Earlier this year, Tennessee Tech (TTU) created and built an innovative mobile 3D printer. After a number of improvements since the launch, the team of Ankit Gupta and Seymur Hasanov, both graduate research assistants and PhD candidates, represented the TechBot project for TTU. 

After his keynote, Ames Lab scientist, Dr. Iver Anderson (and other M-STEM presenters) spent the afternoon reviewing student entries in the Poster competition and interviewing each student or team. If you are interested in a brief overview of his Keynote presentation, you can read about it here and watch a short video compilation of his main points: M-STEM 2019 Keynote: Meet Climate Change Challenges with Clean Energy Innovations.

Editor’s Note: Due to the large and public area where the posters were displayed, it has quite a bit of background noise, however we tried to diminish that as much as possible (which still did not make much of an impact). 

Ankit Gupta and Seymur Hasanov explain how the new TechBot can print with different materials and how they tested each material for its strength and other traits. The TechBot tests currently included paste-based materials, such as cake frosting, floor paint, and concrete. It is also offered as a do-it-yourself (DIY) kit (assembly required). The project is funded through NSF Award 1601587, Additive Manufacturing Workforce Advancement Training Coalition and Hub (AM-WATCH) under the leadership of Dr. Ismail Fidan (Leader) and Dr. Michael Allen (Co-Leader). 

AM News reported in detail on their work: Tennessee Tech Launches New Mobile Multitasking 3D Printer. 

Update: We forgot to share an important video from earlier in 2019 – it is embedded below, but if you cannot see it in-post, then click the TechBot launch video. It is a must-watch.