Additive Manufacturing Education Research Articles

Enhancing experiential learning through virtual reality: System design and a case study in additive manufacturing

AbstractThe recent advancement in additive manufacturing (AM) leads to an extensive need for an industrial workforce in the near future. Workforce training in AM requires expensive capital investment for installing and maintaining this technology and proper knowledge about potential safety hazards. Traditional classroom settings often fail to bridge the critical gap between textbook learning and practical applications. Virtual reality (VR) training can simulate real‐world scenarios in a safe and controlled environment and improve student involvement to foster practical learning. In this paper, a virtual training platform for 3D printing has been developed and studied to improve AM education. The developed environment contains a selective laser sintering printer, a preparation station with necessary supplies, a control panel for process planning, and a post‐processing station. This platform provides students with excellent learning opportunities to gain hands‐on experiences and critical engineering skills on operating process parameters and safety measures. Undergraduate students majoring in industrial engineering were exposed to this learning approach to enhance their engagement and cognitive processing skills. Students' attentions were measured using eye metrics (fixation duration and preference index), and their exposure experiences were collected through the simulation sickness questionnaire, presence questionnaire, and system usability scale. Pre‐ and post‐VR training questionnaires and performance metrics (task completion time and accuracy) evaluated students' learning outcomes. Results provide valuable insights into students' attention, performance, and satisfaction with virtual training environments. Users' gaze behavior and subjective responses revealed many challenges that will help future researchers develop assistive instructions within this virtual educational platform.

Design for Additive Manufacturing Education of Process Engineering Students on an Industrial Challenge

As the use of additive manufacturing (AM) is increasing in many sectors, the need of design education for AM has gained importance. Solving the challenges of an application with the advantages of AM requires competencies in selecting a suitable AM process, identifying design opportunities and designing for AM based on an extensive knowledge in the application domain. Hence, it is necessary for all branches engineering to develop AM skills and competencies. This paper describes a lecture and practical to develop AM design competencies in chemical process engineering master students. The course teaches designing complex AM parts based on the need of an application by combining the opportunistic and restrictive aspects AM design with the domain-specific functional requirements. The design education benefits from AM’s advantages in rapid prototyping to provide feedback within the time frame of a course. In order to fulfill the above requirements, an application-oriented design course from requirements to testing, involving a simplified real industrial design problem, has been prepared. Students obtain design requirements at the beginning of the practical and have to develop a device using the advantages of AM. After completing CAD design, the designs of the students are produced with the laser based powder-bed fusion of metal (PBF-LB/M) and bath-based photopolymerisation of polymers, curing using ultraviolet light (VPP-UVL/P) methods. The manufactured designs are tested on the test bench provided by the institute. A case study of a hybrid manufactured reactor with internal condensation supports the conclusion of this paper.

MODELING AND FABRICATION OF 5 – SPEED GEARBOX USING 3D PRINTING WITH OPTIMUM WEIGHT

The main aim of the project is to focus on the modeling and 3D printing of synchromesh gear box and the weight reduction of it using different 3D printing techniques like SSLS, SLA, DLP, FDM. Differential permit each of the driving wheels to rotate at different speeds, while for most vehicles supplying equal torque to each of them. A vehicle's wheels rotate at divergent speeds, mainly when turning corners. The differential is designed to operate a pair of wheels with same torque while permit them to rotate at different speeds. Additive manufacturing education is becoming to widespread adoption. Additive manufacturing is also the manufacturing technology. It is used by multiple industry subsectors, including motor vehicles, aerospace, machinery, electronics, and medical products. It can facilitate the customized production of strong light-weight 3D modeling. This paper describes 3D modeling of five speed transmission is designed and constructed by using AutoCAD software, 3D Mesh software, MakerBot 3D printer and digitizer. This 3D modeling of five speed transmission is good quality through lighter part, can demonstrate easily. The teacher can take 3D modeling of transmission and teach the operations of transmission in the classroom. It can produce the gears, fork, cover and synchronizer sleeves with different color. Many beautiful colors are interested to the students. So, it can use as teaching aids for the engineering students. In this transmission, five forward speed gears are helical type whereas reverse gears are spur type. Design consideration of spur gear and helical gears and shafts are included in this paper. In gear design, the number of teeth, face width, gear tooth features and pitch diameter are calculated. The shafts are designed according to the point of view of the strength.

