University of Minnesota The "purple" team with its 3D printouts
of toy components: (l-r) Matt Munson, Mac Cameron, Claire
Rydeen, Andy Carlson, Arya Adiartha. Photo by Patrick O'Leary.
Prototype. Test. Repeat. 3D tools speed creative teamwork By
Bill Magdalene Five students, five majors, one team--the
"purple" team in the spring 2012 toy product design class. Andy
Carlson's field is mechanical engineering. Mac Cameron's is
physics. Claire Rydeen is in engineering to create medical
devices. Arya Adiartha works in sustainable design. And Matt
Munson aims to become an architect. A big reason they all took
the class was the prototyping, a key design practice that's
becoming ever more efficient thanks to the 3D printers and laser
cutters and other new tools in the Digital Fabrication Lab.
BENEFITS OF PROTOTYPING Andy: When designing a new product, it
is important to make models to see how it will work and what it
might look like. These "prototypes" don't always resemble the
finished product. However, they allow us