Ohio College Launches MakerBot Innovation Center

Access to 3D printers is still limited among students and entrepreneurs because even though costs are falling, they are still too high for many individuals to purchase and maintain. Xavier University in Cincinnati hopes to open up the technology to more users via a new MakerBot Innovation Center it has launched in conjunction with the popular printer manufacturer.

The center, which will be located on campus, will be the first such MakerBot facility in the Midwest and the first to be operated by a private college in the U.S. MakerBot will provide consulting, training and technical support, and will work closely with Xavier's faculty on curriculum development.

The center officially opened its doors on Feb. 4.

Other Innovation Centers are located at SUNY New Paltz in New York, the College of the Ouachitas in Arkansas and Florida Polytechnic University. Xavier is offering a Human-Centered Making major that will leverage the facility.

The facility includes 31 MakerBot Replicator 3D printers, a large supply of PLA filament, MakerBot Digitizer Desktop 3D scanners and MakerBot MakerCare protection plans. The facility will also run the MakerBot Innovation Center Management Platform software that links the printers and provides remote access, print queuing and mass production of specific prints.

“We’re so excited to be the first private institution in the country and the first university in the Midwest region to partner with MakerBot,” said Shawn Nason, chief innovation officer with Xavier University. “Our mission at Xavier University is to educate our students so that they are able to make the world a better place. We’re positioned to do just that with the unique 3D printing and prototyping technology of MakerBot! With these innovative MakerBot Replicator 3D Printers, we will transform how our students learn here at the Xavier Center for Innovation and beyond. With MakerBot, we’ll not only be ‘making’ 3D objects in our classrooms, but helping shape the leaders and innovators of future industries as well.”

Source: Cincinnati.com