3DPrinterOSSD cards, a clipboard and no real control
The Weber School is a Jewish community private high school in Atlanta, Georgia, serving grades 9 to 12. Its makerspace, the Daniel Zalik Academy of Science, Technology, Engineering and Design (DZA), is modeled on MIT's makerspace system and the Invention Studio at Georgia Tech.
When Madi Anderson, Director of Educational Operations and Community Partnerships, started in 2019, the whole 3D printing program ran on SD cards. Students sliced in PrusaSlicer, copied files to a card, carried it to the printer and logged their details and print time on a clipboard, and staff had to sign off on every project.
That made it very hard to control how much each student printed. Some students took personal projects to the next level and printed large quantities of little statues to sell to other students.
Logins, queues and user groups for every student
Christopher Chapman, Director of Design and Technology, found 3DPrinterOS, and the DZA has used it ever since. Students now learn the platform from day one: Madi shows them how to log in and adds them to the system.
From then on students queue their own work, and admin staff can review jobs before they print. 3DPrinterOS emails the student if anything goes wrong, for example if a print cancels midway, and staff can watch prints from home.
Madi's advice for new users is to make use of user groups. Teachers and staff have full privileges, and so do trained student lab assistants, who can edit designs and print without asking permission.
A lifesaver for staff, autonomy for students
Madi says 3DPrinterOS has been a lifesaver: it drastically cut the amount of work needed to get a successful 3D print and gave students far more autonomy over their own projects.
Since starting with 3DPrinterOS in 2019, more than 200 yearly users have made over 2,400 prints, using 94 kg of filament across more than 10,000 hours of printing. Giving lab assistants full privileges has taken significant pressure off staff, who now have more time for students with little or no experience.
3D printing now runs through subjects from history and Judaics to science and math, from catapult-launched mini pumpkins in physics to a bespoke grabber designed for a person in a wheelchair.
