Maker Pass holders, students who qualify to use a variety of makerspaces on the Berkeley campuses, can now access high-resolution Form 2 3D printers in the CITRIS Invention Lab in Sutardja Dai Hall, thanks to a grant from the Student Tech Fund at UC Berkeley.
In its eighth year, the CITRIS Invention Lab has always made lower-resolution Ultimaker 3D printers available for no extra charge, the costs of the higher-resolution printers have made that prohibitive until now.
“Ultimaker printers are useful for prototyping, but students can learn valuable design insight and manufacturing skills when they can use the Form 2 3D printer,” says Chris Myers, senior manager of the CITRIS Invention Lab. “The Form 2 helps students understand the manufacturing process more holistically because it creates designs closer to the end product.”
“This grant lowers the barrier and will result in more students utilizing some of our best equipment,” added Myers.
The CITRIS Invention Lab currently has over 400 student users, including a community of “Superusers” who offer support to newer users of the lab. To use all equipment in the lab — including a laser cutter, portable 3D printers, and other rapid fabrication equipment — students need to apply for a Maker Pass, pay a small per-semester fee, and take online safety courses. To learn more about the CITRIS Invention Lab, please visit invent.citris-uc.org.
Photo: Chris Myers
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The Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS) and the Banatao Institute drive interdisciplinary innovation for social good with faculty researchers and students from four University of California campuses – Berkeley, Davis, Merced, and Santa Cruz – along with public and private partners.
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