In my own words · Champaign, IL

Why I love 3D printers

Two large gantry 3D printers extrude curved concrete walls of subscale habitat structures side by side at NASA's 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love 3D Printing" page — read by families in Champaign, IL. — Two large gantry 3D printers extrude curved concrete walls of subscale habitat structures side by side at NASA's 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge. NASA · Public domain

I draw it and then I can hold it.
It builds up in tiny layers, over and over.
If it does not fit, I change it and print it again.

You can love 3D printers in Champaign.

What it really is

A 3D printer builds an object one thin layer at a time.

Three things to try today

Draw a part you wish existed.
Measure something it has to fit.
Write down the measurement to the millimeter.

Members of the Penn State team prepare their gantry 3D printer before starting a habitat print at the NASA 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love 3D Printing" page — read by families in Champaign, IL. — Members of the Penn State team prepare their gantry 3D printer before starting a habitat print at the NASA 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge. NASA · Public domain

For the grown-up reading this

A child in Champaign, IL who loves 3D printers is not unusual. A child in Champaign, IL who is told that loving 3D printers is unusual — that is the problem. The Champaign–Urbana, IL metro area has about 239,979 residents, ranking 201st in the country.

Tolerance is the lesson. A part that is a millimeter off does not fit, and that is the point.

If the kid who loves this is a girl

Read what one popular teacher said to one little girl who took out the classroom trash without being asked — and what that girl did with the rest of her life.

Girls are great at math — Champaign, IL →