Tag: University of Maryland

YouthQuest Celebrates Supporters With Golf Tournament, Awards

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Players at YouthQuest golf tournament at Trump National Golf Club, Washington, DC August 5, 2019

Every August, we bring together YouthQuest Foundation supporters to show our appreciation and honor some of the special people who help us change young lives.

We fielded 19 teams for this year’s golf tournament on August 5 at Trump National Golf Club, Washington, DC. At our VIP Reception on August 1, we recognized our 2019 Strategic Partner, Community Partner and Volunteer of the Year award winners.

During the reception, Piper Phillips, President and CEO of PHILLIPS Programs for Children and Families, and YouthQuest Director of Instruction Tom Meeks gave guests an update on how our partnership is helping prepare students on the autism spectrum for meaningful employment. They showed this video about PHILLIPS students who took part in a cross-country 3D printing project that laid the groundwork for our new vocational training program.

2019 Volunteer of the Year Chris Adams with YouthQuest Foundation Co-Founders Allen Cage and Lynda Mann at VIP Reception August 1, 2019
Volunteer of the Year Chris Adams

YouthQuest Co-Founders Lynda Mann and Allen Cage presented awards to Volunteer of the Year Chris Adams, a Technology Education teacher at Franklin Middle School in Chantilly, and to Franklin Assistant Principal Robert Gibbs, representing Fairfax County Public Schools, our Community Partner of the Year.

Chris has been sharing his expertise with us for several years and has helped connect us with other Fairfax County teachers. When he found out his school was going to get rid of a barely-used Z310 powder/binder 3D printer, he thought of us. With his help, we arranged for Fairfax County Public Schools to donate the Z310 to us. It’s the perfect addition to our 3D printing lab, giving our advanced 3D ThinkLink students valuable, hands-on experience with a professional-grade machine as part of the job training and placement project we’re launching.

University of Maryland Terrapin Works Operations Manager Nathanael Carriere was on hand to accept our 2019 Strategic Partner Award. Terrapin Works encompasses a collection of 3D design and printing resources on the College Park campus. Nathanael and his staff host Vocational Orientation events every six months for cadets in our 3D ThinkLink classes at DC’s Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academy. They take the cadets through the labs in Maryland’s recently opened A. James Clark Hall, showing them how engineering students use 3D printing.

Golf Entertainer Brad Denton trick shot demonstration at YouthQuest golf tournament August 5, 2019 at Trump National Golf Club, Washington, DC
Golf Entertainer Brad Denton

Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar in Tysons, Virginia, hosted the VIP Reception and sponsored Golf Entertainer Brad Denton, who opened the tournament on Monday morning with an amazing trick shot demonstration before players headed out to spend a beautiful summer day on the Trump National Championship Course.

We were pleased to welcome DFS Construction Corporation and DCG Dominion Construction Group as first-time tournament sponsors, along with returning sponsors AOC Solutions, FEDAC, the Poole Foundation, the POH Group, Kipps DeSanto, Insperity, Gombos-Leyton, Jones Lang LaSalle, Old Dominion National Bank, CrossFit PR Star and Valley Forge Acquisition Corp.

Old Dominion National Bank team member Penny Bladich sinks a putt at YouthQuest golf tournament August 5, 2019, at Trump National Golf Club, Washington, DC
Old Dominion National Bank’s Penny Bladich sinks a putt

VIP guests at the tournament included Capt. Ken Dondero and Maj. Rudy Landon from the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office and Washington Redskins alumni Pat Fischer, Roy Jefferson, Raleigh McKenzie, Jerry Olsen and Bubba Tyer.

The secret to the repeated success of our annual fundraising event is the outstanding work of the entire Trump National team including the catering staff, grounds crew and caddies, along with our tournament volunteers: Linda Ackerman, volunteer coordinator, Emily Blake, Rachel Cage, Nikki Gombos, Rob Hall, Steve Levenson, Ingrid Louro and previous Volunteer of the Year award winners Edna Davis, Val Hightower and Tony Sanderson.

The 15th annual Challenge at Trump National will be on Monday, August 3, 2020. It’s never too early to sign up. This form has all the details. Online registration will be available early next year.

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Students Find Inspiration in Vocational Orientation

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Ian McCormick leads a Vocational Orientation tour of Duncan-Parnell's 3D printing facility in Charlotte, NC, for 3D ThinkLink students from South Carolina Youth ChalleNGe Academy

Visiting colleges and businesses where 3D printing is used helps our 3D ThinkLink students understand the real-world value of the skills we teach them.

This month, cadets from Maryland’s Freestate ChalleNGe Academy, the District of Columbia’s Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academy and South Carolina Youth ChalleNGe Academy took part in Vocational Orientation events that showed them many potential career paths involving 3D design and printing. They also met inspiring people who encouraged them to aim high as they set their sights on the future.