3D Modeling of Five Speed Manual Transmission System for Teaching Aid Vehicles

Additive manufacturing education is becoming to widespread adoption. Additive manufacturing is also the manufacturing technology. It is used by multiple industry subsectors, including motor vehicles, aerospace, machinery, electronics, and medical products. It can facilitate the customized production of strong light-weight 3D modeling. This paper describes 3D modeling of five speed transmission is designed and constructed by using AutoCAD software, 3D Mesh software, MakerBot 3D printer and digitizer. This 3D modeling of five speed transmission is good quality through lighter part, can demonstrate easily. The teacher can take 3D modeling of transmission and teach the operations of transmission in the classroom. It can produce the gears, fork, cover and synchronizer sleeves with different color. Many beautiful colors are interested to the students. So, it can use as teaching aids for the engineering students. In this transmission, five forward speed gears are helical type whereas reverse gears are spur type. Design consideration of spur gear and helical gears and shafts are included in this paper. In gear design, the number of teeth, face width, gear tooth features and pitch diameter are calculated. The shafts are designed according to the point of view of the strength.

Unpacking Additive Manufacturing Challenges and Opportunities in Moving towards Sustainability: An Exploratory Study

The global market for Additive Manufacturing (AM) is expected to grow, which may increase the prominence of sustainability aspects in the manufacturing process. A growing number of AM academics and practitioners have started to pay attention to the environmental and societal impacts of AM instead of only focusing on its economic aspect. Yet, AM is still not widely adopted, and the research on AM sustainability is still at the nascent stage. This paper aims to better understand AM’s sustainable adoption and seeks to address three questions: what the sustainability implications of AM are; what challenges may prevent the broad adoption of AM; and what opportunities can enable AM sustainability. The research adopts a multiple case study method to investigate six AM companies that play different roles in the AM ecosystem, including AM design, AM machine, AM material, AM service, AM education, and AM consulting. The results from these studies reveal that AM has the potential to reduce environmental and social impacts; however, it might also cause negative consequences and lead to some rebound effects. We identified 43 categories (synthesized from 199 examples) of key challenges for AM adoption and proposed 55 key solutions in moving AM towards sustainability. It is evident that AM acts as a promising digital technology for manufacturing and has the potential to pave the way for a new era of sustainable manufacturing.

Effects of Immersion on Knowledge Gain and Cognitive Load in Additive Manufacturing Process Education.

Although the additive manufacturing (AM) market continues to grow, industries face barriers to AM adoption due to a shortage of skilled designers in the workforce that can apply AM effectively to meet this demand. This shortage is attributed to the high cost and infrastructural requirements of introducing high- barrier-to-entry AM processes such as powder bed fusion (PBF) into in-person learning environments. To meet the demands for a skilled AM workforce, it is important to explore other mediums of AM education, such as computer-aided instruction (CAI) and virtual reality (VR), which can increase access to hands-on learning experiences for inaccessible AM processes. However, limited work compares virtual and physical AM instruction or explores how the differences in immersion and presence between mediums can affect the knowledge gained and the mental effort exerted when learning about different AM processes. To address this gap in the literature, this research evaluates the use of CAI, VR, and in-person instruction in AM process education when learning about material extrusion (ME) and PBF. Our findings show that the differences in immersion and presence between CAI, VR, and in-person instruction do not have a statistically significant effect when learning about ME, but do have a significant effect when learning about PBF. Specifically, we found that VR generally yields equivalent effects in knowledge gain and cognitive load to in-person PBF education while offering advantages in both metrics over CAI learning. The findings from this work thus have significant implications for using VR as an alternative to in-person training to improve designer development in process-centric AM education of typically high-barrier-to-entry AM processes.

Enhancing design for additive manufacturing education through a performance-based design challenge

Additive manufacturing (AM) enables the production of very complex part geometries. Nevertheless, there are process limitations that must be considered during the design phase. One barrier to the industrial adoption of AM is the insufficient knowledge of Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM). This knowledge transfer is challenging since it is not sufficient to acquire theoretical knowledge about AM processes and their given restrictions to design manufacturable and economically viable parts. The design process should be experienced to gain the necessary knowledge for future projects and the implementation of the technology.Several project-based lectures have been presented in the literature offering participants the opportunity to choose a design task, develop an AM part, and gain hands-on experience. However, it is difficult to find appropriate design tasks and identify applications where AM offers potential and allows for the necessary learning experiences. Therefore, defined design tasks are necessary to enable these learning experiences.This contribution presents the performance-based design challenge of designing a manometer for PBF-LB/M. After presenting the framework of the implementation in the “Design for Additive Manufacturing” lecture at ETH Zurich, the resulting designs of seven student groups are presented and four specific cases are discussed. The cases demonstrate what is relevant when designing for AM and which approaches are beneficial for a successful design. In addition, the cases demonstrate which learnings are generated while experiencing design for metal AM in a hands-on project. Finally, the transfer of this performance-based design challenge to continuing education courses is discussed.

