3D printing takes the efficiencies of digital design to the production stage. By combining oral scanning, CAD/CAM design and 3D printing, dental labs can accurately and rapidly produce crowns, bridges, stone models and a range of orthodontic appliances.

How Omaha Public Schools Implemented Simlog's Forklift Personal Simulators for OSHA Operator Certification in a Transportation, Distribution and Logistics Program

Simlog's Forklift simulator is the only simulator that was truly designed for vocational programs, and that provides the scope, depth and realism of skills training required in a vocational curriculum.

Simlog's Forklift Personal Simulator was first identified by at ACTE Career Tech Visions in Las Vegas in 2013. In 2014, faced with increased enrollment numbers, and having only one real forklift, OPS purchased two Forklift Personal Simulators for Bryan High School through Simlog’s educational systems reseller in Nebraska, Moss Educational and Industrial Training Solutions .

Each Forklift simulator station is set up on a desktop PC equipped with a big screen display and speakers, all supplied by Moss as a turnkey setup. Each simulator station uses table-top mounted simulator controls that include four industrial strength USB-ready Replica Controls Forklift Levers, and a “Logitech G27 Racing Wheel” consisting of a steering wheel, a three -pedal unit and a gear shifter.

“The simulators have been an excellent addition to the program” explains Joshua Hogrefe, TDL Instructor at Bryan High School. “In Nebraska, you cannot have a forklift operator license until you are 18 years of age. To keep the kids going, I train them on the Forklift simulators, and when they are ready to go on to the real forklift, I have nothing to worry about.”

“In comparison with the previous year when none of the kids were on the simulators,” continues Hogrefe, “my anxiety is now gone, and the kids’ confidence has increased immensely.” Since the acquisition of Simlog’s Forklift Personal Simulators in April 2014, in preparation for the 2014 – 2015 school year, Bryan High School and the TDL program have been able to deliver over 1,000 hours of total simulator-based training to 120 students throughout the school year, for students in grades 9 to 12.

Key highlights of this success story:

• TDL Academy with 120 students and only one real forklift.
• Simulator lab with 2 Simlog Forklift simulator stations.
• Over 1,000 hours of total simulator time per year, grades 9 - 12.
• Students self-start and self-manage their simulator time.
• OSHA forklift certification in the Advanced grade 12 class.

“3D printing overcomes technical barriers for students. What used to be strenuous to produce by traditional methods can now be done with the press of a button. The process is simpler than we expected but the impact has been remarkable as it inspires students and induces creative thinking.”

– Professor Young Choi Department of Mechanical Engineering, Chung-Ang University.

As 3D printing has been on the rise in South Korea, in 2014 the Korean government announced a USD 2.3 million investment plan in setting up 3D printing centers and supporting SMEs with 3D printers. Adoption of 3D printing by local enterprises keeps growing across different industries and it is essential for tertiary education institutions to better equip the young generation with necessary knowledge and professional skills before entering the competitive job market.

Envisioning the impact of 3D printing on business and manufacturing process, the Chung-Ang University set up a 3D Digital Design Laboratory (the Lab) in 2006 to offer students hands-on technical trainings while conducting a mathematics study on metamathematical expressions (visualizing algorithms and data structure by 3D shapes). Professor Young Choi, Head of the Lab, opted for a Dimension® 3D Printer to spark engineering students’ interests in mechanical design and help them overcome challenges in product design coursework.

Carroll students from Mr. Steve Nathman’s Digital & Interactive Media class successfully launched and flew a drone they had assembled themselves. The drone demonstration took place on Tuesday, Jan. 19, at Carroll High School, but these students had been working on the drone assembly since October.

This exciting and innovative project began in the fall semester as 3-5 students from the Digital & Interactive Media classes volunteered to act as drone assembly technicians. The required parts for drone assembly were provided by Tech-Labs/MINDSi Education. Once completed, the students attached a Go-Pro to the drone to better record its flight experience.

“The students were amazing because they were problem-solving, having to be persistent, and even calling the manufacturer to do face-time conference calls for help,” said Mr. Nathman. After many trials and tribulations of the drone assembly process, the students were able to successfully launch the Quad Copter, the “Kevin G1,” through the uprights on the Carroll High football field.

This group of talented students has formed the “Flying Dragon RC Squadron,” a club open to students, parents and faculty, who are interested in drone assembly and launch. The next project for this group will be completing a ground drone. Eventually, the club would like to get computer science students involved to write code in order to make the drones perform tasks.

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