ChalleNGe Academies are military-style alternative schools that offer at-risk teens a second chance. Most of the students dropped out or were kicked out of regular high schools. So the cadets in our 3D ThinkLink classes probably didn’t expect to have much in common with someone like Nathan Lambert, a top graduate student at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Graduate student Nathan Lambert with 3D ThinkLink students from South Carolina Youth ChalleNGe Academy on a Vocational Orientation tour of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte's Department of Mechanical Engineering
Nathan Lambert leads a tour at UNCC

But as Nathan helped lead a tour of the university’s Mechanical Engineering Department on October 17, the SCYCA cadets discovered that he’d hated high school and barely managed to graduate. After six years in the military, which included time as a paratrooper in Afghanistan, he came home with new life experiences and a sense of self-discipline. Nathan decided to become a mechanical engineer, even though it meant going back to school for years.

College is different from high school, Nathan told the cadets, because you have more control over your schedule and you can focus on subjects you’re passionate about. He started at a community college and eventually enrolled at UNCC, where his wife Brittney Lambert is also a mechanical engineering grad student. The Lamberts both urged the cadets to think about going to college, even if – like Nathan – they’d never considered it in high school.

UNCC Mechanical Engineering Professor Dr. Jeff Raquet, who specializes in 3D printing, introduced the cadets to the school’s rocketry team. The students showed the cadets the rocket they’re building for this year’s NASA Student Launch Competition, a project that involves 3D design and printing as well as traditional subtractive manufacturing and many other aspects of engineering. The competitors must design, build and test a reusable rocket that carries a payload a mile high and returns safely to the ground. UNCC won $2,500 for placing second in last year’s competition and is aiming for the top prize of $5,000 this time.

3D ThinkLink students from South Carolina Youth ChalleNGe Academy watch a 3D printer work whyile visiting Duncan-Parnell in Charlotte, NC, for Vocational Orientation
SCYCA Cadets get a close look at one of Duncan-Parnell’s 3D printers

Also during their visit to Charlotte, the SCYCA cadets toured Duncan-Parnell’s office to see a wide variety of the latest 3D printers. The company has hosted many Vocational Orientation events for our students and received YouthQuest’s Community Partner of the Year award in 2016.

The Freestate 3D ThinkLink students got an impromptu lesson in entrepreneurship while they toured The Foundery in Baltimore. As staffer Eric Smith was showing them the machines, some Foundery members struck up conversations with the cadets and told them what they’ve been able to accomplish by using the industrial makerspace as their own workshop.

There’s no need to get involved in shady hustles on the street, they said, when you can use The Foundery’s equipment to turn a few dollars’ worth of raw material into custom-made products worth hundreds. One craftsman showed off a $13 mirror that he’d laser-engraved with his own design to create a sign he would sell for 10 times as much to a local barbershop.

Eric Smith, who led a Vocational Orientation tour of The Foundery for our 3D ThinkLink students from Maryland's Freestate ChalleNGe Academy on October 9, 2018, shows acrylic panels that were etched by a laser cutter.
The Foundery’s Eric Smith explains laser engraving to Freestate cadets

Eric reinforced the message, telling the cadets that what’s most valuable is knowledge. He reminded the cadets that the CAD (computer-aided design) skills they use for 3D printing can also be applied to things like computer-controlled cutting and engraving machines. And you don’t set your product’s price based on how long it takes to make it, he said, but on what your knowledge of how to make it is worth to your customer. 

One place where students can gain that valuable knowledge is Harford Community College, where the Freestate cadets began their day of Vocational Orientation on October 9. Professor David Antol showed our students the school’s 3D printing lab and explained the opportunities available for them to build on the skills they’re learning in our introductory 3D ThinkLink course.

David Antol, Coordinator for Applied Technology Programs at Harford Community College, led a Vocational Orientation tour of the school's 3D printing lab for our 3D ThinkLink students from Maryland's Freestate ChalleNGe Academy
Freestate cadets in Harford Community College’s 3D printing lab

HCC is one of the few community colleges that emphasizes 3D printing. It offers an associate degree in engineering technology in a program that focuses on applied knowledge of manufacturing processes, along with critical thinking, problem solving and communications skills – all of which are in high demand among employers. The school is also preparing to launch a certificate program in additive manufacturing.

Because HCC offers these programs and is located close to the Freestate campus, it’s an excellent resource for cadets as they make their post-graduation plans.

Like the South Carolina students who visited UNCC, the Capital Guardian cadets’ Vocational Orientation experience included an in-depth look at a major university’s 3D printing operations along with an overview of its mechanical engineering program.

