By When engineering associate professor Christiane Beyer received numerous requests for 3D printing jobs, she realized that the campus community had a much bigger demand for this technology than she alone could handle. A new space on campus, the Gerald M. Kline Innovation Space, has arrived to help meet that demand.
The center, also known as the I-Space, was unveiled Aug. 23 in the University Library’s lower level.
An opening date has yet to be set. Once open, the I-Space will be available Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will grant all students subsidized access to 3D printing technology which helps create three-dimensional objects for whatever one needs.
“I’m aware that [the engineering] industry is looking for more employees that come with this knowledge, so I immediately saw the opportunity for Cal State Long Beach to play a role in the forefront with establishing such a lab,” Beyer said. “This lab enables us to have hands-on learning experience and provide unique expertise that increases the employability of the student.”
The center is funded by the Student Excellence Fee and a donation from Gerald M. Kline Family Foundation, according to a press release from the University Library. I-Space staff member Monica Robles said a portion of student projects will be subsidized by the I-Space. The exact percentage which the lab will pay for is unknown, but Robles said that a receipt provided when the transaction occurs will tell users how much that amount is.
“So it’s technically a better deal for them because they don’t have to pay for operating costs and stuff like that,” Robles said. “It’s definitely cheaper to come here than to buy your own material, unless you have your own printer.”
According to I-Space lab technician Cesar Sigala, the lab is working on adding an application called Fabpilot onto the Single Sign-On page, which allows students to access websites such as BeachBoard and myCSULB. This program is where one would create their design and send it to the I-Space for printing.
The equipment introduced to students in this space consists of a Stratasys J750 printer, a Stratasys F170 printer, one German RepRap X1000 printer, one X350 printer, a Trotec Speedy 400 laser-cutting system, Markforged printers and computers to prepare 3D models for printers.
Stratasys J750 printer: According to Robles, the J750 printer can be used for having multiple colors on one print job. A board next to the machine has a table with colors and corresponding numbers which when inputted into a nearby computer will print in the desired color.
“It’s as easy as submitting the file, then the machine does most of the work,” Robles said. “The machine is made to be user-friendly, so all one has to do is maintain the cleanliness of it. If the printer is dirty then the colors smear.”
Stratasys F170 printer: “This is meant to be fast and inexpensive, depending on the material that you use,” Robles said. “It has different ways of applying support. So you can do very thin fill, like what’s inside of each ridge. You can go ahead and decide to be fully solid or layered with gaps in it.”
German RepRap X1000 printer: This machine has a large print bed which allows the creation of industrial sized parts. However, the printing bed can also be used to make smaller pieces in larger quantities.
German RepRap X350 printer: This is a smaller-scale version of the X1000 printer. The X350 printer has a smaller bed size, which means it can only print modestly-sized items such as connecting rods.
Trotec Speedy 400 laser engraver: “We got that in recently so we’re still going to have to learn to work on that but what we can do is put in a slab of material, say you want to write your name into it. We can preprogram it and it’ll write your name on whatever material you want,” Sigala said. “Or, as I assume would happen, we can take a part printed here or there or anywhere, put it in the machine and engrave whatever you want on it. You can write stuff on it or create pictures on it.”
Markforged printers: These are composite printers which are meant for smaller jobs, such as tools and connecting rods. Different types of materials can be combined to give objects the attributes of multiple elements.
