The future is now at Syracuse University’s MakerSpace, and seven students from Bishop Grimes Jr./Sr. High School in East Syracuse got to experience it Nov. 19. MakerSpace opened last fall, providing the technology and space to design, create and fabricate. The space is outfitted with 3D printers, electronics gear, hand tools, computers — everything a creative mind needs to bring a brilliant idea to life.
The Grimes students, members of Kayla Purcell’s Intro to 3D Art class, saw their own designs come to life on the 3D printers. Over the last few weeks, students used tinkercad.com to create designs, and had the opportunity to watch those designs move from computer screen to layer of plastic to finished 3D object.
Three-dimensional design was new terrain for Purcell, but she jumped at the opportunity to learn alongside the students, she said. “Normally [in the class] we do things with clay, plaster; we make mobiles, masks, mosaics,” she said. “Katie [Regan, an Instructional Technology Specialist working with the diocesan Catholic schools] presented this project to me and I felt that it fit well with the class. It’s a very cool thing for these kids to do.”
