Category: Tennessee Tech University (TTU)

Digging Deep With Online 3D Printing Lectures

Screenshot of TTU Additive Manufacturing YouTube Channel
Tennessee Tech University YouTube Channel Featuring the Golden Eagle Additively Innovative Lecture Series since 2016.

The College of Engineering at Tennessee Tech recently completed its well-known Golden Eagle Additively Innovative Lecture Series for Fall 2020. Under Dr. Ismail Fidan and his team, four experts — from nearby Somerset Community College in Kentucky to institutions spanning the globe in New Zealand, Norway, and the Netherlands — presented this semester on advanced Additive Manufacturing topics.

With 45 lectures recorded since the Spring semester of 2016, there is a range and depth available for just about anyone interested in learning about Additive Manufacturing. We wrote about the Tennessee Tech Announces Fall 2020 Additive Manufacturing Lecture Series as the school year got started. Despite COVID-19 shifting the world into online classrooms, Dr. Fidan has been using this virtual method, via Zoom, since the start of the program. One could definitely say he is an early adopter and visionary for making learning accessible and increasing TTU’s Engineering student access to world-renowned experts.

Early in 2020, the team decided to launch a YouTube channel as a way to share all of these lectures to an even wider audience. You can access the full Additively Innovative Lecture Series Archive, but we list out the titles below so that you can get an idea of the topic and niche diversity. On the archive page, each title takes you directly to the YouTube video. Perusing the list on the YouTube channel is not as straightforward, in this editor’s opinion, and so your time may be better spent picking from the list of video links from the archive directly.

Again, Bravo to the TTU team and Dr. Fidan for a semester filled with knowledge sharing and deeper insights into what makes Additive Manufacturing (aka 3D Printing) useful, valuable, and world changing.

**Oh, and don’t forget to subscribe to their new YouTube channel.

To the Archives!:

Fall 2020 Lectures (Please note these lectures may not all be uploaded to YouTube yet)

      • Mass Production and Decision Making with Low Cost Additive Manufacturing for Institutions and Small Businesses
      • Design for AM: The Key to the Industrialization of AM
      • New Product Development for AM: Methods and Tools
      • Machine Learning in AM

Spring 2020 Lectures

      • New Functionalities for Metal AM by Embedded Intelligence, Puukko Pasi, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Ltd.
      • A Holistic Approach to Achieving the Best Possible Component Quality for AM Architectures for Vat Photopolymer and Laser Powder Bed Fusion Systems, David Bue Pedersen, Technical University of Denmark
      • Additive Manufacturing with High Temperature Polymers, Oana Ghita, University of Exeter
      • From 3D Printing to Digital Manufacturing, Wenchao Zhou, University of Arkansas

Fall 2019 Lectures

      • Generative Design Will Change the Future of Manufacturing, Shashi Jain, Intel Corporation
      • Sustaining Accessibility for Kids’ Creativity with Additive Manufacturing, Pisut Koomsap, Asian Institute of Technology
      • Design and Additive Manufacturing of Porous Titanium Scaffolds for Optimum Cell Viability in Bone Tissue Engineering, Bingbing Li, California State University
      • FDM-based Metal Additive Manufacturing, Haijun Gong, Georgia Southern University

Spring 2019 Lectures

      • The Phantom Hole Technique, Improving Structural Performance in FFF/FDM 3D Printed Products, Eric Wooldridge, Somerset Community College
      • Understanding Powder Bed Additive Manufacturing, Josh Dennis, EOS North America
      • Preparing Your Model for 3D Printing, Adam Wills, Tennessee College of Applied Technology Nashville
      • Project iGen: Using Additive Manufacturing for Service Learning, Amy Fricks, DeKalb County High School

Fall 2018 Lectures

      • Functionally Graded Additive Manufacturing, Eujin Pei, Brunel University
      • Design for Additive Manufacturing: The Key to the Industrial Adoption of Additive Manufacturing, Olaf Diegel, Lund University
      • Where’s my Spare Part? Changing Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul through Additive Manufacturing, Brett Conner, Youngstown State University
      • Integrating Additive Manufacturing into CAD Courses, Tom Singer, Sinclair Community College

