Outreach: Workshops on 3D Printing in Mathematics

As part of our outreach activities, we hosted two workshops on 3D printing with  two goals. Our first goal was to spread awareness of how 3D printing can be used in mathematics, and the second being how we can use our knowledge of mathematics to create a 3D printable object. The designs created by all the workshop attendees were then printed at the Math MakerLab and are put on a display in the department.

The first workshop was open to all College of Science students at George Mason University, where the attendees were given an introduction to the lab, and then taught the basics of OpenSCAD. The students used basic geometric objects like cylinders and cubes to create an impossible key.

The attendees were also given a sophisticated piece of code to play with which illustrated the idea of fractals, in particular iterated function systems. 

Each attendee chose various parameters to come up with a design. Some of the designs they came up included those in the following image.

The second workshop was organized for high school students. GMU student chapter of Association for Women in Mathematics organized an outreach event for Centerville High School girls in which members from their Women in Math Society (WIMS) club visited George Mason University. The goal was to inspire these women to pursue active careers in STEM fields. Activities of the day included a workshop on using 3D printing in Mathematics, visit to the Mason Observatory, Magnetic Resonance Lab, and Neural Engineering Lab.

In the math segment, Evelyn Sander and Ratna Khatri ran the 3D printing workshop. WIMS students were given the same piece of basic code for an iterated function system (IFS) in OpenSCAD. They learned how to modify the file to create a 3D printed iterated function system, a type of fractal. Dr. Sander explained what each part of the code did, how the software worked, and what IFS and fractals are. The WIMS students were then asked to work in groups of three to design their own iterated function systems, which were printed that afternoon by Ratna Khatri at the GMU Math MakerLab and given to the students at the end of the day.

Overall the visit was a big success, and was thoroughly enjoyed by the WIMS students. We asked them to fill out a survey form, and they said, “[I liked] learning the basics of how to print a 3D model using a 3D printer”, “[I liked learning] how to load something to be 3D printed - it was definitely harder than it looks to get it how you wanted!”, “the staff and students we talked to were very friendly”. “I told my family and friends how I am more interested in these [STEM] fields now. THANK YOU!!!”