Senior Lab Manager John Fitzell led a Vocational Orientation tour of the University of Maryland's Terrapin Works facilities for 3D ThinkLInk students from DC's Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academy
John Fitzell leads a tour of Terrapin Works

The students from DC toured the Terrapin Works facilities at the University of Maryland’s main campus in College Park, guided by Senior Lab Manager John Fitzell. He showed them printers that use plastic filament, similar to those they use in class, along with machines that print with specialized materials such as liquid resin, flexible polymers and even metal. Seeing the many different types of printers and the objects they create helped the students understand the applications for each type of 3D printer.

John also took the cadets through some of the labs in Maryland’s recently opened A. James Clark Hall, explaining the projects engineering students complete as they progress through their course of studies, and how they use 3D printing in those projects.

Local Motors National Harbor Customer Engagement Manager Tracye Johnson stands with 3D ThinkLink students from Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academy in front of a BAAM (Big Area Additive Manufacturing) machine
Tracye Johnson and CGYCA cadets with the BAAM at Local Motors

One kind of 3D printer Terrapin Works does not have is the BAAM (Big Area Additive Manufacturing) machine – a giant device with a print bed that’s seven feet wide and 13 feet long that can make objects up to three feet high. The CGYCA cadets saw that machine during their first stop of the day on October 11, when they visited Local Motors at National Harbor. Local Motors uses the BAAM, along with a huge five-axis milling machine to make Olli, a 3D-printed, self-driving electric shuttle bus.

Besides showing our students how 3D-printed vehicles are made, Local Motors Customer Engagement Manager Tracye Johnson introduced them to e-NABLE. It’s a worldwide project that mobilizes people with 3D printers to make prosthetic hands and arms for people who were born missing fingers or who have lost them due to war, disease or disasters. Tracye encouraged the cadets to think about this and other ways they can use their 3D printing skills to help others.

Vocational Orientation is one of our most important tools for changing the lives of our 3D ThinkLink students. The experiences expand the horizons and spark the imaginations of the at-risk youth we serve. Our foundation is deeply grateful to all the organizations that make these events possible.  

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Local Motors Hosts 3D ThinkLink Vocational Orientation

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Customer Engagement Manager Tracye Johnson points to the 3D-printed Accessible Olli vehicle during a Vocational Orientation tour of Local Motors in National Harbor, Maryland for 3D ThinkLink students from DC's Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academy on April 19, 2018.

We often remind 3D ThinkLink students that the goal of our program isn’t only to teach them about 3D printing. We want them to learn new ways of thinking and be inspired to accomplish things they didn’t think they could do.

That’s why Vocational Orientation is such an important part of the 3D ThinkLink experience. Twice a year, we take students from our 3D classes at the Maryland, South Carolina and the District of Columbia Youth ChalleNGe academies on tours of businesses and schools that use 3D design, scanning and printing.

3D ThinkLink students from Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academy pose next to the BAAM, a giant 3D printer used to make Local Motors' Accessible Olli self-driving shuttle
Capital Guardian cadets at Local Motors with BAAM, a giant 3D printer

The visits show our students how they can apply their 3D skills in STEM career fields and continued education. In addition, these at-risk youth are literally expanding their minds because exposure to new ideas and experiences stimulates the creation of neural connections in their brains.

There’s no doubt that the brains of cadets from DC’s Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academy were growing as they toured the Local Motors Heritage Showroom and demonstration facility at National Harbor, Maryland on April 19.

Local Motors Customer Engagement Manager Tracye Johnson guided the students through a tour that included hands-on activities to help them understand the technology and thinking that goes into making Accessible Olli, the company’s 3D-printed, self-driving electric shuttle bus. The vehicle introduced at January’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas looks like the original Olli, which debuted two years ago, but it’s loaded with high-tech systems to assist disabled passengers.

3D ThinkLink students from Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe academy do hands-on activities to simulate various disabilities during a Vocational Orientation tour of Local Motors National Harbor on April 19, 2018.
Hands-on Care Station activities simulate various disabilities

For instance, Accessible Olli can recognize visually impaired riders and use audio to communicate with them. For hearing-impaired people, it has an array of visual displays and can even understand sign language. There are also special features to meet the needs of passengers with mobility problems or cognitive impairments such as dementia.

Local Motors uses a combination of additive and subtractive manufacturing to make its vehicles. The students saw a room-sized version of the 3D printers they use in class called the BAAM (Big Area Additive Manufacturing) machine, which deposits layer after layer of carbon fiber-reinforced ABS plastic to form Olli’s body parts. Next to the BAAM is a giant five-axis milling machine that smooths the rough surfaces of the 3D-printed parts.

