothers joined at the head. They were able to plan and practice every step of the complex surgery thanks to precise 3D-printed models made from MRIs and CT scans of the boys’ skulls.

We often remind students that being exposed to new ideas and experiences literally makes their brains grow, as new connections between neurons are formed. Our field trips also open students’ minds and expand their view of what’s possible. Vocational Orientation events make these at-risk teens aware of opportunities they had never imagined. While they may not end up working on the cutting edge of technology, the thinking skills and confidence they develop during their 3D ThinkLink experience will help them make the most of any opportunity they choose to pursue.

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