Spring 2018 Lectures

      • Dental 3-D Printing Overview, Frank Alifui-Segbaya, Griffith University
      • AM Research and Applications for Real World Production and Impact, Eric Wooldridge, Somerset Community College
      • Free and Easy Software for Designing for 3-D Printing, Tim Gornet, Rapid Prototyping Center, University of Louisville
      • Wire + Arc Additive Manufacturing: Enabling 10-Meter Parts, Filomeno Martina, Welding Engineering and Laser Processing Center, Cranfield University

Fall 2017 Lectures

      • Next Generation Manufacturing: Professional and Technical Skills for the 21st Century Workforce, Karen Wosczyna-Birch, Center for Next Generation Manufacturing
      • Using 3-D Printed Parts to Couple Festo Didatic’s MecLab Stations in an Assembly Process, Khalid Tantawi, Department of Career Readiness-Mechatronics, Motlow State Community College
      • 3-D Printing, Design Thinking, and the Entrepreneurial Mindset, Phan Tran, Center for Architecture, Design, and Engineering, Lake Washington Institute of Technology
      • Workflow of the Additive Manufacturing Process, Kyle Bates-Green, National Resource Center for Materials Technology Education

Spring 2017 Lectures

      • Bioprinting and Tissue Engineering, Yunzhi Peter Yang, Medical Scholar Program in Bioengineering Scholarly Concentration, Stanford University
      • Making It Work, Marilyn Barger, NSF Florida Advanced Technological Education Center, Hillsborough Community College
      • Additive Manufacturing: Instrumental Systems in Research, Education, and Service, Bahram Asiabanpour, Ingram School of Engineering at Texas State University
      • A Technique for Quick Introduction of 3-D Design and Prototyping, Hugh Jack, School of Engineering and Technology, Western Carolina University

Fall 2016 Lectures

      • Marketing Your Maker Business, TJ McCue
      • Content and Curriculum Development Efforts in 3-D Printing, Jesse Roitenbert, Stratasys
      • The Development of a Framework for 3-D Printing, Casting, & Entrepreneurship, Jay Watson, Cookeville High School
      • 3-D Printed Joints and Connectors for Assemblies, Nick Russell and Jacob Floyd, Tennessee Tech University

Spring 2016 Lectures

      • Mel Cossette and Robin Ballard, National Resource Center for Materials Technology Education
      • 3-D Printing – Future of Manufacturing: The 4th Wave of Human Civilization, Wenchao Zhou, University of Arkansas
      • Additive Manufacturing at the University of Waterloo, Ehsan Toyserkani, University of Waterloo
      • Opportunities in Additive Manufacturing, Amy Elliott, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
      • AM/3DP Point-Counterpoint: A Look at AM’s Place Among the Headlines, Business, and Industry, Peter Yang, Stanford University
      • Additive Manufacturing as a Force for Innovation, Ian Campbell, Loughborough University
      • Perspectives on Additive Manufacturing, Tim Caffrey, Wohlers Associates
      • History of Additive Manufacturing, David Bourell, University of Texas at Austin
      • Additive Manufacturing Today and in the Future, Terry Wohlers, Wohlers Associates

 

Tennessee Tech Announces Fall 2020 Additive Manufacturing Lecture Series

Fall 2020 Golden Eagle Additively Innovative Lecture Series
Fall 2020 Golden Eagle Additively Innovative Lecture Series

The College of Engineering at Tennessee Tech is organizing its tenth Golden Eagle Additively Innovative Lecture Series for Fall 2020.

Thanks to Dr. Ismail Fidan and his team — they have again arranged an amazing group of expert speakers from around the world.