The company pioneered this production method with the Strati, the first 3D-printed electric car, in 2014. Two years later, it rolled out a drone-guided version in partnership with Mouser Electronics. The students got to see both vehicles on display in the Heritage Showroom.

Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academy Cadet Kaya Green holds a 3D-printed e-Nable hand assembled during a Vocational Orientation tour of Local Motors National Harbor on April 19, 2018
Capital Guardian Cadet Kaya Green holds a 3D-printed e-Nable hand

Tracye led the cadets through a series of Care Station activities to get them thinking about how people deal with various disabilities and what engineers must consider in designing an autonomous shuttle to serve those customers.

At one station, they had to manipulate a box puzzle toy while blindfolded. At another, students tried to understand what was being said to them while wearing headphones that made hearing impossible. There was an activity to simulate memory problems.

Everyone wanted to try the station demonstrating physical limitations, where they had one of their hands taped up and tried to get the best score in a game of cornhole. Even our Director of Instruction Tom Meeks got into the act, tossing beanbags at the target.   

The tour concluded with Tracye introducing the cadets to another project that combines 3D printing and designing devices for the disabled. They assembled 3D-printed pieces to make e-Nable prosthetic hands. Volunteers for the nonprofit organization Enabling the Future use their 3D-printers to create free hands and arms for disabled people around the world.

More Mind-Expanding Vocational Orientation Events

From National Harbor, the Capital Guardian students headed north to College Park to see the University of Maryland’s Terrapin Works 3D printing facilities. Operations Manager Nathanael Carriere showed many different types of printers and explained the various processes each one uses to create 3D objects. The cadets also got a look inside A. James Clark Hall, the UMD Engineering School’s newest building where Terrapin Works has some of its most advanced 3D printers and scanners.

3D ThinkLink students from South Carolina Youth ChalleNGe Academy visit UNCC's Motorsports Engineering program during Vocational Orientation on April 26, 2018
SCYCA students visit UNCC’s Motorsports Engineering program

The DC students weren’t the only ones who got to see how 3D design and printing can be used to make vehicles. The class from South Carolina Youth ChalleNGe Academy visited the University of North Carolina at Charlotte on April 26 to see the North Carolina Motorsports and Automotive Research Center.

Dr. Jeff Raquet of the Mechanical Engineering Department led the tour of the facility that’s filled with race cars, engines and the equipment engineers use to make them. The school is just a few miles from the Charlotte Motor Speedway and about 15 percent of all NASCAR engineers are UNCC graduates.

The SCYCA students began their day in Charlotte with a tour of Duncan-Parnell, the winner of our 2016 Community Partner Award, to learn about career opportunities in 3D printer maintenance and support. 3D printing products and services are a big part of the work Duncan-Parnell does with construction companies, architects and engineers. The company also provides service and technical support for the Z450 full-color powder bed printer in the 3D ThinkLink Creativity Lab at our Chantilly, Virginia, headquarters.

Prof. David Antol shows Freestate ChalleNGe Academy 3D ThinkLink students the 3D printing lab at Maryland's Harford Community College during Vocational Orientation on April 17, 2018.
David Antol shows Freestate students the 3D printing lab at Maryland’s Harford Community College

Vocational Orientation for the 3D ThinkLink class from Maryland’s Freestate ChalleNGe Academy featured a visit to Harford Community College on April 17. Professor David Antol showed them projects being done in the school’s 3D printing lab and explained the HCC’s Engineering Technology program, which will soon include a certification in 3D printing.

A favorite Vocational Orientation destination for the Freestate students is The Foundery, an industrial makerspace in Baltimore. And the highlight of the tour is always the demonstration done by blacksmith Sam Salvati. Sam says using a forge, anvil and hammer is the original 3D printing. The Freestate cadets got a workout transforming a bar of steel into a large nail with their initials stamped on it.

This class cycle was the first time our students have been to Local Motors, UNCC and Harford Community College. It won’t be the last. The experiences they gave us made this the best series of Vocational Orientation events we’ve done since we started the 3D ThinkLink Initiative five years ago.

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Vocational Orientation Shows Students 3D Printing in Action

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3D ThinkLink students from Freestate and Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academies visit The Foundery in Baltimore for Vocational Orientation on October 24, 2017

It’s always exciting to take our 3D ThinkLink students beyond their classrooms and show them some of the many ways they can use the CAD (computer-aided design) and 3D printing skills they’re learning.

In October, for the first time, Vocational Orientation for Cadets from Maryland’s Freestate ChalleNGe Academy and DC’s Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academy included a visit to Terrapin Works, the University of Maryland’s 3D printing center.  

