As the new school year begins, York High School is proud to present seven state-of-the-art 3-D printers that will be used in engineering courses, science courses and an upcoming 3-D printing club.

Jeffrey Drach, current science teacher and adviser for Science Olympiad, said that he saw the printers being demonstrated at the  International Manufacturing Technology Show at the McCormick Place. He thought the printers  could have some different applications for York- especially for the Science Department- and made a request to the district.

The process for 3D printing is similar to icing a cake according to Industrial Technology teacher Daniel Calenberg. It starts by heating the extruder head to the point of melting the plastic filament that is then fed into the head which moves into the design you created. However, as told by Mr. Drach, it can only make objects as big as the printers’ platform.

“One of the biggest applications for the printer is to be used for Science Olympiad to model and print out original parts for complicated machines and robotics,” Drach said.

Other applications for the printer can be in Anatomy and Physiology to design and print out body parts to examine them. In Biology,  it can be used to print out different parts of the cell; and in Physics, students would be able to use them for engineering purposes.

In addition to the Science Department, Industrial Technology will be utilizing the 3D printers as well. Calenberg said that rapid prototyping  and manufacturing has become increasingly common in industries, and that he wants to keep the classes as close to the real world experience as possible.

Both Drach and Calenberg agree that students enjoy having the printers in class and are excited for future plans involving them. Even though there is no specific starting date, Mr Drach said the new 3D printing club will be a chance for anyone looking to design and print out their own creation.