The web-based presentations are shared via the free Zoom platform. On the dates listed, simply visit this Zoom URL ( here it is in plain text should the link not work correctly: tntech.zoom.us/j/432789883 ) at 11am Central Standard Time and you can listen in to the 30-minute lecture/discussion. Mark your calendars for one or all of these excellent presentations.

Thursday, Sept. 17

Mass Production and Decision Making with Low Cost Additive Manufacturing for Institutions and Small Businesses

Presented by Eric N. Wooldridge, PE, RA, Professor, Somerset Community College, Kentucky

TTU Lecture Series _Olaf Diegel

Thursday, Oct. 8

Design for AM: The Key to the Industrialization of AM

Presented by Olaf Diegel, Professor, University of Auckland, New Zealand

TTU Lecture Series _Steiner KilliThursday, Oct. 29

New Product Development for AM: Methods and Tools

Presented by Steinar Killi, Professor, Oslo School of Architecture and Design, Norway

TTU Lecture Series _Ian GibsonThursday, Nov. 19

Machine Learning in AM

Presented by Ian Gibson, Professor, University of Twente, Netherlands

Dr. Fidan has been using the Zoom platform for years and leads out in online learning methods. You can read more about his complete shift, thanks to COVID-19, to innovative, distance learning approaches:

Online Learning In The Age Of COVID-19 And Beyond

You can also access the full archive of past additive manufacturing webinars here:

Golden Eagle Additively Innovative Lecture Series Spring 2020

The Golden Eagle Additively Innovative Virtual Lecture Series is partially funded by the NSF Award 1601587, “AM-WATCH: Additive Manufacturing-Workforce Advancement Training Coalition and Hub.”

We make regular updates on the Materials Education Facebook page (sister organization to TEAMM).

Online Learning In The Age Of COVID-19 And Beyond

Image Courtesy of Zoom Video Communications

By now, it is fairly clear that the delivery of education has changed. With no in-person, on-campus classes and nearly everything online, we have moved into a new era, whether we like it or not. COVID-19 may soon be stopped by way of a vaccine, but its impact is undeniable. 

Thanks to Dr. Ismail Fidan, Professor of the Department of Manufacturing and Engineering Technology at Tennessee Tech University, AM News started exploring what online learning looks like, on the ground, for the Spring semester and future ones. Since most of you were thrown into the virtual learning, distance learning, remote learning world (pick your term), we uncovered many great resources ideas we hope will help you plan and build your courses and teaching methods.

Dr. Fidan faces some of the same challenges that many professors face — how to teach an in-person lab when you cannot meet in person. He shared that he was able to build his own virtual lab, and help his colleagues with theirs, to develop materials for ZOOM and TTU’s use of Desire2Learn’s BrightSpace learning management system platform. 

In the Plant Layout and Materials Handling course, students do their design work by accessing the virtual laboratory of Tennessee Tech, quickly developed by the Information Technology Services team. Using the commercial VMware Horizon application, students join the laboratory and complete their assignments remotely using AutoCAD 2020.

In the CNC Machining Practices course, students use the Autodesk Fusion 360 software tool (again via remote access). This is a cutting-edge simulation tool for CNC machining operations. Anything they program also functions the same as in real cutting operations.

Although the MatEdU free resources were not built for remote learning specifically, you can find a wide range of materials science curricula that may guide your next steps to planning online courses. Visit the MatEdU Modules page or the Instructional Resources page. Here are five additional sites packed with even more ideas.  

Regardless of which technology platform your school uses, here are several other resources that may provide useful tips and techniques:

Prestigious Caplenor Award From Tennessee Tech Awarded To Dr. Ismail Fidan

The Caplenor Faculty Research Award Committee at Tennessee Tech recently awarded Dr. Ismail Fidan the 2019-20 Caplenor Faculty Research Award which is the highest faculty honor of the university. As an important and valued member of our TEAMM Network as well as a regular content provider here on AM News, we wish him a hearty kudos for work well done.
 
