Spending the summer in three dimensions
Third year MEng Aeronautics and Astronautics student, Andy Ure, spent his 2012 summer holidays on an internship working with the University of Southampton’s innovative rapid prototyping facility, more widely known as the 3D printer.
The technology is set to transform engineering design and teaching activities and better equip students for employability in a changing world. It is regarded as the third industrial revolution in manufacturing, providing greater design freedom, a faster design process, more efficient use of materials and tool-less manufacturing.
The university's 3D printer works by converting CAD engineering drawings into solid objects from nylon powder using laser melting. The object is built, layer by layer, with each layer the thickness of a human hair. It allows designers and engineers to create complex and lightweight parts rapidly.
At first Andy worked on a project to demonstrate the exciting technology by printing concentric and locked spheres in different colours. He then went on to work with Dr Colin Jacobs from the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton on creating a relief model of a large section of the Arctic.
He comments: "Having access to the world-class 3D printing facilities has allowed me to develop my design skills in a way that was not possible before. Instead of having my final designs simply shown on a screen, the new printer makes it possible for me to bring them to life. Furthermore, having this opportunity has helped me better understand a quickly developing field that will become essential in the future industrial environment."
Andy's summer internship coincided with a BBC television crew filming material for a story on student numbers for breakfast television. They were videoed to show the type of world-class research that students get involved with at the University.
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