Education packed in technology to promote innovations: Teaching Additive Manufacturing based on a rolling Lab

Abstract

3D Printing is about to revolutionize the way we design and produce future products. This causes not just immense research and development activities worldwide but requires intensive education and training efforts. As 3D Printing is an ideal tool to set up a decentralized production, it is one key to integrate even rural and under-industrialized parts of the country into high tech education and professional training needed. But how to reach the relevant groups - pupils from schools as well as professional staff of preferably companies? Remembered the old proverb: “If the mountain won’t come to the prophet, the prophet must go to the mountain” the plan of a mobile 3D printing lab was born. Based on our experiences, we designed the technical infrastructure and the educational approach to adopt Additive Manufacturing courses to a short term comprehensive teaching. To create a fully equipped workplace for every participant, we redesigned a double-decker bus. The paper addresses the strategy behind the bus, the infrastructure in detail, the developed courses taught and the resonance on this project. Looking forward, the paper gives a sneak preview on the further development in terms of specialized courses to be given in the bus as well as in the frame of accompanying activities such as engineering design of parts, application of new materials for Additive Manufacturing such as metals and follow-up production like plastic injection molding.