Dr Ismail Fidan TTU Engineering Faculty v2
Dr Ismail Fidan at Tennessee Tech

According to university history, “Dr. Caplenor’s efforts led to the creation of an award in his honor in 1984. The Caplenor Faculty Research Award is given to faculty who are engaged in outstanding research while employed at the University, and the winner receives a monetary award and a listing on a permanent plaque displayed in Derryberry Hall. As of 2016, 37 faculty have received the award, which has become the premiere recognition of faculty scholarship and creativity at TTU.”

Selection for the Caplenor Faculty Research Award is a lengthy, rigorous, peer-reviewed process that evaluates a faculty member’s performance as measured by contributions to scholarship and/or creativity that received wide recognition far beyond the University. There are numerous areas for potential contribution, and eight major criteria for nomination, including, to name just a few:

      • Significant recognized peer-reviewed publications, including work with her/his students and collaborators in the field of scholarship or creativity.
      • Presentations such as seminars, lectures, performances, galleries, etc. related to her/his field of scholarship or creativity, including those made by invitation as keynote and/or plenary lectures.
      • Contributions to the profession such as membership on editorial boards, editing journals, special issues, books, etc. and the organization of professional meetings (technical, educational, art exhibitions, etc.)

As just one example of Dr. Ismail Fidan’s dedication to research and creativity at TTU: Over many years his efforts to understand and push the boundaries of what is possible with additive manufacturing is paying dividends now in this moment of crisis. He and his engineering students turned the university makerspace, STEM Center, and department labs into 24/7 3D print shops for COVID-19 protective face shield parts serving state and national needs. 

Under his guidance, the university was also awarded an NSF Advanced Technological Education (ATE) project grant to establish the Additive Manufacturing Coalition and Hub (AM-WATCH). That network is also supporting the university’s efforts around COVID-19. As we shared in the AM News post, the 3D printing COVID-19 effort has produced thousands of face shields (personal protective equipment or PPE) for area first responders and other healthcare professionals.

It is said that Dr. Caplenor symbolized the essence of teaching and research. He was “trained to be a scientist, and he practiced his science with all the intellectual rigor attendant to his profession. But he also had the feeling of a poet and artist,” said former TTU President Arliss Roaden. According to others, “teaching for [Dr. Caplenor] was as natural as his breathing.” 

For those of us who know Dr. Fidan, and for those yet to meet him, we at AM News believe the Caplenor award also recognizes these amazing traits and steadfast dedication in our colleague and friend. Congratulations on your achievement, Dr. Ismail Fidan. 

Here are a few of his other achievements that may inspire your additive manufacturing ambitions:

Due to his innovation-mindedness, he has received the TTU’s Sissom Innovation and Creativity Award three times and the TBR (Tennessee Board of Regents) Lana Doncaster Innovation Award twice. His team is tasked to “innovate in and for additive manufacturing.” Here are a few of his active research projects in Additive Manufacturing:

1) They are working to develop lightweight low-cost sustainable composite printed parts for the automotive and dental industries.

2) They are developing low-cost metal 3D Printed parts for the industry overall.

3) They invented a 3D Printer that can dispense any paste type materials (shown in video above).

4) He and his team developed remote access features and apps to help additive manufacturing labs around the nation.

5) In coordination with Somerset Community College, they created a mobile learning AM platform.

Finally, if you have been seeking to learn more about the cutting edge of additive manufacturing, the TTU Golden Eagle Additively Innovative Lecture Series brings experts in from around the world for a virtual lecture. Dr. Fidan and team have been doing it for the last nine semesters (4.5 years).

Editor’s Corner: 3D Printers Rally To Help Stem COVID-19: Your Help Is Needed

COVID19, aka Coronavirus, is taking its toll on all of us, in a variety of ways. So as I kick off an Editors Corner post here on AM News, I want to use it to update you on positive news all across the Additive Manufacturing and Materials Science communities. 

