UMD opens $300K MakerBot Innovation Center

The University of Maryland on Thursday opened a fully equipped 3D-printing lab installed by MakerBot.
“We see desktop 3D printing as a catalyst for new thinking and are excited to make this technology more broadly available,” UMD aerospace engineering dean Darryll J. Pines said in a press release. In the works since last year, the center cost the school $300,000.
The lab, located in the A. James Clark School of Engineering, will be open to all students. It will be used specifically by engineering students, who already had to take 3D printing classes as part of the freshman curriculum.
“There is a big demand for these types of courses right now,” Pamela Morse, the Clark School’s assistant dean for communications, said in an email. (One UMD student, Brett Potter (who presented at the DC Tech Meetup earlier this week) is building a 3D printer he says far outpaces the speed of MakerBots and other printers currently on the market.)

#UMD @ClarkSchool 1st to launch large-scale, 3D printing MakerBot Innovation Center in @bigtenconf & DC/MD #30DaysUMD pic.twitter.com/7Oi6DUvOdT

— Univ. of Maryland (@UofMaryland) April 23, 2015

New MakerBot CEO Jonathan Jaglom — who recently announced major layoffs at the 3D-printing company — was present at the unveiling ceremony. It took place during the university’s 30-day celebration of student entrepreneurship.
Earlier this year, UMD sealed a partnership with another tech company. Uber said it would provide $25,000 in funding to student startups and the school’s incubator, the Startup Shell.
The new 3D-printing center includes:

• 32 MakerBot Replicator Desktop 3D printers
• 2 MakerBot Replicator Z18 3D printers
• 12 MakerBot Replicator 2X Experimental Desktop 3D printers
• 2 MakerBot Replicator Mini Compact 3D printers
• Supplies of PLA filament
• 1 3D scanner