KITCHENER — Some people have yet to wrap their heads around the concept of 3D printing, let alone consider how the machines are built.
But for the 3D Printing Makers Club at the University of Waterloo, developing better printers and printing materials to get the technology into more hands is not a futuristic dream — it's a tangible goal.
"We're more interested in enabling this technology for others rather than printing specific things," explained Andrew Finkle, a PhD candidate at the university.
"We're interested in developing new materials and new processes to expand this for different applications for art, health, automotive, things like that."
Finkle was among the many hobbyists, inventors and craftspeople at the Waterloo Mini Maker Faire — one of many Maker Faires worldwide — held at Kitchener City Hall on Saturday.
Explaining the process of 3D printing, Finkle said the machine works like a normal printer in that a digital file of an object's design is sent to the printer to replicate.
The 3D printer uses one or a combination of two types of plastics — corn-based polylactic acid or petroleum-based acrylonitrile butadiene styrene — to build the object in layers.
Finkle likened it to using a glue gun to make a layer of glue and then adding layers over and over on top until you have a solid object.
For designers or inventors, a 3D printer allows them to create physical prototypes without the need to send designs off to a manufacturer and ship items back and forth.
"It helps the design iteration speed up," Finkle said.
Fascinated crowds of people stood around watching the 3D printer on display create a bust of Star Wars character Yoda — a small project that takes a few hours to complete.
"It's a typical comparison between people who are 3D printing now … it's kind of the nerdy way to compare the quality of your printer," Finkle said, explaining the Yoda figure.
While the 3D Printer Makers display was educational for those who have never seen the technology up close, the fair also provided hobbyists an opportunity to connect.
"I feel like this is a good way to bring everyone together who has this mindset of tinkering, building, playing with things," Finkle said. "There are definitely some contacts we (made) of people who are interested in our work or we're interested in their work."
Those other hobbyists and creators focused not only on technology, but areas as diverse as paper crafts and knitting.
Organizers of the Visual Education Project, based out of London, Ont., shared similar interests in engineering as the 3D Printer Makers; however, their work focused on the progress of inventions and engineering through history.
Surrounded by wooden models replicating machine designs by Leonardo da Vinci and other historic inventors, Marina Ivanova said the project is aimed at engaging youth with engineering by giving them the hands-on experience of seeing machines work.
"Engineering is the future … so we do everything to show students that engineering is not boring," she said.