The University of Massachusetts, Amherst, partnered
with 3-D printer manufacturer MakerBot to open a 3-D printing center in the
university library. The MakerBot Innovation Center provides students, faculty, and the surrounding community access to 50 MakerBot
Replicator 3-D printers, desktop 3-D scanners, and the filament necessary to
create 3-D models.
The printers will be linked together to allow for
remote access, print queuing, and mass production of 3-D items. MakerBot is
also providing training for university staff.
The center will provide a way to bring together
departments on campus to work on projects. A makerspace class using the center
is already being planned by faculty from the environmental conservation,
building and construction technology, biology, public health, public policy,
and engineering departments.
Plans are also in the works for an
entrepreneur-in-residence program, mini-courses and workshops, and
business-plan competitions, as well as support for start-ups and small
businesses.
“The MakerBot Innovation Center ties in firmly with the
campus’s personality of being entrepreneurial and community engaged and will
allow us to work more closely with the local business community,” said Jay
Schafer, director of libraries at UMass Amherst. “Having a large-scale
installation of MakerBot 3-D printers makes this a resource more broadly
available on campus and puts UMass Amherst at the forefront of technological
innovation.”