3D Printing

CAN YOU REALLY

PRINT A 3D OBJECT? – COURSE YOU CAN!

Bust your favourite plant-pot? Lost an essential piece of Lego? Try printing a replacement with your computer!
Audlem Probus Club’s retired business and professional members are about to hear this Thursday (Nov 13th) how 3D printing – a process of converting a digital model into a solid, three-dimensional object – is achieved. But, does it work?

Dr Ernie Hill’s illustrated presentation, “3D Printing: Is it any use”, will include a demonstration. He says: “We would all like a machine that, like the Star Trek replicator, could produce objects at the touch of a button. Whilst 3D printing is not that, it can take a digital model in a computer and turn it into a physical object.”

Whilst that may sound improbable to many, or daunting for those of us with limited knowledge of computer technology, 3D printing isn’t only a hi-tech tool for engineers. Dr Hill explains: “This talk explains the basic methods of 3D printing and looks at its rather chequered history with the rise of the open-source movement as a driving force for rapid evolution of the printers. It looks at 3D printing as both a tool for engineering and for hobbyists as well as creative makers.”

Dr Hill retired as Director of the Manchester Centre for Mesoscience and Nanotechnology in the University of Manchester in 2019, which he and a colleague set up in 2003. He was also a Senior Lecturer in Computer Science at the University, having previously been in the Department of Electrical Engineering.

This Thursday, his own experiences in 3D printing as a hobby and its practical uses will be discussed, with illustrations using 3D models and a demonstration of a working 3D printer. Plus, disclosure of a fascinating insight into how, during the COVID pandemic, a group of friends and neighbours printed hundreds of protective face guards.

Guests & visitors welcome from 10am, Nov 13th, Audlem Public Hall.