VIDEOS: Why We've Added the M3D Micro to Our 3D Printing Toolbox

With our 3D ThinkLink Initiative now in its fourth year, and 3D design and printing technology evolving faster than ever, we're always on the lookout for new tools that are well-suited to our work with at-risk youth. We've been testing the Micro 3D printer made by M3D and are quite pleased with the results. 

Our Director of Instruction, Tom Meeks, is so impressed that he's making a series of video tutorials about the M3D Micro. The key to the successful use of any 3D printer is to understand how it works and what the operator can do to ensure the best performance and reliability. That is what our M3D video series will try to address.

The videos are primarily for our teachers and students in the programs we serve, such as National Guard Youth ChalleNGe, the PHILLIPS Programs for Children and Families and AMIkids -- but we're happy to share them with all 3D printing enthusiasts. Here are the first two:

The Micro is a valuable addition to our 3D ThinkLink toolbox for many reasons. First of all, it makes high-quality prints. It's easy to use, reliable, compact and quiet. It can handle more types of material than the 3D Systems Cube printers we use at most of our class sites, including flexible and thermochromic filaments. And, yes, it's quite affordable for such a versatile machine. 

Each 3D printer in our toolbox is chosen to fill a unique role. While the M3D is a bit slow to be used in the classroom when compared to our Cube 2 and Cube 3 machines, it is the perfect "personal printer" to be used by teachers and our Youth Mentor students outside the classroom. It extends our educational work beyond the classroom and into the community.

Better Tools, Better Teaching

Although we haven't deployed Micros at program class sites yet, we have purchased several for our 3D ThinkLink Creativity Lab, where we've introduced our teachers to them. Our expectation is that teachers will enjoy using the Micro so much that they'll greatly increase their own 3D design and printing skills, then use that knowledge to better tailor our 3D ThinkLink curriculum to their students' particular needs. 

Tom Meeks demonstrates the M3D Micro during 3D ThinkLink teacher training

The Micro is also part of the Tech Pack we give our top students when they complete training to be Youth Mentors. Their mission is to use the printers in sharing their 3D skills with people in their communities, acting as role models to promote positive change.

Freestate ChalleNGe Academy grad Aunya' Jones, our first Youth Mentor,
works with her M3D Micro printer

As Tom noted in his Idearoom3D blog, we're eagerly awaiting the release of the bigger, faster M3D Pro, which won't have to be connected to a laptop while printing. Meanwhile, keep an eye on our YouTube channel for more tips about using the M3D Micro.

3D ThinkLink Helps At-Risk Youth Redefine Failure

Failure is not final. We never fail to emphasize that message in our 3D ThinkLink classes. 

A favorite motivational poster in our 3D ThinkLink Creativity Lab features a picture of Yoda with this quote: “You want to know the difference between a master and a beginner? The master has failed more times than the beginner has ever tried.”

In fact, that’s not a line from a Star Wars movie, even though it sure sounds like something Yoda might say. 

But what about “Failure is not an option”? Apollo 13 Flight Director Gene Kranz never said that, either. A screenwriter for the Ron Howard movie came up with the line, but Kranz thought it captured the spirit of NASA’s Mission Control Center so well that he used it as the title of his autobiography. 

What Kranz did tell his team as they scrambled to save the astronauts aboard the crippled spacecraft was: “This crew is coming home … And we must make it happen.” And they did – but not without overcoming plenty of obstacles along the way. They didn’t let failures keep them from ultimately achieving success. 

Fast-forward to the era of private spaceflight. SpaceX founder Elon Musk, who recently watched one of his Falcon 9 rockets explode on the launch pad, has declared: "Failure is an option here. If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough."

In fact, 15Five CEO David Hassell contends that for today’s entrepreneurs, failure is not an option – it’s required. 

These varied views of failure can be difficult to reconcile for the young people we serve. Most of them have experienced a great deal of failure in school and at home. It’s no wonder that they’ve learned to fear failure and to give up when they make mistakes. 

Our 3D ThinkLink Initiative is designed to help at-risk kids redefine failure. We’ve seen how learning 3D design and printing gives them the opportunity to work through problems by trial and error without worrying about flunking a test or being punished. Nobody’s 3D project turn out right the first time. But the inevitable mistakes are always instructive, and sometimes even beautiful. 

