Manufacturing is a key economic activity. Its know-how and its competitive advantages have shaped the history of humankind. In many Industrial Engineering (IE) programs, however, manufacturing is not taught as related to process know-how, but as systemic integration and management. It is possible to capitalize on the recent 3D printing technologies to reintroduce IE students to manufacturing principles through prototyping projects. Sparking the interest of IE students, though, can also be achieved through selecting problems of environmental awareness. This work describes a project of self-assemblies developed under the scheme of undergraduate research that makes prototyping a central endeavor with the aim to foster plastic recycling as an end goal.