It's Recruiting Time!

It's that time of year again! It is time to sign up for classes for the 15-16 school year. I've updated the recruiting video for Applied Engineering Technology to reflect some of our new resources. If you are considering this program please check out the video. Applications can be completed online or on paper and returned to me at Columbia High School.

STACKING LAYERS II - 3D Printing & FIRST

I took a group of team members to Stacking Layers back in February of 2014. You can read about it on a previous post here. I've stayed in contact with the organizers throughout the past year and was recently asked if we would be up for being featured at Stacking Layers II. Of course we accepted as this is a great way for our team to share what opportunities 3D printing has afforded us.

I took the idea to my students and they got right to work on coming up with a plan for the video. We reached out to Brayden, our alumnus who is studying at the Air Force Academy and happens to be the inventor of the FANTASTAKICK. We gave him some talking points and he sent us some great footage to add to our video.

We presented our video at a recent school board meeting where I also shared the success of the FANTASTAKICK. While we are not able to attend Stacking Layers II due to scheduling conflicts, we hope they have another successful symposium and continue to support 3D printing.

The successes you see and hear about in this video show just how amazing FIRST is. The impact this program has had on our school, students, and community goes far beyond what anyone can measure. I am so thankful to be the coach of this team and that we have garnered so much support since our inception in the 2011 season. It's hard to believe that we are about to reach the end of our 5th build season. I am very excited about the success my students have experienced and look forward to seeing just how far this takes them. I've seen the amazing impact of FIRST in our community and can only imagine what I'll be looking back on another five years from now. Please check out our video and help us spread the word by sharing our YouTube link.

Stratasys Extreme Redesign Marketing Kit

One of my former students, Brayden, entered the 2014 Stratasys Extreme Redesign 3D Printing Challenge. His entry was a top ten finalist. While he didn't end up winning the contest, I did just receive some great news. The FANTASTAKICK is being used in a national advertising campaign for this year's contest. If you didn't catch my blog post about his project you can read about it here. 

Our vendor is visiting me in a week or so and plans to bring a few marketing kits with him. Here is a picture he sent me: 

Can you see the mini FANTASTAKICK?

Brayden is currently studying Aerospace Engineering at the Air Force Academy. I'm sure he will be excited to hear about this and I look forward to sharing this news with him. 

Sign up for Engineering Technology

CHS student interested in signing up for the Engineering Technology program? Check out the video below and find an application here.

2014 Extreme Redesign 3D Printing Challenge Finalist

What happens when sports and engineering join forces? Good things, my friends, good things. Brayden worked very hard on his entry for the Extreme Redesign 3D Printing Challenge. We recently received notification that his design, The FANTASTAKICK, was selected as a top 10 finalist. 

In this challenge, students are tasked to find a design and improve it. Brayden is the kicker for the Columbia High School football team and, with the help of his coach, decided his kicking tee could use some improvement. After redesigning his tee on paper he took to SolidWorks, learned the program and drew up his new design. We printed his first redesign in our 3D printer and took it to the football field for some testing. Brayden decided it could use a bit more improvement so back to SolidWorks he went. His final design, The FANTASTAKICK, was ready for submitting. 

This contest gives students the option of presenting their design through either writing or a video. We had some good footage and decided a video would be the way to go. Brayden and I talked about his options and the idea of a cheesy infomercial was born. Brayden took off with this idea and did a great job. 

Top ten finalists receive a $50 gift card and have their design printed and sent to them. His final design was a little larger than our 3D printer can handle so he is pretty excited about receiving his printed tee. The contest says scholarship winners will be announced in early April so we should soon find out if he made the top 3. 

Regardless of the outcome, Brayden is already a winner. I've watched him grow in many ways over the past three years. He's contributed a lot of time and effort to our robotics program and is part of the very first group of students set to complete my Engineering Technology program this school year. As a level three student, he will sit for SolidWorks certification in May. He also recently signed with the Air Force Academy and will head to Colorado to play football and pursue a degree in aerospace engineering. (Yay!!)

And this is why we teach ... not for the pay (which is never enough), not for the recognition (not what we're about), but for the impact we make on future generations. We give them wings so they can fly.  

Stacking Layers @ FSU

A couple weeks ago I took seven of my seniors to Stacking Layers, a 3D printing symposium at Florida State University. It was a fantastic day for us all. We learned about the different areas of study 3D printing is impacting and how it is changing the world. There were quite a few printers working away while we were there and we were able to see them in action. The presenters were dynamic and kept us on the edge of our seats. We even shed a few tears when we learned of a little girl and her 3d printed "magic arms." We learned about the software programs Rhino and Grasshopper and were all drooling over them by the end of the session.

Harris from Lulzbot was very informative and we enjoyed talking with him.

I enjoyed watching my students interact with the exhibitors and presenters. They were great representatives of Columbia High School and were actively engaged the entire time. We brought many new ideas back to school with us and I'm sure this trip will have a lasting impression on us all. In fact, the organizers were so excited to see high school students at this event that they pulled me aside and gave me a bit of fantastic news: they were going to send us a Cube 3D printer. Then, after the Rhino presentation, they decided to give us that software as well. They were so entertained by my students' reaction to the Rhino demonstration they worked out a way to give us that too.

Cube

I was surprised and entertained by the artistic side of 3D printing. We saw toys and even pottery being printed before our eyes. The wide variety of printing material was also interesting.

3D Printed Pottery ... who knew?

Bendable Wood

It was an amazing day with some awesome students and I'm so glad my principal supported my idea of taking this group to Stacking Layers. I hope this event becomes an annual thing so I can take another group next year. I love seeing the faces of my students light up with possibilities when they learn about new technology and applications. This is a great group with a bright future and I hope this day will stand out for them when they think back to their senior year. I'm pretty sure I saw sparks of the "I know what I want to do with my life" variety.

You can see a video montage Rhino Fab Studio put together here. Look for the GET SMART shirts near the end. :)

We visited the stadium after the event.

3D Printed Brain Gear