Educational plan for 3D Printing/Additive manufacturing

[Josh Hastie]

Hey folks,

     I'm considering returning to school to get enough instruction and perhaps a degree I can use to break into the additive manufacturing field.  From the research I've done it seems that mechanical engineering tracks are where I'd find the material most easily applied to designing objects to print, even objects with moving parts, and learning to use the relevant software, but do any of you have further suggestions?

     I've sent inquiries to Sinclair and WSU about this, and I may be touring Sinclair next week with a professor to learn more about their mech-engineering department and the printers at their facility.  I'm disheartened by the limited availability of their relevant courses though; I don't believe I'll be able to keep working and take the classes.  WSU hasn't bothered responding as of yet.

     If I decide the skills are more important than a degree, I suppose I could try self-instruction or a tutor, which would certainly save me money and frustration, but I imagine it would also bar me from working many places.  Resources like this http://3dprintingindustry.com/2014/05/30/pirate-class-3d-printing-wannabes/ always help of course.

     My ultimate goal if I prove to have the chops would be running printers for a movie studio's special effects/prop shop, sculpting my own pieces as well as scanning and reproducing stunt versions of hero props, that sort of thing.

     I was surprised how little there was available on this subject from my Googling around.  I know it's relatively fresh technology and schools are slow to adjust, but I thought surely someone must have blogged some wisdom on the topic.  Maybe my Google-fu is weak lately.

Thanks,

Josh H.

[Joseph Mckibben]

Well I'm not in the additive manufacturing field, although I think I might call that phrase a misnomer. Nobody is really doing "manufacturing" with 3D printing, in industry its mostly used for prototyping. You could probably find a few rare cases where companies are using 3D printing as an actual means to an end product but nothing in any really high yields. Maybe in the future this will be different.

I would say if you want to make props and things for movie studios, go to art or design school. Learn 3D modeling and stuff like that. You don't need to know anything really specific to 3D printing necessarily. Most 3D printers you would be using in that type of environment would be commercial grade printers where basically you through in your modeled part and say print.

If you want to design real functional parts that have some function then yes get a mechanical engineering degree. 

If you want to do some experimenting on your own and get a good idea of whats involved with 3D printing and modeling parts for it. Download Blender and OpenSCAD watch some video tutorial on Youtube and create some models. Then come buy Dayton Diode on Wednesdays when I'm there and we will try to print some parts. Oh buy some filament too. 3mm PLA.

Oh and I think J Simmons had a link to a 3D printer that already has some curriculum setup.

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[J. Simmons]

Sorry I am late to the discussion.  Yes, Joe, I did have a link to 3D printing curriculum.  Here it is - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fzFSsgQon7SlSW358gD3rN3KAvU8UWvK5tZ8eNzuepg/edit?pli=1

Josh H., you may also want to consider a slightly wider educational approach that should still get you where you are wanting to go (from a technical skills standpoint) while also giving you a wider range of job and career options while you work toward your goals - Computer Aided Manufacturing (many of the advanced machining shops around Dayton include a mix of manufacturing techniques including computer controlled CNC and 3D printing).  Sinclaire has a couple of programs in this field.  

* https://www.sinclair.edu/components/bulletin/bulletin.cfc?method=displayProgram&id=3589FC45-B5C8-F481-B2DFE9E248321B7D&dsn=cmt_approved_semesters

* https://www.sinclair.edu/components/bulletin/bulletin.cfc?method=displayProgram&id=10A3CF9F-F859-3F27-3D9E-7F46EA9AABFC&dsn=cmt_approved_semesters

You might talk to that department to see if they can point you in a helpful direction.

Good luck,

 -J

[Josh Hastie]

Thanks for that curriculum J.

I've been in contact with faculty members and an advisor at Sinclair (my inquiries at WSU stalled) and I haven't learned as much as I'd like.  The courses that came up were

SolidWorks MET 1301

Solid Edge  MET 1351

Unigraphics MET 1331

Inventor       MET 1201 (Inventor is not offered as a stand alone course)

AutoCAD    MET 1371

You can't leap in right away, there's a prereq for 1301: MET 1101: Introduction to Engineering Drafting  but then you're pretty much set.  The professor I spoke to had nothing to suggest about my specific goals or interests and treated me as someone simply seeking an engineering degree, insisting I would need to decide whether to pursue the mechanical engineering technology or mechanical engineering science program.  Science is a year longer than tech at 3 years, and heavier on math and theory, while tech is more hands on.

As for taking a more generalized approach and taking the CAM track, you might notice that none of the above classes are offered on the CAM tracks.  I'm striving for the fastest, cheapest route to the skills I need, and while I agree it would be great to add CNC to my repertoire I'm very reluctant to take 50 additional credit hours to make it happen.

Surprisingly, the courses above all seem to be available in the evening or even online, at least in the fall, so I ought to be able to continue working while I attend class.  The advisor I corresponded with reminded me that while I can take courses piecemeal as career development, I must pursue a degree to qualify for financial aid.