An investigation into the current state of education in Design for Additive Manufacturing

ABSTRACT Additive Manufacturing (AM) has become an established discipline in both research and education. However, to achieve its full potential AM requires a step-change in design thinking, which makes Design for AM (DfAM) education and training crucial. This paper reports results from the first attempt to investigate the uptake of DfAM in higher education. This research required the development and administration of an articulated online survey, in which educators worldwide who teach AM and DfAM have participated. The results show that DfAM is taught in a considerable number of courses. However, the survey revealed that DfAM is seldom recognised as a distinct course or topic and the relevance attributed and proportion of teaching dedicated to DfAM within wider AM is typically marginal. DfAM is being mostly taught in North America and Europe and is also typically taught in institutions that are research active in AM or specifically DfAM, suggesting the subject has not yet reached maturity or diffusion into mainstream design and engineering curricula. It was interesting to find that currently, the contents of courses do not differ significantly between engineering and design programmes.

Implementing 3D Printing Education Through Technical Pedagogy and Curriculum Development

This study presents the development of a new pedagogical method, namely the model of technical pedagogy, for learning additive manufacturing (AM) due to the speed of the technological development. The speed of the technological devel-opment of AM is faster than of the educational one; curricula and teaching meth-ods have to evolve all the time in order to keep up with the development. The im-plementation of AM into the mechanical engineering curriculum in Lapland uni-versity of applied sciences (Lapland UAS) in Finland is used as an example in this study. The aim and purpose of this study is to create a model of technical pedagogy which gives universities the possibility to integrate AM into their cur-riculum more efficiently. This happens by combining traditional pedagogy into technical subjects in curriculum development work. This study also presents the learning concept of AM which shows the learning to be inversely proportional to the requirements of AM. Identification of the learning process of AM help the educators to plan AM education more efficiently.

Trends in engineering education for additive manufacturing in the industry 4.0 era: a systematic literature review

Additive manufacturing represents one of the most promising and innovative technologies of the moment. In fact, it is considered among the nine technological pillars on which Industry 4.0 is based. In particular, it has received a lot of interest from industries, educational institutions and government agencies. For these reasons, it is necessary to develop and train a specialised workforce and to prepare it for these new opportunities. This work aims to investigate, through the completion of a survey based on a systematic review of the literature, the current state of education and dissemination of educational practices related to the training of young engineers at university on the issues of additive manufacturing and related to Industry 4.0. The results show that the introduction of additive manufacturing education represents an important leverage in the preparation of young engineers who benefit from it both in terms of personal preparation and in terms of learning and refining different skills. However, certain aspects, linked to the need to have adequate equipment and a properly trained teaching staff, should not be overlooked.

Teaching Design Freedom: Understanding the Effects of Variations in Design for Additive Manufacturing Education on Students’ Creativity

Abstract Additive manufacturing (AM) processes offer unique capabilities (i.e., opportunities) yet inherent limitations (i.e., restrictions) due to the layer-by-layer fabrication of parts. Despite the newfound design freedom and increased use of AM, limited research has investigated how knowledge of the AM processes affects the creativity of students’ ideas after being exposed to AM. This study investigates this gap through an experimental study with 343 participants recruited from a junior-level mechanical engineering design course. The participants were exposed to three variations in design for additive manufacturing (DfAM) education: (1) no DfAM, (2) restrictive DfAM, and (3) opportunistic and restrictive (dual) DfAM education. The effects of these three interventions were measured through differences in (1) participants’ self-reported use of DfAM in a design challenge and (2) expert assessment of the creativity of the outcomes from the said design challenge. The results of the study indicated that variations in DfAM content did not result in differences in the participants’ self-reported use of either opportunistic or restrictive DfAM, with all three groups reporting similar levels of emphasis. Further, participants from all three groups reported higher use of restrictive DfAM techniques, compared with opportunistic DfAM. Moreover, while variations in the content had no effect on the creativity (uniqueness and usefulness) of the participants’ design outcomes, teaching both opportunistic and restrictive DfAM did result in the generation of designs with greater AM technical goodness—a novel and significant finding in our study. The results of this study highlight the need for DfAM educational interventions that encourage students to not only learn about but also integrate both opportunistic and restrictive concepts effectively into their creative design process. This would result in the generation of innovative products that leverage the design freedom enabled by AM, yet addressing the limitations inherent in the process.

