All posts tagged: lasers

Realize partners to educate students about 3D Printing

Science and Engineering made exciting through 3D Printing Technology!

Realize Inc. is very proud of our industry and we are always looking for new ways to help create excitement and deliver knowledge about additive manufacturing. The process of informing a new generation of students and creating better awareness about the technology, and how it can be utilized moving forward, is important to us. Recently we partnered with Brad Lowell, a Science teacher at Fall Creek Intermediate School in Fishers, Indiana to help him reach the goal on the project: Science and Engineering Made Exciting Through 3D Technology! We interviewed Mr. Lowell about the project and how he thinks 3D Printing technology might be applied in classrooms around the country.

Realize: Why is the addition of a 3D Printer important for students and the school?

Mr. Lowell: As our school is moving into our One 2 One initiative this next year where every student has an iPad, the 3D printer is another tool that will better prepare them for their futures. We have researched printers in the field of medicine that can print cell after cell to create sheets of skin and in the future maybe even replacement organs. 3D metal printers are being used to create car parts. We have seen printers that can produces incredible chocolate sculptures and another that builds 3D pancake creations. Like student imagination, the possibilities of the printer are limitless.

How did Realize help you reach your goal?

Through a sizable donation, Realize was an amazing partner in making our 3D dreams a reality. Realize also sent some great video examples that excited students and really illustrated how incredible the industry is.

What do you love about 3D Printing?

I love that with 3D printing really anything is possible. It will allow them to take their 2 dimensional ideas and create real 3 dimensional working prototypes.

How can you see 3D Printing helping students in the future?

I see a future where when something breaks around the house or in their classroom, students could merely go to their computer and print a replacement part.

How have the kids reacted and what projects have you worked on?

Students were so excited to see the MakerBot box show up at school! Unfortunately, with the arrival so late in the year we were not able to do much in the way of our own designs but did really explore what the printer was capable of. We successfully created a working prosthetic hand and some parts for our water rockets engineering lab activity. Some students also came in and worked during lunch with me and created their own cell phone cases.

Looking into next year and beyond, how will you use additive manufacturing in the classroom?

This next year I am hoping to spend a great deal of time at the beginning of the year teaching the kids 3D CAD designing on their ipads so that all of our engineering activities can be built on the printer. We will build prototype gravity racers, plastic boats to test Archimedes’s principle of buoyancy, bio engineer surgical tools to assist us in our Frankenstein-style ‘open heart’ surgery lab, design rocket fins and parts for our rocketry labs, and countless other activities. We’re hoping this next year to look into the possibility of the MakerBot 3D scanner where students can scan and replicate parts.

What do you think students need more information on regarding the additive manufacturing industry?

We are still really learning about the additive manufacturing industry and would welcome any additional information that could be provided on the industry. We’d love to have future communication with Realize.

If you could 3D Print anything, what would that be?

The kid in me would love to create, print, and build a working R2D2 droid. My son, however, absolutely fell in love with your outdoor ukulele and was trying to convince me to try to make one of those.

June 10, 2014 Blog

3D Printing Instruments

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Realize, Inc. recently was part of a project that created a functioning ukulele using additive manufacturing. This project has generated many questions about how 3D Printing may affect the production of customized instruments in the future.

Realize, Inc. is a Rapid Prototype service provider specializing in Stereolithography, 3D printing, RTV Molding, Cast Urethane Models and Custom Finishing. In this video Realize General Manager Brian Cazzell discusses the future of instruments and 3D Printing.

Have a question you would like answered by our experts on staff? Do you have a custom instrument or another project you want to discuss? Please contact us.

https://www.realizeinc.com/contact/

April 18, 2014 Blog

Realize Featured Project: 3D Ukulele Prototype

Realize enjoys the many different types of projects that we work on throughout the year, but every once in awhile we get to create something that is near and dear to our heart. Take for example a recent project for Outdoor Ukulele. They wanted us to create a prototype of their new tenor instrument. Brian Cazzell, the lead on the project, talks about the creation of the 3D Ukulele prototype.

“When Scott from Outdoor Ukulele contacted us, he said his biggest challenge was finding someone who could build a full scale prototype of his tenor ukulele using polycarbonate-like resin. He stated the material that would be used in final production was polycarbonate and we were the only provider that could accomplish this for his prototype version. We had the perfect size machine and material combination for him, which is the SLA 5000 and Accura 60 resin. I was extremely excited to be a part of the project due to my personal interest in musical instruments. This made the project go smoothly because we spoke the same language in terms of the components that were being used in the assembly of his prototype. I look forward to future projects with Scott and Outdoor Ukulele!”

We talked with Scott Seelye from Outdoor Ukulele about the project.

Tell me about your company.

We manufacture ukuleles designed for the outdoor environment. The production instruments are injection molded from glass filled polycarbonate. We sell instruments all over the world. They have been used in expeditions to the Arctic, across the Amazon, and sailing voyages.

How is your company using 3D Printing and how did Realize help you with this project?

Realize helped us create a working prototype for our upcoming tenor ukulele. Realize was the only company that was willing to attempt a part this size, which we would use as a working instrument.

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What are the biggest challenges when it comes to your 3D projects?

Our biggest challenge with prototyping an instrument is receiving a part with the tolerances required to make it playable. The scale length and fret locations need to be exact. The parts we received from Realize gave us an instrument so close to the real thing, customers thought they were already in production.

What was the overall experience like working with Realize?

