UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A new 3-D printing lab in Penn State’s University Libraries is now open, giving Penn State students and faculty at all campuses the opportunity to dream up, design and print almost anything. The lab, called the Maker Commons, houses a large-scale printing installation of 32 MakerBot desktop 3-D printers as well as the Invention Studio, where University Park students can use littleBits for rapid prototyping of devices, and offers consultants to answer questions and help with projects.
Although the Maker Commons is housed within Pattee Library’s Knowledge Commons at the University Park campus, students from all Penn State campus locations, including the Penn State World Campus, can send projects to the 3-D printers via makercommons.psu.edu. Students can upload their designs, and each will be added to the queue of projects waiting to be printed. When a print request is complete, it will be sent via the same delivery system used for intercampus library materials requests, and can be picked up at the appropriate campus library’s main desk, such as Pattee Library’s Commons Services desk at University Park.