Teaching leadership in additive manufacturing: doing the right thing, before doing it right

As additive manufacturing matures, there is sufficient critical mass in the industry and market place to justify the development of more comprehensive and cohesive educational strategies. This article is informed by research into the emerging educational landscape for the technology. The article highlights the breadth of educational strategies currently employed and considers drivers for additive manufacturing education and their development in the context of supporting the education of both an effective, as well as efficient, workforce for the future.

Teaching leadership in additive manufacturing: doing the right thing, before doing it right

As additive manufacturing matures, there is sufficient critical mass in the industry and market place to justify the development of more comprehensive and cohesive educational strategies. This article is informed by research into the emerging educational landscape for the technology. The article highlights the breadth of educational strategies currently employed and considers drivers for additive manufacturing education and their development in the context of supporting the education of both an effective, as well as efficient, workforce for the future.

Framework for effective additive manufacturing education: a case study of South African universities

In this era of Fourth Industrial Revolution, also known as Industry 4.0, additive manufacturing (AM) has been recognized as one of the nine technologies of Industry 4.0 that will revolutionize different sectors (such as manufacturing and industrial production). Therefore, this study aims to focus on “Additive Manufacturing Education” and the primary aim of this study is to investigate the impacts of AM technology at selected South African universities and develop a proposed framework for effective AM education using South African universities as the case study.,Quantitative research approach was used in this study, that is, a survey (questionnaire) was designed specifically to investigate the impacts of the existing AM technology/education and the facilities at the selected South African universities. The survey was distributed to several students (undergraduate and postgraduate) and the academic staffs within the selected universities. The questionnaire contained structured questions based on five factors/variables and followed by two open-ended questions. The data were collected and analyzed using statistical tools and were interpreted accordingly (i.e. both the closed and open-ended questions). The hypotheses were stated, tested and accepted. In conclusion, the framework for AM education at the universities was developed.,Based on different literature reviewed on “framework for AM technology and education”, there is no specific framework that centers on AM education and this makes it difficult to find an existing framework for AM education to serve as a landscape to determine the new framework for AM education at the universities. Therefore, the results from this study made a significant contribution to the body of knowledge in AM, most especially in the area of education. The significant positive responses from the respondents have shown that the existing AM in-house facilities at the selected South African universities is promoting AM education and research activities. This study also shows that a number of students at the South African universities have access to AM/3D printing lab for design and research purposes. Furthermore, the findings show that the inclusion of AM education in the curriculum of both the science and engineering education is South Africa will bring very positive results. The introduction of a postgraduate degree in AM such as MSc or MEng in AM will greatly benefit the South African universities and different industries because it will increase the number of AM experts and professionals. Through literature review, this study was able to identify five factors (which includes sub-factors) that are suitable for the development of a framework for AM education, and this framework is expected to serve as base-line or building block for other universities globally to build/develop their AM journey.,The survey was distributed to 200 participants and 130 completed questionnaires were returned. The target audience for the survey was mainly university students (both undergraduate and postgraduate) and the academics who have access to AM machines or have used the AM/3D printing lab/facilities on their campuses for both academic and research purposes. Therefore, one of the limitations of the survey is the limited sample size; however, the sample size for this survey is considered suitable for this type of research and would allow generalization of the findings. Nevertheless, future research on this study should use larger sample size for purpose of results generalization. In addition, this study is limited to quantitative research methodology; future study should include qualitative research method. Irrespective of any existing or developed framework, there is always a need to further improve the existing framework, and therefore, the proposed framework for AM education in this study contained only five factors/variables and future should include some other factors (AM commercialization, AM continuous Improvement, etc.) to further enhance the framework.,This study provides the readers and researchers within the STEM education, industry or engineering education/educators to see the importance of the inclusion of AM in the university curriculum for both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. More so, this study serves as a roadmap for AM initiative at the universities and provides necessary factors to be considered when the universities are considering or embarking on AM education/research journey at their universities. It also serves as a guideline or platform for various investors or individual organization to see the need to invest in AM education.,The contribution of this study towards the existing body of knowledge in AM technology, specifically “AM education research” is in the form of proposed framework for AM education at the universities which would allow the government sectors/industry/department/bodies and key players in AM in South Africa and globally to see the need to invest significantly towards the advancement of AM technology, education and research activities at various universities.

