3DPrinterOSMicro SD cards could not keep up
Holy Ghost Preparatory School is a private Catholic all-boys college prep school in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, founded in 1897. In 2017 it opened the Brennan Family Innovation Center (BFIC), a makerspace with 3D printers, two laser cutters, a CNC router and a full wood shop.
While the BFIC ran only a couple of Ultimakers, engineering teacher Kevin Bushek did not need robust software. When he started adding printers, he realized within a month that it would not work without a change: micro SD cards were too easy to lose and it was too hard to tell which file was on which card.
Micro SD card readers are also not a common household item, so students faced unnecessary hurdles just getting their designs to a printer.
An online platform students just point their computers to
Kevin moved the BFIC to 3DPrinterOS, a cloud 3D printing solution that young people can simply point their computers towards, with no cards or readers involved.
He uses user groups to separate individual classes, so he always knows where a print request comes from. One class has a user group that prints for free, and he uses 3DPrinterOS to prioritize school-based projects ahead of personal ones.
A lightbulb moment: we can go bigger
Switching to 3DPrinterOS gave Kevin a lightbulb moment: “We can go bigger!” He now runs 6 Creality Ender-3 S1 Pros that work almost 24/7, and has used 3DPrinterOS to manage the BFIC's printers for nearly two years.
The platform supports a demanding schedule of about 120 students across 7 courses, plus requests from other teachers and an electromechanical design class, while still leaving room for students' personal projects when printers are free.
