3-D Print Shop

Part of the Birdseye-Hammond STEM Center, the “3-D Print Shop” is a favorite program of GEFs, because of the way it all came together!

The concept of 3-D printing at O’Maley was tested during a summer science program, when teachers and a handful of students began working with MarkerFarm® 3-D printer kits.  They experienced success in not only constructing the printers from the kits, but also in using them to build objects.

GEF funding purchased 25 additional MakerFarm kits for the school—but how would these come together so that O’Maley could integrate 3-D printing into its engineering curriculum?

The school turned to GEF’s and the District’s greatest sources of support—the generous and engaged community of Gloucester.  Over an October weekend, 50 volunteers from Gloucester and greater Cape Ann visited the O’Maley library to participate in the 3-D “Make-a-Thon.” Working in teams of two, the volunteers took their cues from online instructions and spent Friday night, all-day Saturday and half of Sunday, making sure that the printers were fully assembled and ready to function in the lab.

Thanks to Gloucester’s volunteers, O’Maley students now routinely use 3-D printing as a way to sharpen their math skills, learn about design and CAD programming—and see their own creations come to life in three dimensions!