A 3D ThinkLink student from DC's Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academy examines 3D-printed objects at the University of Maryland's MakerBot Innovation Center in College Park as part of his Vocational Orientation experience on October 24, 2017.
A Capital Guardian Cadet looks at 3D-printed objects at the University of Maryland’s Terrapin Works

Terrapin Works encompasses a collection of digital design and production resources located throughout the College Park campus. The equipment ranges from consumer-grade 3D printers like the ones our students use in class to highly sophisticated, specialized systems that can print objects using all sorts of materials such as plastics, metal, ceramics and even living cells.

The University of Maryland tour included a stop at the Fischell Department of Bioengineering’s Tissue Engineering and Biomaterials Laboratory, where 3D printing helps scientists develop materials that can be implanted in the body. The lab has hosted Vocational Orientation events for us since 2014 and our students are always fascinated to learn how researchers combine life sciences and engineering to create things like bone and blood vessel replacements.

After a busy morning in College Park, the Cadets headed north to Baltimore to spend the afternoon at The Foundery, an industrial makerspace that’s another favorite Vocational Orientation destination.

3D ThinkLink students from Freestate and Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academies watch a machine cut plates of steel using a high-pressure water jet during a tour of The Foundery in Baltimore as part of their Vocational Orientation experience on October 24, 2017.
Cadets watch a computer-controlled machine cut steel with a high-pressure water jet at The Foundery

At The Foundery, our students see how their knowledge of CAD software gives them opportunities to work in traditional subtractive manufacturing fields as well as the new realm of additive manufacturing. Whether they’re working with a desktop 3D printer, a laser engraver or a giant industrial cutting machine, it all comes down to giving a computer-controlled device the instructions needed to make the object you want.

Even more important for our students than learning about the various machines they saw during Vocational Orientation was meeting the people who use those machines to turn ideas into reality. It was gratifying to watch the personal interaction between the Cadets and the staff members at UMD and The Foundery.

These tours are intended to open the eyes of at-risk teens whose view of career opportunities is often quite limited. By exposing them to new ideas and experiences, we encourage them to see themselves going on to do things they didn’t think were possible. Whatever their goals may be, the thinking skills our 3D ThinkLink Initiative teaches will help our students achieve them.

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Spring 2017 Scholarship-Winning 3D ThinkLink Student Essays

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These students from the 2017 spring class cycle earned $500 scholarships for these essays about their 3D ThinkLink experience.

By Asia Baker-Stevenson
Freestate ChalleNGe Academy

The YouthQuest 3D printing program has transformed my way of thinking and my way of life in many different ways. Before I started 3D printing I was very insecure about myself. I thought I would never be good at anything. I’ve always believed that I would be a failure in life and that I would never be able to make my mom smile. When I signed up for 3D printing I thought my creativity would never be able to process. But once I started trying and putting my mind towards it, I realized that 3D printing helps society look so much easier. I didn’t know that I would be able to make a house, car, a necklace, and my name from the use of a 3D printer.

The students from the University of Maryland help out the economy by reconstructing cells with the usage of 3D printing. I’ve learned that there are more things in 3D printing than just shapes and colors. I’ve learned that you can use a 3D printing to reconstruct bones, and cells in a biochemistry lab. They used a 3D printer in order to show others the size of a 3 month old’s heart, with the use of an incubator they were able to disinfect and prevent bacteria from forming on new-born cells.

While being at The Foundery I was able to see a blacksmith make a spear while using nothing but fire and a sledgehammer. I also saw a 3D printer that prints with the usage of lasers which to me was amazing.

When I first signed up for 3D printing I didn’t believe that I would be able to create a successful design. Everything to me seemed to be impossible. I struggled to work on the computer. The very first design I made was my name because I felt as though my design wasn’t worthy enough to be put out into the real world. I became frustrated with myself I wanted to give up because my peers’ designs looked better than mine. The outcome of my first design encouraged me to keep going and to move on to create bigger and better things that will later help people out in life.

Joining 3D printing has taught me to always achieve bigger and better things. It has also taught me to never give up on anything because the simplest mistake that I make could turn out to make my project much better. While being in 3D printing I’ve learned that starting something new is for a purpose and that purpose is to never give up or quit on yourself. I may not be able to complete things on my own but I shouldn’t be afraid of failure.

_________________________________________

By LaMarcus Corley
Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academy

I signed up for 3D printing and I did not get accepted the first time. I was very upset. I then talked to my case manager and she found a way to enter me into the class. My first day of 3D-printing was cool I learned a lot that I never knew before using a 3D printer. After my first day I decided that this was something that I would like to do because I am a creative person that likes to use my mind.

Now that I have more experience in the class and I know all the commands by heart for example, extrude means you can extend in the Z direction or be set to taper or follow a path. You can extrude an open or closed object to create 3D surface or solid. In my class, I learned how to make a clock, keychain, bookmark, ring, and a puzzle. I also made a clock for the Commanding General Walker. I also know how to change the filament on a 3D printer, load the cartridge, and level the print pad with the 3D plate attached to it.