Our experience with Realize was wonderful. Quite often, you don’t receive this level of service from a prototype company unless you’re a Fortune 500 company. Realize is now our only approved prototype company.

If you want to own one of these beauties, here is the link… http://outdoorukulele.com/tenor

February 26, 2014 Blog

Realize Client Profile: Indesign

Realize works extensively with Indesign on a wide variety of projects. We are excited and proud of the long relationship we have established with this fantastic company. We talked with Jerry Gotway, CEO of Indesign, to find out how their business uses Additive Manufacturing and where they are headed in the future.

Tell me about your business…

We are an electronic product design engineering company. We develop a wide variety of electronic products for our customers. We do full turn key product development. That means we do the mechanical design, the electrical design, and embedded software design. We create all the design information for a product then send it to a factory for manufacturing.

How is Rapid Prototyping used by your company?

In our product development process we go through several steps. In the front end of the process we are working on the development of requirements and concepts with the client, then we move on to the detailed mechanical design. As soon as that is completed we need to take that design which exists in our CAD systems and turn it into a working prototype. It’s absolutely critical that we get working prototypes of the designs for us to validate the design. Those working prototypes include the kinds of things that Realize can provide. The Stereolithography models, the cast models and sometimes the rubber parts are needed for the physical elements of our prototype. The critical need that we have is to get those rapid prototype parts. We need to very quickly get a physical embodiment of what we have designed so we can run that through our testing process.

What types of projects do you partner with Realize on?

We have worked with Realize on a wide variety of projects- from medical to consumer electronics, industrial, and they have provided us with parts to support our clients in many different markets.

How has your experience working with Realize been?

Our experience has been very positive. Everything that we do here has to be done very quickly. We have very rapid product realization intervals. Realize has been extremely good to Indesign in delivering parts very quickly. Speed isn’t everything, the other thing that is very important to us is quality. We have received high quality parts using the prototyping capabilities of Realize. Speed and quality are the two things that are most important to us and we get both of those from Realize.

Where is your business headed in the future?

Our company has been in business for 16 years and it’s been on an evolutionary path. We started exclusively in the telecommunications area and now we are into many different industries. The technologies have changed dramatically over time. When we started we were almost all wired types of products, now half of our business is wireless. We are going to follow where technology leads.

Indesign is an engineering design services firm with a proven track record of helping companies develop new electronic devices. Engineering disciplines consist of electrical/circuit design, RF/wireless design, software/firmware design, mechanical design, human factors design, and testing/validation with a strong emphasis on products utilizing embedded microprocessors and DSPs.

November 15, 2013 Blog

Realize Client Profile: Delta Faucets

Realize has a long working relationship with Delta Faucet Company and we could not be prouder of the parts we have created together over the years. We talked with Michael Connell, Prototype Manager, about the industry and how they use prototypes in their business.

About Delta® Products
There is a philosophy at the heart of every Delta® product: there is a better way to live with water. It goes beyond excellent design to incorporate smart thinking that anticipates people’s needs. From proprietary Touch2O® touch faucet Technology that turns faucets on and off with just a touch to H2Okinetic™ shower technology that sculpts water into a unique wave pattern – giving you the feeling of more water without using more water, Delta products incorporate thoughtful features that delight. Paired with beautiful, inspirational design, it’s another way that the Delta® brand is more than just a faucet. Delta products are offered by Delta Faucet Company a WaterSense® manufacturing partner of the Environmental Protection Agency. Delta Faucet Company is a worldwide leader in kitchen faucets, bath faucets, shower heads, shower systems, Toilets and related accessories and sells products in more than 53 countries. For more information, visit www.deltafaucet.com

Michael Connell- Delta Prototype Manager

How long has Delta been working with Realize?

I’ve had a relationship with Realize for 14 years, that’s the longest vendor relationship since I’ve been here.

In what ways does Delta use Rapid Prototyping?

Fit and function, industrial design and market research. We have gone as far chrome plating and finishing and used them in kitchen and bath shows. We test them here in our lab. We run water through them to look at flow.

You have been working with prototypes and additive manufacturing for many years, what are the biggest changes you have experienced in the industry?

The increase in cycle times. A part that I can get in 24 hours from Realize used to take me a week get. Today with the desired speed for getting things out to the market you can’t take that long to get prototypes. Keep in mind we may make the part 15 times until we get the right part we want to build. The technology has improved and it’s really sped up the process.

You have machines in house, how does Realize come into play?

Workload. I’m so busy on my printers. I built three thousand parts last year on one printer. Delta Faucet as a company builds upwards of ten thousand rapid prototypes a year. I build in house, and use Realize and Delta has another in house facility that we send work to. Realize is also helpful when you are limited in materials. My guys may be building snap details with a 3D Printer and the parts will just snap off on them and we want a more durable material. At Realize I can get get a wide variety of materials.

How challenging is managing and maintaining your own Additive Manufacturing machines?

It works three days a week, and the other two days its down! It is a headache. We bought a second machine this year. Not to increase volume, but as a backup. If one is down we need the other to keep up pace and have it available. If I need a part in a hurry most of the time it goes to Realize.

What are your thoughts about the future of Additive Manufacturing and how 3D Printing has become the blanket buzz term used for the entire industry?

Technology hasn’t stopped. Now we are going to be getting direct metal parts off of the machines. I think it’s moving forward quick. There are 3D Printers in stores for less than $1200, but at the same time, it’s not as simple as you think. It’s just not that easy.

September 20, 2013 Blog

Itar Registered

Science and Engineering made exciting through 3D Printing Technology!