Service Learning Week 2 - It's go time

Service Learning Week 2 - It's go time

Lights, cameras, and action...these are all things that will be found in my upcoming documentary. Also to be featured are lasers. Some of these lasers will cut things, some will convert physical objects into 3d files on a computer, and some will turn liquid in to solid forms. That's for the future of this class though. This kind of a blog post should really start with the present or the past. 

So what was this week about? Well I went to MPC and checked out all their equipment. After spending a good amount of time going back and forth between "wow this is crazy" to "man you guys are really going places" we settled down. With the excitement at a manageable level we commenced with assembling and testing their new stereo-lithographic Form2 3d printer. Then we downloaded some parts and send the printer off on it's way for a 5 hour print. This part was quick because we have had several Form printers at my work which make great fixture components. 

With the printer running at full steam shooting a laser into a box filled with a liquid resin to harden it I jumped on the vinyl cutter. This machine had some driver issues which were quickly resolved. Then I learned about all the things you can do wrong when operating the machine. This led to eventual success with a fully setup machine loaded with blue vinyl and ready to cut out some pokemon logos. The key learning take away from this process is that computer controlled vinyl cutters let you make very large quantities of stickers for very cheap quickly. They are also ultra simple to operate after you make the first few mistakes. 

Aside from awesome machines there was a bit of paperwork for the class. I don't mind this paperwork though because it is not as rigid as other classes. It is a lot of reflection about your understanding of the world, how you fit into it, etc so that you can help make it a better place. If it was more rigid I would be a bit out of luck because that hasn't worked out for me traditionally. So thanks to the people involved in structuring this! I'm pretty sure you are the only people that will read this post so have a good week as well.