Students in 3D ThinkLink Creativity Lab

With the CAD software and user-friendly printers we provide for 3D ThinkLink classes along with hands-on help from highly engaged teachers in the classrooms, our students can easily evaluate failures, improve their designs and print again until they’re satisfied with the results. 

The key is for students to develop the confidence to keep trying in the face of failures, knowing that each mistake can lead to improvement. That’s a profoundly different way of thinking for most at-risk youth.  
   
Bob Lenz, Executive Director of the Buck Institute for Education, explained on the Edutopia blog what he means when he says failure is essential to learning.

I'm not talking about dead-end failure, the kind that results in loss of opportunity, regression, or stagnation. Instead, we see failure as an opportunity for students to receive feedback on their strengths as well as their areas of improvement -- all for the purpose of getting better. When reframed as a good, constructive, and essential part of learning, failure is a master teacher.

How do you make failure students' friend? Set a high standard and don't be afraid to tell students that they haven't met it. But in the next breath, give detailed suggestions on what they can do to improve. And, most important -- though so often given short shrift -- allow students the time, space, and support to make the revisions. In such a culture, failure does not mean, "You lose." It means, "You can do better. We believe in you. Here is some feedback: revise, and try again."

That’s why our 3D ThinkLink curriculum includes lots of design lab sessions. Students need time to go through the process of incremental improvement so they can internalize the larger lesson about failure.

3DThinkLink class at the PHILLIPS School

We know it works because of the results we’ve seen. For instance, here’s what a student from our first class for teens with autism at the PHILLIPS School in Annandale, Virginia, told us: 
  
“What I liked about the 3D program was that it taught me that I could innovate. It’s teaching me ‘don’t give up on your design.’ … Like when you lose your data, you can always get it back – just keep going. I am using this now, every day. It is OK to lose data because you can always do it again. It helped me tolerate the loss – to start again, to start over.”

We hear the same thing from other organizations that offer 3D printing programs for at-risk youth. The McCarthy-Dressman Foundation and ChickTech recently provided workshops in app development and 3D printing at Helensview Alternative High School in Portland, Oregon, to help students gain confidence and learn from failures. Surveys done before and after the classes showed a 22 percent increase in students reporting “I can work through problems.”

The PHILLIPS School’s evaluation report included this teacher’s account of the change he saw one student undergo during our pilot project. 

“During the 3rd session, the student suddenly ran back into the classroom, buried his head on the desk and shut down. He would not talk to me. He has a habit of never revealing or identifying the problem. I talked to the 3D Design Teacher who said the student got frustrated trying to create something. Then, during one of the final 3D classes, I was observing the class and this student had stopped working on the project and was doing other things on the computer. When the 3D Design Teacher went to him, the student showed him the project, identified the problem and together they problem solved. The student was able to finish and print his design – this is a major change. I have seen it in other areas as well. The student does not shut down as often.”

The final quotation on this subject comes from a time long before Elon Musk, Gene Kranz and Yoda. “My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure,” said Abraham Lincoln. 

It is life-changing when students learn how to use their failures to pave the way to success.

Final Report: 3D ThinkLink Pilot Project at PHILLIPS School Was a Success

by Lynda Mann, YouthQuest Foundation Co-Founder and President

Kudos to the PHILLIPS Programs – Annandale School for their daring pilot of The YouthQuest Foundation’s 3D ThinkLink program for students on the autism spectrum as well as students with mental health issues.  

Luke McHugh (left) and Adam Eldert
work on a 3D design

The 3D ThinkLink program’s core outcomes are to teach critical thinking skills, problem solving, and the resiliency to deal with failure. 

Our unique program delivery vehicle, CAD design and 3D scanning and printing, continues to be highly successful with high school dropouts, however this curriculum was untested with other cohorts.

After exploring possibilities with the PHILLIPS Program personnel, we all felt confident the curriculum and the teaching delivery strategies were highly appropriate for their students. But as we all know, the proof is in the pilot.

Henry Spiegelblatt watches one of
his designs being 3D printed

The PHILLIPS Program Final Evaluation Report says the pilot was a success, especially in the areas of student engagement, curriculum implementation and staff support. 
I honestly believe the increased student engagement and the successful curriculum implementation are both a result of the excellent work done by the PHILLIPS Program’s staff, especially the teaching staff – Samuel Son, Jim Field and Marcel Baynes. Their ability to recognize the innate creativity in these special needs youth, and to use the 3D ThinkLink curriculum as a valuable way for the students to express themselves creatively while facilitating growth in critical thinking and problem solving, was brilliant. 