Complex Solutions for Complex Problems? Exploring the Role of Design Task Choice on Learning, Design for Additive Manufacturing Use, and Creativity

Abstract The integration of additive manufacturing (AM) processes in many industries has led to the need for AM education and training, particularly on design for AM (DfAM). To meet this growing need, several academic institutions have implemented educational interventions, especially project- and problem-based, for AM education; however, limited research has explored how the choice of the problem statement influences the design outcomes of a task-based AM/DfAM intervention. This research explores this gap in the literature through an experimental study with 175 undergraduate engineering students. Specifically, the study compared the effects of restrictive and dual (restrictive and opportunistic) DfAM education, when introduced through design tasks that differed in the explicit use of design objectives and functional and manufacturing constraints in defining them. The effects of the intervention were measured through (1) changes in participant DfAM self-efficacy, (2) participants' self-reported emphasis on DfAM, and (3) the creativity of participants' design outcomes. The results show that the choice of the design task has a significant effect on the participants' self-efficacy with, and their self-reported emphasis on, certain DfAM concepts. The results also show that the design task containing explicit constraints and objectives results in participants generating ideas with greater uniqueness compared with the design task with fewer explicit constraints and objectives. These findings highlight the importance of the chosen problem statement on the outcomes of a DfAM educational intervention, and future work is also discussed.

Applications of additive manufacturing at selected South African universities: promoting additive manufacturing education

PurposeThis paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the recent applications of additive manufacturing (AM) research and activities within selected universities in the Republic of South Africa (SA).Design/methodology/approachThe paper is a general review of AM education, research and development effort within selected South African universities. The paper begins by looking at several support programmes and investments in AM technologies by the South African Department of Science and Technology (DST). The paper presents South Africa’s AM journey to date and recent global development in AM education. Next, the paper reviews the recent research activities on AM at four selected South African universities, South Africa AM roadmap and South African AM strategy. The future prospects of AM education and research are then evaluated through a SWOT analysis. Finally, the paper looks at the sustainability of AM from an education perspective.FindingsThe main lessons that have been learnt from South African AM research activities within selected universities are as follows: AM research activities at South African universities serve as a platform to promote AM education, and several support programmes and investments from South Africa’s DST have greatly enhanced the growth of AM across different sectors, such as medical, manufacturing, industrial design, tooling, jewellery and education. The government support has also assisted in the actualisation of the “Aeroswift” project, the world’s largest and fastest state-of-the-art AM machine that can 3D print metal parts. The AM research activities within South Africa’s universities have shown that it is not too late for developing countries to start and embrace AM technologies both in academia and industry. Based on a SWOT analysis, the future prospects of AM technology in SA are bright.Practical implicationsResearchers/readers from different backgrounds such as academic, industrial and governmental will be able to learn important lessons from SA’s AM journey and the success of SA’s AM researchers/practitioners. This paper will allow the major investors in AM technologies and business to see great opportunities to invest in AM education and research at all educational levels (i.e. high schools, colleges and universities) in South Africa.Originality/valueThe authors believe that the progress of AM education and research activities within SA’s universities show good practice and achievement over the years in both the applications of AM and the South African AM strategy introduced to promote AM research and the educational aspect of the technologies.

Guidelines to design engineering education in the twenty-first century for supporting innovative product development

ABSTRACTIn the twenty-first century, meeting our technological challenges demands educational excellence, a skilled populace that is ready for the critical challenges society faces. There is widespread consensus, however, that education systems are failing to adequately prepare all students with the essential twenty-first century knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in life, career, and citizenship. The purpose of this paper is to understand how twenty-first century knowledge and skills can be appropriately embedded in engineering education finalised to innovative product development by using additive manufacturing (AM). The study designs a learning model by which to achieve effective AM education to address the requirements of twenty-first century and to offer students the occasion to experiment with STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) concepts. The study is conducted using the quality function deployment (QFD) methodology.

