HARLINGEN — One fractured skull, coming right up!
The Harlingen School for Health Professions has just received a grant to purchase a 3D printer that can knock out any kind of three-dimensional object.
Want some clogged arteries? Dental implants? Place your order and out they will come — as soon as the school gets the actual printer, said Alexandra Cornejo, library media specialist.
Cornejo applied for a $1,500 Vivian Greenfield Education Award earlier this year to pay for the full cost of the 3D printer. With the money now available, she expects to receive the device before the end of the year.
“It’s going to allow them a hands-on experience in medical classes,” she said.
Not only that, students will use coding to program the printer for a specific piece.
“These students are so tech savvy, some things that are so difficult for me will come naturally for them,” she said.
Students are excited about the new equipment.
“I think it’s an amazing opportunity for our school because of its medical use,” said Daniel Villarreal, 18, a member of the school’s Student Technical Team, which will be working with the printer.
“The 3D printer will create body parts that we can examine,” he said.
Fellow tech team member Nicholas Hinojosa agreed.
“I think it will present me with a new means of learning, more hands-on, not just in a book or on a computer screen,” said Nicholas, 17, a senior.
“It’s a different way we didn’t have before,” he said. “We’ll be able to analyze things better.”
With 3D images of parts in hand, students will be able to move forward at a faster pace in the pursuit of medical science.
It’s a process of making three dimensional solid objects in a printer that works off of computer software.
The object is created by laying down successive layers of material until the object is created. Each of these layers can be seen as a thinly sliced horizontal cross-section of the eventual object.
3D printing is the opposite of subtractive manufacturing, which is cutting out or hollowing out a piece of metal or plastic with a milling machine or other piece of equipment
3D printing enables you to produce complex (functional) shapes using less material than traditional manufacturing methods.
3Dprinting.com