If I had a 3D printer, I would start a business. I would create a toy company to be exact. I would create toys, fidget toys, parts for cars, and parts for bikes. The reason I would create these objects is because I know people are less fortune than others and it would let me give back to the community. My company would also be non-profit. All the money would come from my saved earnings. I would also create items for my family, and friends to show my knowledge of 3D printing and for myself.

3D printing has changed my life in many ways. It has helped me control my anger. It has also helped me control my ADHD. When I come to class my whole mood changes, I become happy because I know that I’m in a good place.

Vocational Orientation Opens Young Eyes to Opportunities

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Students look at a 3D printed architectural model at 3D Systems in Rock Hill, SC, during 3D ThinkLink Vocational Orientation October 20, 2016

Introducing at-risk youth to 3D design and printing is only one part of YouthQuest’s 3D ThinkLink Initiative. Our larger purpose is to help troubled teens learn to think in new ways and dream big.

One way we do that is through Vocational Orientation events, which are a requirement for completion of the 3D ThinkLink training we provide for National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Programs in South Carolina, Maryland and Washington, DC. Students spend a day touring businesses and universities to see real-world applications for the concepts they’re learning about in class.

During an October 13 Vocational Orientation event, University of Maryland grad student Max Lerner tells 3D ThinkLink students from Maryland and DC about the 3D printers he uses in the Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Lab.
3D printers in the University of Maryland Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Lab

Many of the kids we serve have struggled with academics and their life experience is severely limited. Before they enrolled in a ChalleNGe Academy, few imagined themselves pursuing higher education or a career in a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math)-related field.

That’s why being in a college lab or a high-tech manufacturing facility for the first time can be a life-changing moment for these at-risk teens. In essays they write about how our 3D ThinkLink training affected their lives, students frequently mention being inspired by something they saw during Vocational Orientation.

In October, our Maryland and DC students enjoyed a full day of eye-opening experiences, starting with a visit to the newly opened City Garage in South Baltimore. The former bus garage has been transformed into a wonderland of innovation, anchored by Under Armour’s Lighthouse, a 35,000-square-foot design and manufacturing center. The UA Lighthouse includes a room equipped with more than 50 cameras for 3D scanning of athletes. Designers use the scans to create individually tailored sportswear. The students also learned that UA uses 3D design and printing to prototype footwear and apparel.

Josh Dunn of Bustin Boards tells 3D ThinkLink students from Maryland and DC how the company designs and builds skateboards during a Vocational Orientation tour in Baltimore on October 13, 2016.
Josh Dunn explains how Bustin Boards makes skateboards

Elsewhere in the City Garage complex, the kids had fun at the Bustin Boards skateboard company. Along with trying out the boards, they discovered that the Moment of Inspiration software they’re learning to use in class is the same type of CAD (Computer Aided Design) program the company’s designers use. That led to a discussion about how CAD skills are needed for both 3D printing, or “additive manufacturing,” in which machines build objects by putting material only where it is needed, and traditional “subtractive manufacturing,” in which machines cut away material to form objects.

All kinds of additive and subtractive manufacturing devices were on display next door at The Foundery, a large makerspace. In the midst of all that modern technology, the kids also got some hands-on experience with one of the oldest manufacturing methods – blacksmithing. After heating, pounding and bending red-hot steel, the kids surely gained an appreciation for 3D software that can turn a simple shape into something useful or decorative with just a few clicks of a mouse.

3D ThinkLink students from South Carolina Youth ChalleNGe Academy examine a 3D printed object during a Vocational Orientation visit at Duncan-Parnell's 3D printing shop in Charlotte on October 20, 2016.
Students visit Duncan-Parnell’s 3D printing shop in Charlotte

Students from South Carolina Youth ChalleNGe Academy also saw additive and subtractive manufacturing processes in action as they visited Duncan-Parnell’s 3D printing department in Charlotte, NC, 3D Systems headquarters in Rock Hill, SC and the University of South Carolina Department of Mechanical Engineering in Columbia.

The medical uses for 3D printing often strike a chord with our 3D ThinkLink students.

The kids from Maryland’s Freestate and DC’s Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academies were fascinated to see how 3D printing is used to develop things like bone and vascular replacements in the University of Maryland’s Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Lab.

South Carolina Youth ChalleNGe Academy Cadets look at a display on 3D printing in medicine during Vocational Orientation tour of 3D Systems in Rock Hill, SC, October 20, 2016.
Medical technology display at 3D Systems

At 3D Systems, the South Carolina students learned about the company’s work in the fast-growing specialty of pre-surgery modeling. A 3D Systems team recently worked with doctors at Children’s Hospital at Montefiore in New York who separated baby brothers joined at the head. They were able to plan and practice every step of the complex surgery thanks to precise 3D-printed models made from MRIs and CT scans of the boys’ skulls.

