WCPO: UC's 3D printers help young engineers change the world

WCPO highlighted the growing uses of 3D printing and digital fabrication at the University of Cincinnati's College of Engineering and Applied Science.

UC graduate student Arshad Mohammed was recognized for his innovative 3D printing designs in a contest sponsored by Cincinnati tech startup Physna, which oversees the collaborative design-sharing site Thangs.com.

Mohammed is working to make jet engines quieter in UC professor Ephraim Gutmark's aerospace engineering lab. Engineering students print 3D designs before optimal designs are fashioned in steel at significantly greater expense for testing in UC's Gutmark's jet engine lab.

WCPO also spoke with Samuel Antoline, director of UC's Digital Fabrication Lab, about the many ways students are applying technology to address real-world problems.

"We have just finished a five-year collaboration with Cincinnati Children's Heart Institute where we purchased joint equipment. That equipment was used in their case to produce patient-specific organ models for surgical planning and practice," Antoline told WCPO. 

UC also responded to the COVID-19 pandemic last year by manufacturing personal protective equipment, parts for respirators and germ-free portable door-openers, Antoline said.

Read more about UC's Digital Fabrication Lab.