Hawaiian Students 3D Print Molds for Local Chocolate Shop

As part of a new 3D printing project, a group of students from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Hawaii recently teamed up with a local chocolate shop. The goal of the collaboration of these students and the Choco le’a in Manoa, was to create custom chocolate molds by using 3D printing technologies.

Since the day the food industry discovered the abundance of benefits additive manufacturing has to offer, new projects have rapidly increased and there seems to be no end in sight. But while most new projects focus primarily on the production of food itself, the possibilities offered by additive manufacturing in terms of tools that support production are at least as versatile and advantageous. Because of that, a group of Students in Manao, Hawaii got the idea for a new project during an upper-level mechanical engineering course. They focused on the manufacturing of 3D printed molds, which would, soon as finished, be used by local Choloate store Choco le’a to produce a new chocolate bar design.

The 3D printed mold (photo credits: University of Hawaii)

The group of engineering students, who were acting under the supervision of Assistant Professor Tyler Ray, first got in contact with the owner of Choco le’a Erin Kanno Uehara. Uehara, a University of Hawaii graduate herself, shared her expertise in the production of chocolate by giving them a tour through her shop and also explained the challenges that her business had in the past and how difficult it was to find the right molds at a low cost. Following that, they shared ideas on how the project would be completed in the best, possible way and what steps would be necessary to make it a success. For the production of the molds, the students used food-safe materials, as well as a high-tech 3D printer and fabrication equipment in the UH Mānoa Department of Mechanical Engineering’s laboratory.