We often remind students that being exposed to new ideas and experiences literally makes their brains grow, as new connections between neurons are formed. Our field trips also open students’ minds and expand their view of what’s possible. Vocational Orientation events make these at-risk teens aware of opportunities they had never imagined. While they may not end up working on the cutting edge of technology, the thinking skills and confidence they develop during their 3D ThinkLink experience will help them make the most of any opportunity they choose to pursue.

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Students Explore 3D Printing Beyond the Classroom

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3D ThinkLink students from DC's Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academy visit the University of Maryland's Tissue Engineering Lab during Vocational Orientation in April 2016

Vocational Orientation is an important part of YouthQuest’s 3D ThinkLink training because it shows students some of the ways they can use the skills they’re learning in class.

In April, 3D ThinkLink students from Maryland’s Freestate, the District of Columbia’s Capital Guardian and South Carolina Youth ChalleNGe Academies visited businesses and universities to:

  • Deepen their understanding of 3D printing technology;
  • Learn about career opportunities in related fields;
  • Meet people who use 3D design and printing in their occupations;
  • See teamwork, creative thinking and problem solving in action.

At the Rock Hill, S.C., headquarters of our 3D ThinkLink Strategic Partner, 3D Systems, the South Carolina cadets learned about 3D printing’s explosive growth in areas ranging from medicine, automotive and aerospace engineering to fashion and entertainment. Director of Corporate Communications Tim Miller led a tour showing the full line of 3D Systems products and explaining the special applications for each machine. The students, who have only simple, desktop plastic-extrusion 3D printers in their classrooms, were amazed by the variety of printing methods and materials available.

Duncan-Parnell's Camren Summerlin shows students a 3D-printer
Duncan-Parnell’s Camren Summerlin shows students a 3D printer

The SCYCA students began their Vocational Orientation Day with a visit to a business that uses many 3D Systems products in its work with civil engineering clients, Duncan-Parnell in Charlotte, N.C. The staff showed them some of the latest 3D printers and talked about jobs available for operators who have the skills to produce high-quality 3D models. Applications Engineer Camren Summerlin also encouraged the students to consider repairing and maintaining 3D printers as a career.

The day wrapped up in Columbia with a tour of the University of South Carolina’s Department of Mechanical Engineering. Graduate Director Dr. David Rocheleau explained how mechanical engineers “make things and break things” – analyzing the strengths and weakness of materials in research to create better, safer products. In addition to 3D printers, the students saw engineering tools such as a wind tunnel, a century-old milling machine and a huge device that can cut through practically anything using a high-pressure stream of water.

UMD grad student Bao Nguyen explains how this 3D-printed scaffold is used to create a hip bone replacement.
UMD grad student Bao Nguyen explains how this 3D-printed scaffold is used to create a hip bone replacement.

The Maryland and DC students learned about 3D printing’s role in a very different kind of engineering during their visit to the University of Maryland in College Park. They met Laurie Bracaglia, Charlotte Piard, Bao Nguyen and other graduate students in the Tissue Engineering and Biomaterials Lab who are developing innovations such as human bone replacements. The researchers use 3D printing to build delicate forms around which bone cells will grow. The cadets took part in hands-on demonstrations of an emerging technology that would have seemed like science fiction not so long ago.

Our students also discovered how 3D printing fits into the invention process when they  toured Prototype Productions, Inc., in Ashburn, VA, another 3D ThinkLink Strategic Partner. Chief Operating Officer Italo Travez and his staff explained that everyone at PPI – designers, engineers and machine operators – share ideas and work together to find innovative solutions to customers’ needs.

During Vocational Orientation for 3D ThinkLink students from Maryland and DC in April 2016, Prototype Productions COO Italo Travez demonstrates products PPI developed
PPI’s Italo Travez demonstrates some of the products his company developed

Mr. Travez, who emigrated from Ecuador with his family when he was a child, also shared personal stories about what drove him to become a mechanical engineer and how he and his brother, Joe, built their small family business into a state-of-the-art prototyping operation that has developed hundreds of products.

There was even a side-order of innovation during a lunch break at Topgolf Loudoun in Ashburn. Director of Sales Cassandra Taylor led a tour of the facility that puts a high-tech spin on the traditional driving range. Players hit golf balls embedded with RFID (radio frequency identification) chips into targets equipped with sensors that read the chips and send the scoring data back to the players. Although most of the cadets had never touched a golf club, they had fun giving Topgolf a try.

