In MAKER GALAXY

Maker Galaxy E05: SolidWorks+STEM

2 Mins Read

We’re always talking about the future of design, the future of technology, the future of MAKING. In a world where we can interact with empty space, a world where we can 3D print our own shower curtain rings and bionic ears, a world where we’ll be sending people to space for vacation, how do we find the next ‘big thing’? Maker Galaxy is a show that explores the crossroads of Design, Technology, and the Future of Making.

This week our special guest comes from SolidWorks as the Director of Education, Marie Planchard. Marie is responsible for the entire education leg of the popular CAD package where she works on an international level driving STEM education efforts from ages as early as eight all the way through the college level. We’ll talk with Marie about some of the cool projects she’s seen students doing internationally, how SolidWorks is helping drive innovation at the high-school level for the FIRST International Robotics competition, and how SolidWorks is helping drive the STEM bubble worldwide.

Read More
In DESIGN

Drawing Furniture Series: Korean Designer Jinil Park's Super-Sketchy Furniture Collection

2 Mins Read

No, the above image wasn’t lifted from the pages of a Moleskine Sketchbook folks…those are actual three-dimensional structures. Korean designer Jinil Park‘s new ‘Drawing Furniture Series‘ is fairly self-explanatory, but certainly plays tricks on the eye when viewed from a two-dimensional image. Representing basic line sketches, the new collection of furniture is the result of scribbles in Park’s own sketchbook translated into physical form.

Read More
In FAB

New Adventures in Ceramic Design: Multicolored 3D Ceramic Prints

2 Mins Read

Claiming that they have built the largest ceramic 3D printer ever made, Israeli design and research studio ‘Studio Under‘ have certainly set themselves up to a high standard. Founded by industrial designers Eran Gal-Or, Liat Akerman and Omer Merzel, the studio of recent Holon Institute of Technology grads focus on designing and fabricating 3D printed ceramic products and selling them world-wide. Their recently-unveiled ceramic 3D printed innovation (along with designer Roy Yahalomi) is perhaps their most exciting yet: a printing process that enables full multi-color support for all your ceramic printing needs.

Read More
In DESIGN

How Do You Organize a Chart of over 300 Hand Tools? Leave it Up to the Infographic Geniuses at Pop Chart Lab

2 Mins Read

Founded in 2010 by book editor Patrick Mulligan and graphic designer Ben Gibson, the mission of Brooklyn-based Pop Chart Lab was to do one thing and do it very well: render all of human experience in chart form. Three years later, the two have found themselves with new titles (Patrick as Editorial Director and Ben as Creative Director) and a small team of researchers, designers, and ‘soldiers’ with the mission of arranging massive amounts of cultural data into meaningful works of informative art pieces. Today, their collection ranges from the Evolution of Video Game Controllers to Visual Compendium’s of Sneakers, Cameras, and Guitars. Recently, the infographic-organization geniuses just released a new print that should speak to quite a few designers and engineers: The Chart of Hand Tools.

Read More
In FAB

The Sugar Lab Founders Liz and Kyle von Hasseln Talk Shop and 3D Printing Sugar

2 Mins Read

Back in May of 2013, SolidSmack reported on a couple that found themselves in a horrible predicament: they wanted to bake a birthday cake for a beloved friend, however they didn’t have an oven. Being the design savvy couple that they are, a 3D printed cake of their own design seemed like the best alternative. After a period of trial and error that lasted well beyond the friend’s birthday, they managed to print their friend ‘Chelsea’ a cupcake-top decoration that spelled her name in cursive sugar. Not surprisingly, Chelsea loved it so much that the college couple Kyle and Liz von Hasseln decided they would set out to bring 3D printed sugar to the masses post-graduation. Thus, The Sugar Lab was officially born and in September of 2013, the couple sold their technology to 3D Systems. Recently, the two gave a TED talk at the TEDx Manhattan Beach conference…here’s the story of their awesome and inspiring journey.

Read More