I say this with confidence because we know all curriculum requirements were fully met. But more importantly, the parents and the students both reported not only increased 3D skills and improved problem solving, but also a greater sense of self-esteem and a higher level of confidence.
   

Samuel Son, Marcel Baynes and
Jim Field in teacher training

And how did this happen? I believe it was because the PHILLIPS Program teachers were highly engaged during their teacher training event, seeking deep knowledge and skills before the pilot launched. This high level of engagement led the teachers to create a collaborative learning environment where students felt their creativity was validated. As one student put it, “It means if you think of something really cool in your head, you can just make it.” Another shared, “Like everybody has a piece of creativity in their brain so you have to find a way to get it out (the creativity) and the class helped me to get it out.”
  
We at YouthQuest salute the PHILLIPS Designing Futures Program (3D Design and Print Program), and especially their teachers, for a job well done!

Teacher Training Focuses on Enhancing 3D ThinkLink Curriculum

It’s back-to-school time and students aren’t the only ones doing the learning. Teachers from Maryland’s Freestate ChalleNGe Academy and the PHILLIPS School in Annandale, Virginia, are training in our 3D ThinkLink Creativity Lab this week.

Jim Field works with an M3D printer

They’re working with our Director of Instruction, Tom Meeks, to improve the 3D ThinkLink curriculum and learn to use some new 3D printing equipment and materials.

Freestate’s Rikiesha Metzger and Jim Field from PHILLIPS are providing valuable insights about how their students have responded to various elements of the curriculum.

Tom Meeks with Rikiesha Metzger

For example, they observed that hands-on activities are crucial for keeping students engaged in learning the basics of Moment of Inspiration 3D design software. Some kids become impatient and tune out when it takes too long to start printing things. As a result, we are reorganizing the lesson plans so that students will be able to print during their very first class session. 

  

In order to improve tracking of students’ progress, Tom and the teachers are adding “assessment projects” to the curriculum. Students will complete a project every week or so to show they’ve mastered key 3D design skills and to exercise the critical thinking and problem solving skills our program emphasizes.  

Rikiesha Metzger, Jim Field and Tom Meeks discuss assessment projects

During three years of teaching at-risk youth about 3D, we’ve learned that these students are especially eager to make things that are personalized, useful and have sentimental value for their family and friends. The assessment projects we’re developing reflect that.

We’re excited to have some new tools that make it possible to create items that can’t be produced with our Cube 2 printers, which use only hard plastic PLA or ABS filament.

The teachers are learning to use the Micro 3D printer, a small, versatile machine made by M3D. It can handle a wide variety of filaments including rubbery and translucent plastics and even materials that change color when exposed to certain temperatures.

These tools will open up all sorts of creative possibilities for our teachers and students as we begin a new 3D ThinkLink class cycle.

The 3D ThinkLink Initiative: We Can’t Do It Alone

It takes a team to make our 3D ThinkLink Initiative work. Fortunately, we have great partners in this project to build better lives for at-risk youth.

As we move from summertime to a new season of 3D design and printing classes for our students, we’re reminded of how many people and organizations are contributing to the success of our mission.

Topping our MVP (Most Valuable Partners) list is AOC Solutions, which is headed by YouthQuest Co-Founder and Vice President Allen Cage. He explained his dedication helping to at-risk youth recently in a post on the AOC blog:

“I’ve always believed it’s important to give back, especially to young people,” said Allen O. Cage Jr. “During my 24 years of active duty in the Army and over 20 years in business at AOC, I’ve traveled a lot and seen kids who are dealing with some tough situations. A little help can make a big difference. So I think it’s very important to raise funds and give back to these kids.”

Allen’s commitment is contagious. Many AOC employees donate their time and talents to YouthQuest, including Valerie Hightower, recipient of our 2016 Volunteer of the Year Award.

We also honored Duncan-Parnell as our 2016 Community Partner. Like previous award winners Prototype Productions, Inc. and 3D Systems, Duncan-Parnell hosts Vocational Orientation events for our students twice a year, along with providing technical support for our 3D ThinkLink Creativity Lab.

Longtime supporters like Charlie White at BLA Financial contribute in a variety of ways. Every year, Charlie donates a day of sailing the Chesapeake Bay aboard his 46-foot sloop as one of the items in our golf tournament’s silent auction. This year, Charlie was among the first to purchase a $500 Tech Pack that will empower one of our top students to serve as a mentor. He’s also promoting our Youth Mentor Program on BLA’s website. 

