The Univeristy of Florida brings 3D printing to education

Following their creation of 3D printed medical implants; the University of Florida (UF) is back in the news again for a new domain, education. Researchers at UF have been working on a National Science Foundation-funded program called iDigFossils, which offers curriculum on complex subjects in science, using 3D printed fossil replicas.

UF isn’t the first university to start looking at ways to incorporate 3D printing into education, with the University of Waterloo in Canada investing millions into it, as well as corporations such as GE and organizations like America Makes, doing their best to evolve 3D printing further within education. But, what makes UF’s 3D printing educational endeavor so interesting is that it is helping students to better visualize and understand difficult or complex topics in a way that wasn’t possible before.

Virtual model of the Megalodon teeth. Students 3D printed replicas of the 46 teeth and used them to estimate Megalodon’s length. Photo// Jeff Gage

To bring their program to life, UF took fossils from the Florida Museum of Natural History’s digital collections, which included bones from three-toed horses, giant ground sloths, and a Megalodon, the world’s largest shark. Taking these digital collections, the University was able to create replicas of them using 3D printing.