SSEC 3D Printing
The Need
In many special education environments, educators work to impart life skills that their students can later use productively in the workforce.With the advent of rapid prototyping and 3D printing, two teachers at the South ShoreEducational Collaborative (SSEC) sought to explore the feasibility of teaching their high school students 3D design and printing skills. In a collaboration with Enabling Engineering, SSEC was awarded a grant from the State of Massachusetts to teach students the principles and concrete skills underlying rapid prototyping. This endeavor is distinct from all other Enabling Engineering projects in that it is an initiative with an explicitly education-based goal.
The Project
In collaboration with SSEC, EnablingEngineering developed a curriculum to teach high school students basic CAD and 3D printing skills. This collaboration entails monthly meetings that are planned and run by representatives from both Enabling and SSEC. The initial meetings, which took place monthly during the fall of2016, have focused on teaching the students how 3D printers work, how to create basic CAD models, and how to use those models to print. Each meeting functions like a workshop, providing students an opportunity to learn about 3D design and 3D printing in a hands-on environment with access to experienced mechanical engineering students. The students recently completed prototypes of devices that they conceived, modeled, and printed independently.
Current Status
This project is an ongoing collaboration with SSEC students.