This is an exciting time of year. We’re coming off last month’s golf tournament, our signature annual fundraising event. In a couple of weeks, we’ll host a teacher training session and a new cycle of 3D ThinkLink classes will begin soon at the DC, Maryland and South Carolina Youth ChalleNGe Academies.

In the months ahead, we’ll expand our partnership with the PHILLIPS Programs for Children and Families and Horizons Hampton Roads.

None of this would be possible without the generous support of our many partners. If you would like to join the team, please contact Operations Manager Juan Louro at juan.louro@youthquestfoundation.org or (703) 234-4633. You can also click here to make a donation. 

Exploring New Materials and Printers in the 3D ThinkLink Creativity Lab

One of our favorite parts of summer is having students come to the 3DThinkLinkCreativity Lab. We invite outstanding graduates of our introductory 3D ThinkLink classes to attend advanced training sessions in the lab at our headquarters in Chantilly, Virginia.

NeLazjay Brown and Kelvin Stoddard from Washington, DC’s Capital Guardian YouthChalleNGe Academy and Henry Spiegelblatt from the PHILLIPS School in Annandale, Virginia, spent two days in the lab last week exploring 3D printing methods and materials that go far beyond what they experienced in their schools.

On Wednesday, Director of Instruction Tom Meeks introduced the students to the new M3D printer and the many types of filament it can use. The Cube machines they had in their classrooms print only with hard PLA or ABS plastic, but the M3D can handle flexible filament that feels like soft rubber and comes in many eye-catching translucent colors.

Henry Spiegelblatt, NeLazJay Brown and Kelvin Stoddard test materials

Tom also showed the kids Chameleon filament, which changes color when the temperature rises or falls. They did experiments with hot and cold water to record temperature points that produced color changes for various types of thermochromic filaments.

Because our 3D ThinkLink project is as much about thinking as it is about 3D printing, the students spent the rest of the day coming up with ideas for things they could make with the new materials they’d learned about – then designing and printing their creations.

Kelvin Stoddard removes powder from
a model car printed on the Z450

We also demonstrated our Z450 printer, a full-color inkjet and powder bed machine, to teach the kids about a 3D printing method that’s quite different from the FDM (fused-deposition modeling) they used at school. Instead of extruding layers of melted plastic filament like the Cube or M3D, the Z450 builds layers of ink and liquid binder on super-fine gypsum powder. 

IMade3D CEO Ladi Goc explains the JellyBox 3D printer to the lab class 

Thursday’s lab session was devoted to the JellyBox, a unique 3D printer kit from IMade3D. It’s designed to be assembled, operated and taken apart over and over again so students can understand how 3D printers work. Besides being a great teaching tool, the JellyBox produces beautiful, high-quality prints in a variety of materials.

IMade3D CEO Ladi Goc and outreach director Bruce Troutman spent the day with the kids in the lab, but didn’t give them any written instructions. Instead, the students examined a fully assembled JellyBox, asked questions and figured out what to do through trial and error. This helped strengthen their problem-solving skills, a key element of 3D ThinkLink training.

Our lab students assemble JellyBox 3D printers  

NeLazjay, who has strong mechanical abilities, especially enjoyed the hands-on learning activity. In about three hours, the kids finished building their JellyBox and started doing test prints. Ladi and Bruce said they’d never seen a group complete the project so quickly.

Tom and the students at
YouthQuest's VIP Reception

The big payoff came on Thursday night, when the students attended our annual VIP Reception to meet some of our leading supporters and show off their 3D printing skills. Our guests at the event hosted by Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar in Tysons Corner were fascinated to see the JellyBox and M3D printers in action and impressed by what the kids had accomplished.

Last week’s experience was a confidence-builder for Henry, Kelvin and NeLazjay. We hope it inspires them to go further with 3D printing and to build on the thinking skills they’re developing.

We also want to thank technology teacher Jim Field from the PHILLIPS School and CGYCA staffers Tonya Lewis and Ricardo Abbott for being with us during the lab sessions. They seemed to enjoy the activities as much as the kids!

Henry Spiegelblatt, NeLazJay Brown and Kelvin Stoddard receive certificates from YouthQuest President Lynda Mann and Director of Instruction Tom Meeks