edabot

How does the maker movement help to cause any large-scale change?

It's a lot of fun to use all the new digital fabrication tools and make stuff. The end goal of that is typically a community of people who are supporting each other in making stuff. However, regular talks with local politicians can have vastly larger impacts. Is there any focus on helping people to move up the chain?

Yes, the CAD aspect of 3D printing is one of the biggest stumbling blocks for people who want to print anything. The other is often just making the machine work as it's supposed to. This is even more difficult with a MakerBot.

The even bigger problem there is creating a curriculum that teachers can use. Just as CAD is tough for students, it's also hard for teachers to pick up. This leads to very few teachers who are nimble enough to assist students through a variety of challenges. Throw microcontrollers into the mix and it shrinks even further.

Since it takes a long time to develop such a skilled group of teachers and then an even larger lag time of getting those skills to students (then much larger for public schools) it would be nice to see some sort of online education that could cater to this.

Hi, Bilal!

That's the nature of the technology and the selling of the technology. To get people excited about the power of the technology it's easier to show off the items that only need one part to be printed. It's the "ta da!" effect and makes for an easy story to understand and share.

In short, you want a garden gnome, then LOOK! a garden gnome has appeared on your build tray. Very straightforward and pairs up nicely with a time lapse video (one of the cruel lies of 3D printing, btw).

3D printing can do a lot more, but you're going to need to add a lot more steps to the process and this is where it gets interesting. Some examples:

• Replacing a broken part on a tool or a toy. Measure the broken part, design a 3D file, print it in plastic or metal (online services), and put it in. Like this

• Design a large scale item with multiple printed parts that needs some assembly. Bonus points for LEDs like this

• Design a custom connector for rods or pieces of acrylic so that you have the exact angle that you want. Like pieces for a geodesic dome or a table

• Design a large scale project with many pieces and finish it with successive passes of filler and sandpaper and coats of paint. Like this

The key parts of all of those are design. It takes time to make a 3D file and it takes time to process it after it was printed. It's not a simple story and thus not one that gets showcased often in sales materials. If you're willing to put the time in and develop some skills it's well worth it.

Got this quote from Volpin Props "The sparks of creativity, visualization and execution; are the keys. the tools are only a way to get there. Take it from someone who has been in Technology for longer then I care to mention; "out-of- bounds" creativity in visualization, virtualization and execution are 99% of the game. Whether it's Dell, HP, IBM doesn't mean shit, and a 3D printer is truly the same. It's the architect, analyst, programmer who bring the sparks to make it happen; the rest is just plastic, bent metal and silicon." —Harry Krix

Agreed on the politics and being prepared when presenting. I'd argue that the maker culture is not common sense for workforce development. Or I wouldn't rely on that being common sense.

I'd like to see more design thinking in schools and there are definitely schools out here in the bay area that are doing good work in that area. Unfortunately these are often private schools with a $25k annual tuition being very common. I haven't looked at other states to see if that's being used in public schools.