Work in Progress: Development of Educational Kit for Teaching Additive Manufacturing

Abstract

Additive Manufacturing (AM) is a unique manufacturing technology that is being rapidly accepted in various industries, leading to increased demand for experts who know to work with AM and how to design AM products. This led to a broader adaptation of AM in an educational context with various research on how to teach AM. However, most approaches are focused on teaching advanced AM application and Design for AM (DfAM), including both restrictive and opportunistic approaches, with little attention to specialised educational tools to show and teach the basic principle, possibilities and characteristics of AM. This paper presents the development of an Educational Kit for AM to address the gap and help teachers to explain the basics of AM, with a current focus on the material extrusion process. The Educational Kit is made of 17 models and accompanied cards explaining the essential characteristics of AM through short textual explanations, graphics, examples and manufacturing data. The Educational Kit for AM is intended to be used in introductory lessons on AM, so the novices in AM can quickly grasp the characteristics of AM and the basic terms used in AM before advancing to other AM and DfAM topics.

Towards the effective development of Design for Additive Manufacturing (DFAM) curricula: an exploration of strategies and solutions in education

“…The second gap identified is that the industry and educational sectors are not yet utilising Smart AM Machinery due to a lack of skills in DfAM. [21]. The third gap points to the lacking use of a formal DfAM curriculum is impairing the remanufacturing and repairing of products, tools and material needs [ 20,22].…”