OU Students and Alum Experiment with Customizable 3D Printing

Ohio University students and alum could change the way we think about manufacturing products—from home. Yep, that’s right, from home. This team is researching how to create customized household items, like picture frames or stained glass windows, using a 3D printer.

Ron Seide, OU alum and co-founder of Summit Data Communications, asked himself: is it possible to create and customize 3D printed household items at home, at the same quality as store-bought and mass-produced items? He reached out to the Ohio University Center for Entrepreneurship, and they formed a team of students to answer this question.

Ron said, “This project is intended to provide some insight into the question of whether 3D printers and related devices, like laser cutters, can produce semi-custom household goods that typical consumers would actually purchase.”

Since the spring of 2020, Ron has been working with a powerful team of undergraduate students. They have a range of expertise in physics and programming, and many of them are in the Honors Tutorial College. Together, they work to manufacture these customized products on 3D printers that Ron purchased for each of them.

Right now, this experience is a learning process. A research project. An opportunity for students and alumni to experiment in the world of 3D printing.

Ron, with the Center for Entrepreneurship’s help, recruited students Logan Richards, Sabrina Morse, Kodjo Hughes, Willow Mattison, and Collin Schilf to work on the project. They meet weekly on Zoom to discuss their progress, and they are paid for their work.

Logan, a programming and physics major, shared why he joined, “I talked with Ron, and his passion for the project really got me interested.” Sabrina shared that she heard about the project through Logan.  “He reached out to our little group—because there’s five of us—and asked if any of us were curious about it. And, it sounded pretty interesting and I’ve always wanted to work with 3D printers,” Sabrina said.

“One member focuses on 3D design, another member focuses on the slicing [of the prints],” Ron explained. “A 3D printer is sort of a 2D printer over and over… so you’re building up the model layer by layer by layer,” Ron described.

Each print takes anywhere between a couple of hours and a couple of days. The process starts with Ron: he creates the 2D design on the computer. This design is sent to Logan, who transforms the 2D design into a 3D design using coding and a variety of programs, like Cura. Logan needs to “slice” the design before it can be printed, which gives the printer the ability to understand the design and how to print it. Once it’s sliced, he sends the design out to Sabrina and Collin to print it and run trials. Willow troubleshoots the machines in the CoLab.

The project is full of trial and error, and the first attempt was not very aesthetically pleasing. Even throughout the process, they need to constantly overcome problems. “We’re having a hiccup right now because my printer’s broken. So, trying to work through that…” Sabrina shared. “We’re working on that, which is kind of fun because I didn’t think I’d get to do the actual manufacturing end, where you’re working on fixing your systems and stuff yourself.”

Over the summer, they focused on picture frames, and this fall, they are focusing on stained glass windows. While the aesthetics have improved, they have to work at it every day to get it right.

Perhaps most importantly, this project is primarily a Research project, not a Research & Development project. The goal is to create the best version possible of these customizable products, not to create the products as quickly as possible so they can be sold on the market. Before these can even become products for the home consumer, the students are testing to see if these products can even be made at a local level.

They experiment with different printers and techniques frequently to see what is best. Logan described, “We’ve done picture frames, a couple of different variations of it… [Now,] we’re focusing on the stained glass panel.”

Sabrina said, “I have definitely learned time management… because it is definitely an added thing on top of my already pretty busy schedule. But, it’s also really fun, so I’ve had a good time. I want to make time for it!” Her enthusiasm for the project shines through. Sabrina added, “I’ve gotten to meet a bunch of cool people, which has been very fun, too.”

Ron shared, “I’m fortunate to be working with these students that are very, very technically adept. Very bright, very enthusiastic… To be able to work through [these problems], not by yourself, alone in your basement, but rather, with a team of other people that are sort of going through the experience together and sharing their successes, sharing their failures, offering a shoulder to cry upon when necessary.”

Their passion to learn and develop these products is clear. One day, perhaps we will be able to customize our own household items, right from the comfort of our homes. And, it could be thanks to the research these students put into this 3D printing project, every single day.

If you’re interested in experimenting with 3D printers, there are 3D printers available in the CoLab through the Center for Entrepreneurship on the third floor of Alden Library. Students can stop by any time or email colab@ohio.edu to make an appointment to get trained on how to use the printers.