3D Design Archives - The Makerspaces at William & Mary

Semester End

It has been quite the semester here in The Makerspaces. If you’ve been around, you’ve seen countless things get created, from the recent architectural adventures to working on concepts in autonomous boats, classwork involving 3D printed water pumps, custom solutions for research tools like the X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy system at the Applied Research Center, working on setting up a 3D scanning lab, and hosting a sUAS pilot to discuss her roles at NASA.

There’s never a dull moment around here. As we head into the winter break you’ll still see some Makerspaces activity on campus, however, it is likely to be focused on maintenance & repair as well as gearing up for the spring semester.

After December 9th, feel free to stop by to make something by appointment only and with limited staff, additionally, stay tuned for the spring semester opening of our 3D scanning lab located adjacent-behind The Makerspaces at Swem Library wherein we’ll have multiple 3D scanning options for both small and large scales.

Good luck on Finals and we hope you have a wonderful holiday season and winter break! See you in the spring!

We’re manufacturing!

The Makerspaces at William & Mary are open and the community is producing. Printers are running across campus, labs are doing research, LASERs are shooting photons at things, and the fall semester is well underway! Below you can see a little sign recently made on a CNC router in the makerspace center in W.J. Small Hall.

Timelapse of routing a sign in W.J. Small Hall (with a CNC ‘cheat’ procedure to correct the first engrave).

A CNC routed sign being made in Small Hall

Maker-made

One particularly creative maker just shared the creation she’s been working on, 3D printed nails! This designer created 3D models for the nails and mapped them onto her scanned finger models. To highlight the maker-made community here at William & Mary, she is also accessorizing with a number of pieces from other community makers. Make sure to check out her work in more detail upcoming in the Flat Hat.

From Trash to Treasure

This sign was made in about 20 minutes (manufacturing time) by a faculty member at the School of Education learning the fantastic world of digital design and manufacturing! The wood with which it was produced was actually pulled from the rubbish bin, and is an old pine shelf reinvigorated. Learn CNC and digital design; come spend some time with the makerspaces, our student engineers, and learn how to turn your own trash to treasure.

3D printed drone parts

Dr. Donglai Gong of William & Mary’s School of Marine Science at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science stopped in yesterday to quickly prototype a nylon based, carbon fiber infused mounting component for an upcoming experiment using advanced drone based instruments. An hour or so after he arrived, he had designed and printed an ultra-strong, lightweight custom fit bracket embedded with continuous carbon fiber and was able to leave equipped to continue pushing the edges of marine science.

Would you survive a wombat attack? (A FEA demo)

https://youtu.be/ig8mKU8Qm9c

One on One Trainings Available

We are here and ready to help train and tutor. Whether you want to learn 3D design or just are looking to bounce ideas off of someone; stop by the Makerspace Service Desk at Swem Library with whichever questions you may have.