5A - Monday, February 17, 2014

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

The Thing-O-Matic, an experimental 3D printer used before the 3D printing lab came into being, sits as a museum piece in A 3D plaster model of Bo Schembechler sits ina glass case in the 3D printing lab at the Duderstadt center, courtesy of artist
the 3D printing lab in the Duderstadt center. It is suitable for hobbyists and was used to experiment with the idea of using John Thomas.
3D printing for practical uses.
A new endeavor open to the Average Joe

Digital fabricatian specialist Shame 'rady demxnstrates hem en axe a handheld An abject is printed for a team daub in a rxhbtcs campetitixn in the 3D prirnting lab Digital labrication specialist Shamn Orady examines a fanctianing madel salar
laser scanner mhich is ased tx create 3D cormpater mnadels at narixas xbjects in in the Daderstadt center. panel that was made in the 3D printing lab in the Daderstadt center.
the 3D printing lab in the Daderstadt center.

PRINTING
From Page 1A
should be a process where
someone with no experience with
3D printing or no experience with
the CAD stuff could walk in and
have a conversation with someone
and discuss what they want to
have," Tien said.
Located on State Street,
Thingsmiths is in a small room
above Five Guys. Printed objects
sit on shelves around the room
- a multicolored rocket, a tiny,
detailed Eiffel Tower and even
a small bust of a Thingsmiths
volunteer. With aprinterrunning,
the smell of a glue gun lingers and
it sounds vaguely like a Clinton-
era Ethernet connection.

Those printers, Tien said, are
similar to industrial models -
minus a few hundred thousand
dollars. Nevertheless, he said the
printers have 90 percent of the
capability of the arm-and-a-leg
ones.
"A lot of it is a difference
in volume and a difference in
precision," Tien said. "If you're
prototyping an automotive
engine, you need the accuracy
to be down to 10 microns and
you need to be able to print a
250-pound piece. The average
consumer is not gonna do that."
The low-cost printers allow
the products to remain relatively
cheap. For instance, a custom-
built iPhone case costs about $10.
That's one thing the average
customer might like from a 3D

printer. Custom-made cookie
cutters, jewelry and figurines are
other options. Most prominent
is the potential 3D printers have
for fixing or tinkering with
household objects. Tien said
custom-made fixes for a broken
or off-kilter object is where he
sees 3D printing integrating itself
most prominently in the typical
consumer's life.
"The end target is the average
person on the street," Tien said.
"They'll say, 'I broke this part, I
need it fixed by tomorrow. I could
order it through Amazon and
maybe have it in a day, or I could
have it in an hour."'
Synder added that 3D printing
could help eliminate the custom
of tossing broken objects. Along
with making it easier to fix broken

objects, Synder said 3D printing
can make objects more personal-
ized, more sentimental and more
likely to not end up in America's
growing landfills.
"You can throw away your
blender because it's a blender,"
Synder said. "It doesn't work,
why would you fix it? But you'd
never throw away that treasured
stuffed animal."
Allowing people to select
their color and monogram their
products will ensure they will
hold on to them, which is possible
with 3D printed products.
"Creatingmore personalization
in the manufacturing business,
getting people to be really
attached to their appliances or
new technology, they're gonna
wanna fix them more often

instead of just throwing them
away," Snyder said. "3D modelling
offers a really new exciting
possibility in that field because
you can personalize products."
However, 3D printing is still
relatively unknown. That lack of
awareness, Tien said, is his busi-
ness' key issue. He said he became
interested in it in his early adult-
hood, during his college years at
Grand Valley State University and
running a coffee shop in Midland.
"I mean it is cool, right?" Tien
said. "I'll be honest, I like shiny
new things. I just am one of those
people."
He chuckled and added that he
was also inspired by Robohand, a
3D-printed medical advancement
that's helped over 200 people
globally.

"It's one of those great exam-
ples where the average guy has a
problem, collaborates with some-
one across the world online and
comes up with a solution that's
being spread around the world
and actually helping people," Tien
said. "It's hard not to fall in love
with that sort of narrative."
That echoes the story that
Snyder has seen in her time at
Thingsmiths. She said 3D printing
is enabling people who lack
manufacturing or design training
like her and her peers.
"I think to some extent every
person is a creator is a designer,"
Snyder said. "Realizing that we
all have that responsibility and
thinking of smarter solutions
working with everyone can really
make that difference."
to donate, we can do something
with these numbers and help
these numbers diminish for
sure," Johnson said.
Donor registry is open at
giftoflifemichigan.org and
wolverinesforlife.org.


