Issue link: http://www.insightdigital.biz/i/214203
from mind to making schools in the country," referring to NWTC, so nearby. "Just some outstanding people come out of those programs," he says. "There's an excellent staff and curriculum there." Keeping the manufacturing pipeline full is the one of the primary goals of Gallagher's role in outreach at FVTC, bringing the concept and practical application of 3D printing into area high schools and middle schools. "I think we're in for a big surprise. These kids are so technologically advanced," says Gallagher, citing an impressive example of ingenuity from one of his middle school students. "He said to me, 'I really liked that laser you brought in last week. I built one at home.' And he did. He took apart a CD/DVD reader and reconstructed a laser from it." Tapping in to that kind of boundless creativity and imagination of young minds and connecting it with advanced technology, like 3D printing, is what Gallagher says will map out the future of manufacturing. "The kids in middle school now will be the ones bringing 3D printing into mainstream manufacturing. Advanced manufacturing, the ability continued "Our slogan is 'Let's get physical fast.' We can turn around a prototype, from sketch to actual part, in 24 hours or less. It's not unusual to turn these things around in hours rather than the days and weeks it would take with traditional methods." – Mike Tennity, vice president of design and market development, Wisconsin Plastics, Inc. to make changes immediately, is going to change the whole manufacturing industry," Gallagher says. Gallagher says the FVTC outreach program reaches close to 2,000 students each year between school curriculum and the mobile Fab Lab that travels to various schools. Yet even with that wide range of interest among students, 3D printing is still a new concept to many educators. "When I meet with teachers "It's an easy way to visualize your parts to check them for form, fit and function. You can model something on computer and it looks good, but it's hard to tell scale. If you're designing something to fit in your hand, does it fit?" – Dean Sommerfeld, instructor of mechanical design technology at Fox Valley Technical College 12 | / insight on manufacturing • November 2013 to discuss 3D printing projects to enhance curriculum, many have never heard of it," Gallagher says. 3D printing isn't new; the technology's been around since the 1980s. What is new is the dramatic drop in cost, making 3D printers affordable for the general population. "In the last few years there's been an explosion of new printers at a lower cost," Sommerfeld explains. "Where prices used to be several hundred thousand dollars, now they're in the thousand-dollar range, or smaller." That kind of capability is the primary reason why a 24-hour turnaround timeframe is not an exaggeration, but a reality for manufacturers like Tennity. "Our slogan is 'Let's get physical fast.' We can turn around a prototype, from sketch to actual part, in 24 hours or less. It's not unusual to turn these things around in hours rather than the days and weeks it would take with traditional methods," Tennity says. "Because of that, it allows us and our customers to be much more prolific with prototypes, because they are now more easily and rapidly available." Tennity says the speed and w w w.in s i g h t o n m f g .c o m