The future of higher education: reshaping universities through 3D printing

The Future of Higher Education Reshaping Universities through 3D Printing

Featuring four towering limestone columns and classic Flemish-bond brickwork, the century-old Mackay School of Mines Building at the University of Nevada, Reno, has long served as a bastion of Silver State history. Named after Irish immigrant and “Comstock Lode King” John Mackay, notable touches such as a cast bronze statue designed by Mount Rushmore sculptor Gutzon Borglum just outside the building helped it earn a spot in the National Register of Historic Places. Within its oak doors, however, are the makings of an intriguing experiment that’s decidedly more new school. Like a mini museum, a collection of 3D-printed models are displayed within the building’s sunlit, three-story atrium — attracting a mix of students and teachers. Even more popular than the displays of plastic gears and molecule models, however, are the two 3D printers that made them: a professional-grade Stratasys uPrint SE Plus and a hobbyist 3DTouch machine.

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It’s probably illegal to print out a gun from your 3D printer

Because the exact thing that this world needs is untraceable, infinitely reproducible handguns, a group called Defense Distributed has been refining plans for printing of firearms with modern 3D printers. Eventually, Defense Distributed wants to post those plans on the internet on a site called Weapon Wiki. Eventually, if things progressed as Defense Distributed wanted them to, Weapon Wiki would be a place where anybody could download blueprints and build a weapon at home. But that is years away. Their short term goal is producing a pistol capable of firing one shot before the barrel melts.

Here’s the problem: Defense Distributed wasn’t using relatively inexpensive printers available for the public, but instead was leasing a 3D printer from Stratasys. They didn’t like where the project was going, cancelled the lease, and picked up their uPrint. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: The MakerBot Replicator 2 puts mad scientist-level prototyping within reach, MakerBot 3D printer looks like a win,