We are upfitting CDI's facility to enable the provision of design services based on 3D software modeling, coupled with outputs of physical forms in plaster and plastic.

The iterative process of "rapid prototyping" is essentially a drafting process: designers develop and refine ideas by bringing them from initial pencil sketches to 2D computer images and then to 3D computer models.

We then send these 3D data files to printers that build up layers of material, to produce real-world versions of the modeled objects. By successively refining a model, we gradually improve its physical counterpart. The final result can be manufactured in large quantities.

Using modeling software and 3D printers, students and collaborators are learning to create prototypes for objects such as medical instruments, machine parts and furnishings.