International 3D Printing
The UAS7 Virtual Academy brings students together across continents for virtual collaboration
In the UAS7 Virtual Academy, Munich University of Applied Sciences (HM) is working with partner universities at the State University of New York (SUNY) to provide students with an international collaboration experience. The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) has funded the pilot project und its "International Virtual Academic Collaboration" funding scheme. Prof. Dr. Matthias Rebhan and Prof. Dr. Johannes Brombach from HM and Prof. Matt Burnett from SUNY are participating in this project with the course "3d printing & design".
A printed dice game
In the first lecture, "3d printing & design @ HM," students designed their own product - in this case, a dice game. In addition to the game idea, they developed the game pieces and the other required parts using computer-aided design, or CAD, technology. This involves using electronic data processing (EDP) to support the design, construction, planning and optimization of new products. The students learned CAD basics in the course.
The HM students produced the physical patterns for the game using 3D printing in the last summer semester, after which they transferred all the project data to the students at SUNY. In the "Project Management" lecture that followed there, the American team took up the work in their fall term and is currently designing a product development or production concept to further develop the idea.
"Room for development"
HM student Florian Schwab is studying printing and media technology in his 7th semester at HM. In the laboratory of the Department of Engineering and Management under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Matthias Rebhan, Florian Schwab worked as a student assistant and carried out the 3D printing of the objects for the game.
HM: How did the idea to develop this game as an international cooperation project come about?
Florian Schwab: Our game is based on an existing game called "Shut the Box". Therefore, the requirements of the project were less about designing a new game than about thinking about how to construct the game in our own style. Questions such as "What dimensions should the game have?" or "What mechanical properties should the object fulfill and what materials should we therefore choose?" came up. From the idea of "copying" a well-known game, new challenges arose related to design and functionality. In the course of the project, it turned out that some components were made of stainless steel instead of 3D printed filament, resulting in a hybrid material composition.
How were the different tasks distributed?
There were three areas of responsibility that were distributed among our group members: One person took care of material procurement and two people were responsible for communication within the team and with the professors. I designed the files in Fusion 360 modeling software and was responsible for the 3D printing process itself, which included the creation and development of the prototypes. During the creation phase up to the finished result, test prints were always necessary to check their compatibility with the other components.
How did Professor Rebhan support the project?
He allowed us access to the 3D printing room and gave us room to develop. He also provided feedback and constructive criticism in every lecture.