The Engineering Club meets every Wednesday at 1:00 pm in H5 and is open to all Middle School students. It was launched three years ago to give students the opportunity to learn and use 3D modelling software and 3D printing technology in a casual and stress-free environment. All the students need to bring to the club is enthusiasm and an idea of something that they would like to make. This semester we have had three regular members.

Grace wanted to make a present for her Dad’s birthday. It took a lot longer to make than she expected but Grace learnt a lot about solid modelling, 3D printing, and electronics in the process. Dad and daughter were both very happy with the finished product.

Charlie had a problem of storing his headphones so he decided to make a bespoke stand for them. Forty minutes goes very quickly when designing components on the computer so once again it took Charlie much longer than he expected. Luckily, learning this stuff is so much fun!

During the design phase, Charlie found he had to make it in two parts to accommodate the print area of our new Ultimaker 2+ 3D printer.  Charlie took most of Term 2 to complete his design but it worked perfectly.

Lachlan has made numerous small projects and enjoys learning to use the CAD software. He has used our Epilog laser to cut his designs. His current project is a complex 3D model of a ring which he will 3D print. He has tried printing one but it failed, so it is back to the computer to make modifications before attempting a second time.

Gary Asplin