Brown Bag Breakdown: Printing Practical Products

In addition to picking a fantastic name, Jenny Skerker and Nadia Hallaj did a great job with their first Brown Bag Lunch.

We wanted to get across to people that 3D printers can be used for so much more than just cute toys or little trinkets. The focus of our workshop was to have people design and print products that they could actually use such as phone cases, cookie cutters, kitchen utensils, etc. by introducing them to three basic 3D printing websites: tinkercad.com, thingiverse.com, and cookiecaster.com. - Nadia

This concept of using the 3D printers to create everyday items was very popular, proven by the very high attendance. As people trickled in from their various commitments, they were set up with Tinkercad and Thingiverse, and allowed to explore. Once everyone was settled, Jenny and Nadia gave a brief presentation about 3D printers and how to use them. Although many did not finish their designs, Nadia and Jenny reminded them that they could come back anytime to work on it, or even work on it at home and email it in for printing. This brown bag lunch was well timed for the beginning of the summer as it was a great way for people new to the the space to get started with 3D printing.

If you have never heard of any of these websites definitely check them out. I’ve tossed Thingiverse into my bookmarks, just to occasionally browse through the cool designs people around the world have made recently.