Project Title: Laser Cutter and Engraver

Project Lead's Name: Sarah Nagle

Project Lead's Email: pricesb@MiamiOH.edu

Project Lead's Phone: 513-529-7205

Project Lead's Division: ULB

Primary Department: Create and Innovate

Other Team Members: John Williams

List Departments Benefiting or Affected by this proposal:

This proposal will immediately benefit the following academic departments: Architecture, Art Department, Anthropology, Engineering, Interactive Language Resource Center, Rinella Learning Center, Fashion Design, Academic Advising, and University Studies. Additionally, because the laser cutter will be housed in the Libraries Makerspace, where all students (regardless of their majors) can access and use the equipment, the laser cutter service will have the potential to benefit students in every department. We also anticipate working with faculty in a wide range of departments beyond those listed above to use the Makerspace for their courses.

Estimated Number of Under-Graduate students affected per year (should be number who will actually use solution, not just who is it available to): 800

Estimated Number of Graduate students affected per year (should be number who will actually use solution, not just who is it available to): 20

Describe the problem you are attempting to solve and your approach for solving that problem:

The Makerspace is a hands-on, highly collaborative, and experiential learning space located on the third floor of King Library. The Makerspace features a variety of maker equipment such as 3D printers, laser cutter/engraver, CNC mills, sewing machines, touchscreens, virtual reality headsets, teleprompters, 360 cameras, and more. Although other divisions on campus may have some of these services available for their own students, the Libraries make the opportunities available on an equal basis for all students. Additional information about the Makerspace can be found at https://libguides.lib.miamioh.edu/create/makerspace/

In early 2021, a laser cutter pilot service was added to the Makerspace equipment using a Glowforge laser cutter. The Glowforge web page describes it “The Glowforge 3D laser printer creates beautiful things at the push of a button. You can make an endless variety of useful, beautiful, and practical things from a bunch of different materials like wood, leather, felt, fabric, acrylic, paper, and more” https://glowforge.com. In just 6-8 months, a diverse and growing group of faculty and students have made use of this machine. We continue to see a rapid increase in requests for the laser cutter service. One example is an Engineering class, ECE 101 (the equivalent of UNV101), which will have over 400 students working on a class project that requires the use of a laser cutter.

In order to meet the ever-increasing demand for this service, the Libraries are seeking a second Glowforge laser cutter in order to meet the needs of students.

How would you describe the innovation and/or the significance of your project:

This innovative proposal is directly aligned with the Library's mission "to connect our community with the resources and personalized guidance to empower discovery, creation, and success."

More specifically, the innovation and significance of this project are threefold:

1. To expand the possibilities for student projects that require cutting/engraving designs using materials like wood, leather, acrylic, glass, paper, cardboard, and fabric
2. To further support students’ curiosity and expectations for hands-on and experiential learning activities, flipped learning, and prototyping
3. To continue to integrate maker scholarship activities into the Miami curriculum. In fact, the Makerspace service directly supports two pillars of the new Miami Global Plan: Critical and Integrative Thinking and Collaboration and Innovation.

How will you assess the success of the project?

The success of the project will be assessed in two ways:

1. Quantitative data, we plan to track class, student, and faculty usage and requests
2. Qualitative data, we will collect anecdotal evidence and success stories of usage of the new service. Another metric of success will include discussion and planning for external grants that will further support the use of laser cutters to support active and experiential learning.

Financial Information

Total Amount Requested: $12,849

Budget Details:

n/a 

Please address how, if at all, this project aligns with University, Divisional, Departmental or Center strategic goals:

The project supports the four pillars of Miami RISE by creating and facilitating experiences that empower students to succeed, as well as preparing tomorrow’s leaders with innovative and inclusive learning opportunities. Additionally, the project will also support two pillars of the new Miami Global Plan: Critical and Integrative Thinking and Collaboration and Innovation.