Students Shape the Future with 3D Printing Through STEM Skills

Students build a 3D printer, gain hands-on experience with technology, digital manufacturing, and STEM subjects, and experiment with recycling.

Project background

This project provides students with a hands-on understanding of how additive manufacturing works and how it has evolved. By building a 3D printer, students gain firsthand experience with technology, digitalization, and STEM subjects. This fosters technical understanding, problem-solving skills, and important future-oriented competencies.

Project objective

The project aims to:

• Strengthen STEM skills: Make mathematics, computer science, natural sciences, and technology accessible through hands-on experiences.
• Promote technical understanding: Understand the structure, operation, and development of a 3D printer.
• Address sustainability: Consider resource-efficient manufacturing and the recycling of printing materials.
• Support career orientation: Provide insights into modern technical career fields and industrial applications.

Project procedure

Phase 1: Development of modular lesson units.

The goal of the first work package is to develop the individual modules and their didactic content.

2. Phase: Implementation of the teaching units.

The courses are to take place during the school year (once a month) as well as during school breaks as an in-person summer program in classrooms and laboratories at Rosenheim Technical University of Applied Sciences, thereby helping to ease the burden on working parents.

Innovation

What makes this innovative is its holistic approach: Students build the technology of the future themselves and gain an understanding of how its mechanical, electronic, and software components work together. Schools, students, and regional businesses all benefit from the early development of technical and STEM skills.