Preparing industry for additive manufacturing and its applications: Summary & recommendations from a National Science Foundation workshop

Accompanying the increasing advances and interest in Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies is an increasing demand for an industrial workforce that is knowledgeable about the technologies and how to apply them to solve real-world problems. As a step towards addressing this knowledge gap, a workshop was held at the National Science Foundation (NSF) to discuss the educational needs to prepare industry for AM and its use in different fields. The workshop participants – 66 representatives from academia, industry, and government – identified several key educational themes: (1) AM processes and process/material relationships, (2) engineering fundamentals with an emphasis on materials science and manufacturing, (3) professional skills for problem solving and critical thinking, (4) design practices and tools that leverage the design freedom enabled by AM, and (5) cross-functional teaming and ideation techniques to nurture creativity. This paper summarizes the industry speakers and presentations from the workshop, along with several new educational partnerships identified by small working groups. Based on the presentations and partnerships, the following recommendations are offered to advance the AM workforce. First, ensure that all AM curricula provide students with an understanding of (i) AM and traditional manufacturing processes to enable them to effectively select the appropriate process for product realization; (ii) the relationships between AM processes and material properties; and (iii) “Design for AM”, including computational tools for AM design as well as frameworks for process selection, costing, and solution generation that take advantage of AM capabilities. Second, establish a national network for AM education that, by leveraging existing “distributed” educational models and NSF’s Advanced Technology Education (ATE) Programs, provides open source resources as well as packaged activities, courses, and curricula for all educational levels (K-Gray). Third, support K-12 educational programs in STEAM (STEM plus the arts) and across all formal and informal learning environments in order to learn the unique capabilities of AM while engaging students in hands-on, tactile, and visual learning activities to prepare them for jobs in industry while learning how to think differently when designing for AM. Fourth, provide support for collaborative and community-oriented maker spaces that promote awareness of AM among the public and provide AM training programs for incumbent workers in industry and students seeking alternative pathways to gain AM knowledge and experience. Recommendations for scaling and coordination across local, regional, and national levels are also discussed to create synergies among the proposed activities and existing efforts.

A framework for teaching the fundamentals of additive manufacturing and enabling rapid innovation

The importance of additive manufacturing (AM) to the future of product design and manufacturing infrastructure demands educational programs tailored to embrace its fundamental principles and its innovative potential. Moreover, the breadth and depth of AM spans several traditional disciplines, presenting a challenge to instructors, along with the opportunity to integrate knowledge via creative and demanding projects. This paper presents our approach to teaching AM at the graduate and advanced undergraduate level, in the form of a 14-week course developed and taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The lectures begin with in-depth technical analysis of the major AM processes and machine technologies, then focus on special topics including design methods, machine controls, applications of AM to major industry needs, and emerging processes and materials. In lab sessions, students operate and characterize desktop AM machines, and work in teams to design and fabricate a bridge having maximum strength per unit weight while conforming to geometric constraints. The class culminates in a semester-long team design-build project. In a single semester of the course, teams created prototype machines for 3D printing of molten glass, 3D printing of soft-serve ice cream, robotic deposition of biodegradable material, direct-write deposition of continuous carbon fiber composites, large-area parallel extrusion of polymers, and in situ optical scanning during 3D printing. Several of these projects led to patent applications, follow-on research, and peer-reviewed publications. We conclude that AM education, while arguably rooted in mechanical engineering, is truly multidisciplinary, and that education programs must embrace this context. We also comment on student feedback, our experience as instructional staff, and our adaptation of this course to a manufacturing-focused master’s degree program and a one-week professional short program.

Design and assessment of a 3D printing vending machine

Purpose – The purpose of this study/paper is to present the design and implementation of a novel vending machine concept based on desktop-scale extrusion additive manufacturing (AM). Due to cost, access to AM technologies at academic institutions tends to be limited to upper-level courses to support project-based coursework. However, with the decreasing cost of desktop-scale AM technology, there is potential to improve student access to such technologies and provide more opportunities for AM education. Design/methodology/approach – The authors present the design and implementation of an AM “vending machine” that is powered by desktop-scale extrusion-based AM systems. This system intends to provide students broad, unrestricted access to entry-level AM tools and promote informal learning opportunities. Findings – Student users of the AM vending machine are found to be primarily engineering majors at various levels in their studies. Manufactured parts are evenly split between functional and decorative parts, though 75 per cent of students are creating their own designs rather than simply printing found design files. Research limitations/implications – Future work will focus on improving the system’s ease-of-maintenance, lowering the barrier to entry with a simpler user interface and establishing a method for better recording part and user information. Practical implications – The interface of the AM vending machine lowers the barrier of entry into engaging with AM and places this emerging technology in a familiar and “safe” context. It provides students at various levels and disciplines the opportunity to fabricate parts for classroom and personal projects. Social implications – A “vending machine” system may have far-reaching implications for public access and use of AM. Such broad access has the potential to further educate and impassion the public about the potential of AM. Originality/value – This work represents the creation and assessment of the world’s first AM vending machine.