Protolabs Network student grant 2018 winners announced

Protolabs Network is today announcing the three awardees of the second Protolabs Network Student Grant. After the success of last yeat the grant has had another excellent reception from students from around the world. With applicants from over 50 countries there was a real diverse array of innovative uses of 3D printing in the fields of engineering, product design and architecture.

The winners for this year were picked based on their project's impact, level of functionality, the project's core concept and how it was creatively brought to life using 3D printing. The winners of each category will receive $1000 to assist them with the expenses of their project and funding for it to be continued.

The most popular category for this year's grant was Design with 44.6% of entries, then Architecture with 27.5% and finally engineering with 25.9% entries. UK based Loughborough University had the most entries for a second year running, New York's Pratt Institute came in 2nd with 11 and Italy's Politecnico di Milano in 3rd. The most commonly used 3D Software was broken down below:

This year we also took a look at the most popular materials being used for Student Projects:

Product Design Winner

Name: Archie O'Brien

University: Loughborough University

Field of study: Industrial and Product Design

Project Name: Cuda

Project Description: The worlds fastest underwater jetpack with potential uses including life guarding, underwater exploration and of course fun. This backpack is predominantly made using PLA and was designed using Solidworks. The prototype is functional and showcases a complex use of 3D printing as the internal components were also 3D printed using PLA.

Here are the rest of the Top 10 finalists:

1. Danny Essom - Loughborough University - Perin
2. Chris Thursfield - Loughbrough University - Kyor
3. Harrison Clark - Merchant Taylor's School Northwood - Triton Life Saver
4. Sam Gutheridge - Brunel University - ICO Systems Respiratory Monitor
5. Lucas Ochoa - Carnegie Mellon University - Emoto | AI Sidekick
6. Jack Thompson - Loughborough University - stêm
7. Nelson Noll - Central Saint Martins - Heka
8. Jack Davies - Nottingham Trent University - 3D printed electric bike
9. Peter Ford - Loughborough University - Capsi

Engineering Winner

Name: Rory Geoghegan, Dr. Mendelsohn

University: University of California, Los Angeles

Field of study: Bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering

Project Name: Training Platform for Transoral Robotic Surgery

Project Description: Robotic surgery can be used to remove tumors from deep inside the mouth. Currently there is no training platform to facilitate the necessary skills acquisition for surgical residents. We have developed a training platform consisting of a 3D printed model of the human head with an anatomically accurate aerodigestive tract and a synthetic tumor. The model includes force sensors underneath structures which are often damaged by novice surgeons e.g. teeth, lips. The model is created using PLA and an FDM 3D printer making it cost effective when needing to replace parts that are broken during training.

Here are the rest of the Top 10 finalists:

1. Chan sung Lee - Pratt Institute - ZENOS
2. Xiaoguang Zhang - University of California, Los Angeles - DAnTE
3. Stephane Hatgiskessell - The Dwight School - The Hephaestus Hand
4. Edward Lawrence Hieb, Matthew Rowe, Davis Hall, Derrick Slatton - Texas Tech University - Nose Cone
5. Thomas Kimberley - Loughborough University - Fortis
6. Jan Sebastian van Ackeren, Julieta Bolanos, Francesco De Fazio, Linde de Jonge, Krishna Rajagopal, Gerianne Boer - Technical University Delft - Excelscope
7. Nam Le - California Polytechnic University - Nintendo 64 Joystick Restoration
8. Thomas Abdallah, David Eelman, Stanislav Rashevskyi - Conestoga College - Air Hockey Robot
9. Nicolo Garbin - Vanderbilt University - Bellowscope

Architecture Winner

Names: Benedikt Boschert, Miriam Boldt

University: Hochschule Koblenz

Field of Study: Architecture

Project Name: New Public Schwimming Pool

Project Description: The project is translating the old culture of bathing into a modern concept for a new public swimmingpool. With the background of a real task for our city, this concept is weaving the conditions to a optimal design of contemorary public swimming pools. To realise the organic shape of the design, we used an FDM printer to print over 25 pieces and bonded them together. Thanks to this possibility we were able to tranfer the design into a physical model what couldn't be done with traditional modelling.

Here are the rest of the Top 10 finalists:

1. Alexandra Moisi - University of Applied Arts Vienna - The New City Farm
2. Sung Hyun Lee - Southern California Institute of Architecture - Active Inlays
3. Christoph Guenther - Parsons The New School - Intertwined Design
4. Alexander Nikolas Walzer - Technical University Vienna - E Mare Libertas
5. Michael Homie Chen - University of Southern California - CALA
6. Jagger Everett - University of Missouri - Katy Trail Retreat
7. Luca Melchiori - University of Applied Arts Vienna - Does AI dream of future sheep?
8. Tian Ouyang - University of Pennsylvania - The Ribbon
9. Stanislas Chaillou - Harvard University - Continuum, a Public Library in Back Bay Park

"After the success of last year it was great to see more refreshing and new ideas being submitted. Our goal is to give students affordable access to all manufacturing technologies so they're ideas don't have to be restrictive. The Protolabs Network Student Grant is always a great way to showcase the talented people we having using the platform who will be pushing the industry forward." - Filemon Schoffer, CMO Protolabs Network

Applications for the Protolabs Network Student Innovation Grant 2020 are now open to all registered students and recent graduates across the world. Start applying today via our submission form.

The deadline for submissions is on June 28, 2020, 23:59 CET.