TRANSPLANT
From Page 1A
Donate Life Coalition of Michi-
gan.
Recipients, 58 of whom
received heart transplants from
the University, hailed from
many transplant centers. Other
facilities present included
Cleveland Clinic Transplant

Center, Henry Ford Hospital,
William Beaumont Hospital,
DMC Children's Hospital of
Michigan, Spectrum Health
and Cincinnati Transplant
Center.
This accomplishment was
also a tribute to American
Heart Month, which celebrated
its 50th anniversary this year
after being signed into law by
President Lyndon Johnson in

1964.
Setting the record required
detailed criteria requested by
the Guinness World Record
organization including medical
proof from each recipient and
representatives from each
center. Official counts were
made in a specific manner to
ensure that the world record
was broken.
"We want to show how

important is to get people
involved in signing up on the
registry and making their
wishes known," Johnson said.
As a representative of Donate
Life Coalition of Michigan,
Johnson's goal was to spread
organ donor registry awareness
as a result of the gathering.
Currently, there are 3,000
people in Michigan waiting for
an organ transplant. One organ

donor can save the lives of
eight people, and with eyes and
tissue donations, one person
can improve the lives of up to
50 people.
"If we can make people aware
of how important it is to sign up


FOSSILS
From Page 1A
Smith said, explaining the rarity
of the fossil.
Wilson and Mohabey named
the snake Sanajeh indicus,
meaning "ancient gape from
India." This name comes from
the fact that the snake had its jaw
BODY-PEACE
From Page 1A
with student organization Do
Random Acts of Kindness. It
encouraged students to build a
more positive self-image through
writing negative thoughts and
feelings about their bodies
on pieces of paper and then
crumpling them up and throwing
them away. Volunteers also
handed out free flowers with
inspirational quotes attached.

hinge in front of its neck, instead
of behind the head as many
modern snakes do. As a result, it
could not open its mouth as wide.
Wilson added that not many
people realize that dinosaurs
could be prey for other types of
animals. This specific dinosaur,
a sauropod, would likely have
grown to be about 70 feet in
length. However, at the time of its
Peterson estimated that about
700 flowers were handed out
throughout the day, and said that
most participants had a positive
reaction to the event.
"Almost every person that
participated in the 'Trash Your
Trash Talk' activity commented
on how much they enjoyed it,
and what a good idea it was," she
said.
On Sunday evening, the
group moved their efforts into
the virtual sphere, starting a
Twitter campaign for students

death, it was only 19.6 inches long.
This research fits into Wilson's
larger question about how India's
migration across the world
affected its biodiversity. At the
time that this fossil was created,
India was likely a solitary island
just north of the equator.
By studying fossils from
different time periods, Wilson
and other paleontologists can
to tweet messages of hope and
inspiration, as well as personal
experiences about eating
disorders and eating disorder
recovery, under the hashtag
#EDUM -Eating Disorders at
the University of Michigan.
Peterson said the group chose
to add a virtual component to
the week because of the amount
of time college students spend
online.
The Body-Peace Corps, along
with MBody and the University
Health Service, will continue

compare the animals to their
counterparts in Asia and North
America, among other continents,
to infer evolutionary relationships
hundreds of millions of years ago.
The new exhibit comes as
part of the current LSA theme
semester, "India in the World."
The Museum of Natural history
will have another exhibit opening
March 15 called "Wild India."
to host events through Friday.
Planned activities include
workshops on mindful eating,
a documentary screening and a
crafting night.
The groups will conclude the
week with the implementation
of Operation Beautiful, a project
that encourages students to write
positive post-it notes.
"People can look out for
inspirational uplifting mes-
sages that we're going to be
posting all around campus,"
Peterson said.

A COMEDY BY NOEL COWARD
One of the world's
most hilarious classics,
this tale of a weekend
getaway gone awry has
charmed audiences