The at-risk teens in our 3D ThinkLink classes typically have a narrow view of the world and their place in it. Many have never been to a high-tech workshop or a major university campus. These Vocational Orientation events help open students’ eyes to what’s possible for them as they plan their next steps into adulthood.

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3DThinkLink Students Explore Innovation in Action

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Prototype Productions Inc. Co-Founder and CEO Joe Travez with 3DThinkLink students from Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academy during Vocational Orientation October 15, 2015

Vocational Orientation is an important part of YouthQuest’s 3D ThinkLink Initiative because our program does much more than introduce students to 3D design and printing.

Our goal is to teach at-risk youth to think differently so they can achieve their potential as successful adults. Their brains grow when they are exposed to new things. The more they experience, the more they have to draw on when thinking creatively about solving problems.

Prototype Productions, Inc., our 2015 3D ThinkLink Strategic Partner, teamed up with Topgolf Loudoun this month to provide a valuable Vocational Orientation experience for our students from Maryland’s Freestate ChalleNGe Academy and the District of Columbia’s Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academy. PPI Co-Founder and CEO Joe Travez organized the October 15 event which focused on innovation.

Innovation in Practice

3DThinkLink students examine 3D-printed objects at Prototype Productions, Inc. during Vocational Orientation
Students examine 3D-printed objects at PPI

As they toured PPI’s headquarters in Ashburn, Virginia, our 3D ThinkLink students discovered that innovative thinking is at the heart of the design, engineering and production work being done there. “Contemplation and action” is how Joe described it to the Cadets.

Chief Technology Officer Ben Feldman explained the ways PPI uses 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, along with traditional subtractive manufacturing methods to solve engineering problems.

For example, our students learned how the powered rail system PPI developed for military rifles not only lightens a soldier’s load by as much as 12 pounds by reducing the number of batteries he must carry, but can also be used for sending and receiving potentially lifesaving information on the battlefield.

Another PPI product they saw is a haptic device that mimics a sense of touch for training medical workers to insert IV needles or catheters into patients. Students selected for our advanced immersion training will get to try 3D modeling using haptic devices we recently added to the 3D ThinkLink Lab.

Visiting PPI showed our students some of the ways the technical knowledge and thinking skills they’re learning in class are applied in the working world. It opened their eyes to career paths they might never have considered.

Applied Innovation

From PPI, the group headed to nearby Topgolf Loudoun for a fun, hands-on lesson about innovation in action.

Topgolf Loudoun Facilities Manager Stephen Coffin explains how RFID chip-embedded golf balls are scanned and sorted
Facilities Manager Stephen Coffin explains the innovative technology behind Topgolf

Topgolf puts an imaginative, high-tech spin on the concept of a driving range. The golf balls are embedded with radio frequency identification (RFID) microchips and players try to hit targets in the outfield that are equipped with sensors that read data from the balls. The information is instantly relayed to computers that process the data, tally scores and display the information on players’ monitors.

The three-tiered facility has more than 100 player bays and hundreds of HDTVs, plus big-screen video games and other electronic goodies, all connected to a roomful of computers by miles of cable.

Director of Sales Cassandra Taylor and Facilities Manager Stephen Coffin led a behind-the-scenes tour to explain how everything works. Afterward, the students picked up the clubs and gave it a try. Few of them had ever played golf, but with a little coaching from the Topgolf pros, some of the kids quickly got into the swing of things.

A Capital Guardian ChalleNGe Academy Cadet hits a drive at Topgolf Loudoun during 3D ThinkLink class Vocational Orientation
A student experiences a high-tech twist on golf

It might have looked like just fun and games, but Topgolf was yet another new experience to stimulate creative thinking.

The Maryland and DC students wrapped up their Vocational Orientation Day by visiting the University of Maryland Tissue Engineering and Biomaterials Lab in College Park to see how researchers are using 3D printing to make medical marvels such as blood vessel grafts and bone replacements.

A week later, 25 Cadets from South Carolina Youth ChalleNGe Academy – our largest 3D ThinkLink class ever – toured 3D Systems in Rock Hill, Duncan-Parnell’s 3D printing division in Charlotte and the University of South Carolina’s Department of Mechanical Engineering in Columbia.

Innovation’s Impact

The young people in ChalleNGe programs used to be turned off to education. For any number of reasons, they dropped out or were kicked out of school. They’ve made a commitment to turn their lives around and we’re helping them turn their brains back on.

Spending a day immersed in innovation can be a profound experience for at-risk children. It inspires them to dream big. It reminds them there’s a wide world of possibilities open to them.

We are grateful to all the companies and schools that provide Vocational Orientation tours for our students. In doing so, they are giving back to the community and investing in tomorrow’s workforce.

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