Question Of The Week: 3D Printing Applications

Posted by Anne Cosgrove

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The University of Massachusetts Amherst has teamed up with MakerBot to install the first MakerBot Innovation Center at a university library. Opening last month, the 3D printing center is located in the Digital Media Lab at the institution’s Du Bois Library, a facility focused on project-based learning and innovation.

The center is intended to foster cross-disciplinary collaboration. For instance, a group of faculty from environmental conservation, building and construction technology, biology, public health, public policy, and engineering plans to offer a makerspace class that will use the MakerBot Innovation Center as a resource for projects centered on remote sensing, environmental monitoring, and building control systems.

While 3D printing has yet to impact facility management significantly, if the technology was available to your organization how might you apply it? On demand tools and replacement parts for equipment are items we’ve heard discussed recently as well as custom wall molding to replace broken parts quickly. Have you used 3D printing yet for your facility’s needs? Do you foresee this making an impact for facility teams?

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