Commentary: November 2006

By Jonathan Cobb, Stratasys

In February of 2006, Maplesoft’s Jim Cooper wrote a great commentary in this space on how the fading number of engineering students in the US and Canada is threatening our worldwide technological leadership (see DE February 2006, p. 48). It’s true. According to various educational and industry associations, the number of students graduating with engineering and science degrees in the U.S. has dropped more than 40 percent since 2000. This is a scary trend.

With countries like China and India graduating increasingly higher numbers of engineers, and with our own graying generation of engineers making their way to the beaches and golf courses of retirement, our country is faced with a growing need to inspire more young people to enter engineering and scientific careers. It is the only way we will remain technologically competitive in the global marketplace.

But how do we do this? One path a number of companies and industry associations have taken is designating large scholarships to entice some of our best and brightest students to pursue an engineering education. While this is certainly helpful to many students, it doesn’t necessarily address the root problem: a stagnating base of students pursuing engineering degrees. The Dimension 3D Printing Group, a business unit of Stratasys, has taken a novel approach to this dilemma. Two years ago we launched the “Extreme Redesign” contest, a global student-design program that challenges high school and college students to come up with a new spin on an existing product, piece of art, or architectural design; hence the “redesign” part of the contest.

Instead of simply putting up scholarship money to be awarded to kids with high grade-point averages, we wanted to give a broad range of students the opportunity to stretch their minds and get excited about the possibilities of design and engineering. By challenging students—most of whom are still in high school and remain undecided about their career paths—to actively engage in using the technical skills they might be learning in their pre-engineering or drafting design courses, the popularity of this contest has grown dramatically from just over 100 entrants in 2004 to more than 500 entrants in last year’s contest.

These numbers may seem like a drop of water in a big bucket, but the contest’s popularity shows—especially with high school participants—that it is possible to plant such engineering seeds early. Winning designs over the first two years of the contest’s history have been incredibly creative and varied; from an extendable wall-mounted electrical outlet, to a stair-climbing robot and a sandwich holder for the disabled. These design achievements are hard evidence that U.S. students can excel in the field of engineering when provided with an exciting, competitive learning environment that allows them to see designs come to life before their eyes.

Imagine what industry and corporate America could do if they collectively worked to cultivate engineering interest among young students through unique programs that allow kids to exercise their creative talents, instead of just handing over a check. By exercising students’ problem-solving muscles early on and giving them the ability to develop solutions or make improvements by starting at square one with the design phase and following it through to the prototype and testing stages, we are replicating what it is like to survive in the real world of engineering. Exposing these students to design failure and giving them the tools to triumph over it is not only an exhilarating experience for both instructor and student, but it is a skill that students will find essential in triumphing over the kinds of important engineering challenges that lie ahead. It’s what innovation is all about.

Jonathan Cobb, vice president and general manger of 3D printing for Stratasys, has more than 20 years’ experience in CAD, peripheral printing and plotting products, seven of which have been devoted to rapid prototyping and 3D printing. Complete details on the “Extreme Redesign” student design challenge can be found online at dimension printing.com. You can send your thoughts about this commentary through e-mail by clicking here. Please reference “Guest Commentary, November 2006” in your message.

Dimension is again looking forward to seeing the entries for Extreme Redesign 2007. To enter, students send an .STL file of their Extreme Redesign via Dimension’s website along with a completed submission form, including a 200-word description of the value and benefit of the Extreme Redesign part.

Dimension will then send entrants a 3D print of their redesign for evaluation. From there, entrants have the opportunity to make any necessary design improvements and develop a second iteration for final submission.

Final submissions must be postmarked by Dec. 31, 2006. A panel of independent judges from various industries will judge final entries on the basis of creativity, usefulness, part integrity, and aesthetics.

Winners will be selected in February 2007 and will receive $2,500 or $1,000 scholarships. Complete contest rules and submission information are available at Dimension Printing by clicking here. —DE