Southmont 3Di Newsletter
This year the Southmont 3Di club has hit the ground running. We got started the second week of school and have not let up a bit. Our first order of business was to finish a volunteer project straggled out from the end of last year.
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Last year the 3Di club decided that we wanted to give back to the community. The 3Di club at Southmont has access to laser engravers, 3D printers, and a full metal and wood shop. We feel like we are in a unique situation, and we are in that situation because of the actions and sacrifices of those that came before us. With this in mind we made plans to construct a swing, utilizing our resources and skills, and to donate it to a local nursing home.
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We started this project in the twilight of last school year, after being met with several setbacks we decided to suspend the project; with plans to complete it this school year.
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Finishing the project is in a way like saying goodbye to a dear friend. The “swing” took up much of our last few weeks of the 2015-2016 school year, and has already taken up many hours this year. While we would never complain about doing the work to make a swing for a volunteer project, it became a bit of a joke in the club. It appeared as if it would never get done, which came across as rather comical to us. By then end we knew the ins and outs of the “swing” and it really was like an old friend to us.
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When the new school year rolled around we were determined to finish the swing in a timely manner and move on to other projects. As an observer (I do not have much woodshop experience) I must note that the crew working on the swing worked quite skillfully, making excellent time. We had had learned from our mistakes last year and tore into the swing project with an aggressive ambition.
With the completion of our swing project our year is in full swing. While some of us will miss having the constant companionship of having the swing to work on, we are all ready to move on.
Finishing Up with a Dear Friend
-By Seth Dickerson
What’s Next?
-By Seth Dickerson
With the completion of the swing project Southmont 3Di has an entire year to explore new projects, and accomplish new goals. Everyone is itching to get started with something new and we believe we have some exiting new things planned for this year.
Robots? Robots.
Makin’ Money
We currently have plans to utilize our 3D printing capabilities and experience with laser engraving to create fundraisers to help fund our club. In the past such fundraisers have proven very successful and fun for all involved. Now that we have some experience under our belts, this year’s fundraisers will provide better quality, and a more diverse selection of product. Order early!
The industrial tech department has several bare bones robotics kits from Minds-i. These kits offer a basic introduction into the world of robotics, including design and programming. The officers have discussed, and we see a possible competition in our future. Hopefully South 3Di can help lay the groundwork for an independent robotics program here at South!
FANUC AMERICA IND.
Mr. Clifton has selected FANUC America Corporation in an effort to provide industrial robotics curriculum at Southmont. Jon Potter, West Region and Indiana Director for FANUC recently presented to students of Mr. Clifton’s Advanced Manufacturing 2 Class and members of Southmont administration. Mr. Potter explained the current lack of robotics and automation job skills plaguing the manufacturing sector. FANUC is recognized as a world leader in supply of industrial robotics. As a major world supplier of robots, they have also worked to become a leader who provides industrial certification training packages through high school, community college and university instructors for the benefit of students.