Integrating 3D Printing into Engineering Technology Curriculum

Abstract 3-D printing has witnessed significant improvements since its inception as this process enables economical and rapid prototyping of various product designs within a very short time period. The recent technical advancement in 3-D printing managed to scale down the size of 3-D printers and the complexity of the process, where it is a more affordable technology for hobbyists, educators, engineers, researchers and scientists. The increasing use of 3-D printing technologies in industrial applications such as design and prototyping of products, has started creating demands for a skilled workforce of engineers and technicians who are proficient in all aspects of the additive manufacturing processes, from software-driven 3-D designs to hands-on execution of these designs using modern 3-D printing platforms. In order to be competent, modern engineers will need more advanced skills in CAD and optimization that focus on construction of 3-D structures with a growing number of metal, plastic and gel materials. These recent developments in the 3-D printing sector has also taken the attention of many higher education institutions offering engineering and engineering technology programs. A growing number of institutions have started investing on 3-D printers of various kinds and integrating them into their engineering curriculum and courses in order to assure that their students get familiar with the 3-D printing technologies and get well-prepared to industry. For maximum effectiveness, this integration often requires development of systematic coursework that focuses on the main principles of the technology, so that students are given instruction on the design principles for 3-D printing, proper selection of printing materials as well as proper operation techniques of the 3-D printing machines and corresponding modeling and slicing software tools. The paper describes the teaching experiences gathered along three years at the Department of Engineering Technology at the Miami University focusing on the proper use of 3-D printing technology. We present our efforts in developing hands-on laboratory courses as well as modules using 3-D printing to teach the engineering technology students proper design, creative thinking and analytical problem solving techniques.