3D Printing for Scientific Applications (Live Demo)

The availability of low-cost, high-quality 3D printers has led to the rapid adoption of 3D printing by practitioners in numerous fields, including the life sciences. Printing technologies and materials have expanded beyond those involving polymers and metals to include paper, cells and other biological materials, enabling many new and unexpected applications.

This course will cover the process of creating 3D-printed objects with an emphasis on applications in the life sciences using Fusion Deposition Modeling (FDM) printers. Attendees will survey state-of-the-art 3D printing and discuss the practical considerations of creating their own objects, from initial conception to physical reality. Several techniques for generating 3D models will be demonstrated and attendees will discuss how to optimize models for printing, compare printing techniques and material options and generate 3D models using publicly available software on their personal computers. Live demonstrations and hands-on time using 3D printers will be featured throughout the course. 

Who Should Attend?

Scientists, engineers, and technologists who:

• are interested in understanding the process of modeling and creating 3D-printed objects,
• would benefit from generating custom objects to streamline their bench work and augment laboratory automation hardware
• and who want to rapidly create prototypes, going from idea to object in one day.

Course Benefits

• Learn techniques used to model 3D objects using free software packages (bring your laptop!) and the basics of slicing software.
• Learn about the variety of printing technologies and materials available and how they best apply to a variety of applications.
• Acquire design and printing best practices as well as lessons learned from printing experts.
• Watch a live demonstration of a 3D printer create objects modeled in class.

Course Topics

• 3D printing technologies, materials and software
• Model and mesh generation (with attendees creating designs using freeware on their laptops)
• Material and printer selection to best fit an application
• 3D printing applications for engineering solutions and laboratory automation fixes
• How to take a production part design and adapt it to a 3D-printed prototype
• Horror stories, failures, and lessons learned - what can go wrong in 3D printing

Instructors

J. Colin Cox, Ph.D.
Seer, Inc.
Redwood City, CA, USA

Colin is a biotechnologist with a Ph.D. in molecular biology and a quarter-century of experience in laboratory automation and screening. He specializes in automation process scaling, team building, and technology development. Attending ALA/SLAS since 1999, Colin is passionate about the automation community and supporting SLAS. Colin uses 3D printing and rapid prototyping to build a custom laboratory and automation solutions at speed with low cost, and his main focus is on FDM/FFF and SLA/DLP printing technologies.

Mykle Gaynor
Dascena, Inc.
Houston, TX, USA

Mykle is a technology entrepreneur, avid reader and lifetime learner who loves working with interesting people to develop things that help improve people's lives. Mykle has been working in the lab automation field for 20 years, where he focuses on process optimization and leveraging technology to solve difficult problems. He has a great deal of experience founding and working with companies that use 3D printing and rapid prototyping to address unmet technical needs.

Sayeed Andesmand
Seer, Inc.
Redwood City, CA, USA

Sayeed has a B.S. and M.S. in mechanical engineering with a background in high-volume manufacturing and has spent the last 10 years focused on R&D medical product design. Using his experience in injection mold design he has been able to close the design for the manufacturing and assembly loop before a design is even seen by a contract manufacturer. To speed up the product design cycle, Sayeed has used a variety of 3D printing technologies and materials, including Polyjet, FDM, SLAs, and carbon fiber printing.