People are coming together to 3D print, to sew (yes, handmade cloth DIY masks – more on this below, hang on), and explore and test materials for the certified N95 respirators and surgical masks. Plus, I will share a couple of stories from within our community of two educators working tirelessly to 3D print face shield parts for use by those on the front lines. 

At Tennessee Tech University, Dr. Ismail Fidan and team have turned the university makerspace, STEM Center, and department labs into 24/7 3D print shops for COVID-19 protective face shield parts. The University also has a very well-established Additive Manufacturing Coalition and Hub established with an NSF award. Their network is also supporting the university’s efforts.

So far, they have printed 381 masks (as of March 25) that went to the state directly for final assembly and distribution to healthcare professionals. The TTU Department of Manufacturing and Engineering Technology and College of Engineering are running 30-plus 3D printers across the two labs. (Short video with them loading up a box of parts.). The Tennessee Tech team plans to keep printing since there are still more production requests and needs from the state.

University of Louisville runs one of the top Additive Manufacturing programs and has an amazing 3D printing facility for training and workforce development. I spent time there a few years back visiting Ed Tackett who runs it when I happened to be driving across the country (not 3DRV, another time). You can read more about their COVID-19 efforts here: Students Producing 3D Printed Face Shields For Healthcare Professionals. Ed is helping nationwide with people trying to sort out how to print at the highest possible quality and speed. 

UofL AMIST 3D Printing Face Shield Parts
Graduate assistant and student Kate Schneidau oversees the 3D printing of face shields for local health care professionals in response to the shortage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Image Courtesy of University of Louisville.

Normally, I do not cross-link (although there’s nothing wrong with doing it) between my work at Forbes and my National Science Foundation grant project work, but we are in uncharted waters and all the resources we can share with one another, well, it may save a life. If you have a project you are working on related to COVID-19, please get in touch and we will consider adding it here. 

If you are looking for a way to get you or your students involved (great remote, work-from-home, learn-from-home potential), I encourage you to look over the different resources in these Forbes posts — there are many hands-on opportunities: 

As I explained in Forbes, “I had, like many of you, planned to attend the RAPID + TCT event in Anaheim this year. SME, the parent organization that creates the RAPID + TCT event, wisely postponed the event. I have attended several of the RAPID + TCT events and it is always amazing to connect with the community; it is more like a large family reunion, frankly…” But now, thanks to what SME has built, those same people are still coming together to solve one of the world’s greatest challenges.

“If you ever wondered if 3D printing is all it claims to be, Coronavirus has helped settle that. 3D printers do all of this and more.”

Let’s close with two final examples of people coming together: 

    • MatterHackers, the largest distributor of desktop digital manufacturing equipment and materials in the USA, created an initiative called the COVID-19 Additive Manufacturing Community Response Hub and it will “connect those in the U.S. who need medical aid (Hospitals and Govt. Agencies) and those who can create it using Digital Manufacturing.” It has been live for three days and hundreds have signed up.
    • The N95 respirator mask is a one-time use item. But healthcare professionals are being asked, all around the world, to keep using the same mask repeatedly. Stanford University has helped answer the question pulling in materials scientists: Can Facial Masks be Disinfected for Re-use? Amy Price, DPhil (Oxon) and Larry Chu, MD on behalf of the Stanford AIM Lab and Learnly COVID-19 Evidence Service Stanford Anesthesia Informatics and Media Lab found that it is possible. See their PDF (linked in the title above) if you are involved in any efforts to help healthcare professionals get access to N95 masks. Hint: 70°C hot air in oven, 30min (not a home oven, to be clear!). Read the PDF with loads of technical details.
Stanford N95 Reuse Studies
Stanford N95 Reuse Studies

Although we are living in challenging times, educators and researchers in the USA and internationally are working incredibly long hours to help and save others. Many of the TEAMM network members are working round the clock to provide much-needed Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) by 3D printing face shields based on an open source design using PETG filament material on a wide range of 3D printers.

Coronavirus may look like it is winning, but based on these stories and dedicated people, there is hope that it will soon be defeated.