Article by Adnane Mezouar & Tania Queuche
Bootcamps are an intensive 4 day experience with a focus on a specific aspect every day. Each year, at emlyon business school, every campus organizes a bootcamp with its own theme. This year, in Paris, it was 3D printing.
How did we end up here?
We are curious. We are hungry to learn. We want to make an impact. We are pragmatic dreamers.
At least, that’s what we have in common, Adnane, Hamze, Jiaxun and Tania.
The thing is, we also share a frustration:
Being part of a well known business school means during the first 2 months (full of projects, homework and parties), we acquired managerial and theoretical skills… but to be honest, theory is boring (sorry teachers!). We longed for more: we are full of ideas and we wanted to make them true. We wanted a project where we could use both our brains and our hands. Most importantly, we wanted to have an impact.
This is why we were excited when we learned about the 3D bootcamp organized by the maker’s lab in October. It was the opportunity to acquire non-business skills and to impress our friends with Instagram stories.
DAY 1
Intro to 3D printing 🖨
- 3D prototyping and modeling of objects
- TinkerCAD functions & Z-Suit settings
- Creating printer-ready .stl files
- Freedom to create multiple objects
On our first day, with our facilitator Tatiana, we set up our first TINKERCAD accounts and learned how to model various 3D objects on this simple, yet powerful software. We mastered integrating and grouping hollow objects into solid ones to create special shapes, as well as different fills, heights and thickness levels.
📡 Matilde Berchon, founder of Futurfab, payed us a friendly visit. She explained the history of the Makers movement and how it arrived in France.
DAY 2
Coding and electronics 💻
- Analog LEDs with potentiometers
- Potentiometer controlled SERVO motors
- Introduction to G-code
- Drawbot/Polargraph setup with vectorial drawings (Adobe Illustrator)
👨💻 Francois Brument, a world renowned designer, digital art expert and founder of Les arts codés joined us around a convivial lunch. He gave us a detailed overview of his projects and inspired us to do more!
DAY 3
Building 3D printer from scratch 🔨
- Understanding all internal hardware components of a 3D printer
- Installing software and updates
- Calibration and first tests
Fun fact: most components are actually 3D-printed . This is true print-ception!
🤖 Jeremy Guénolé had lunch with us. We discussed the 3D printing revolution and the Inmoov robotics projects.
DAY 4
Constructing a Prosthetic Hand and Documentation🤖
- Capstone project of printing and assembling a prosthetic hand
- Reflecting on our bootcamp journey
- Writing documentation on Notion
If you’re curious: step-by-step construction of the prosthetic hand here.
Testimonials
Hands-on learning should be more integrated in our educational programs. It’s unbelievable how one’s perspectives can change in such a short period of time. I also want to thank Tatiana, Chloé and Anna for their amazing guidance and fun approach to hard work!
Adnane
It is amazing how fast we can learn to make new product. We just learned in 4 days. Assembling a 3D printer and build even a simple product, is a godlike experience.
Hamze
I am so happy to join in this BootCamp! And exactly make it happened to do unbelievable things in four days. We do 3D printing, build a 3D printer from zero, and even create a project with all these things. It is indeed a beautiful and unforgettable experience in MakersLab. Thank you all with my best wishes!!!
Jiaxun
I had so much fun during the 3D bootcamp! I left more confident in my abilities; I learned that everything is possible as long as you’re curious. It also gave me so much inspiration: crafting an electronic circuit or printing 3D objects gave me quite a few ideas for new products.
Tania
