Boys and Girls Clubs of Hartford: 3D Printing Challenge

The Boys and Girls Clubs of Hartford Makerspace, powered by Infosys Foundation USA, aims to leverage our members’ interests to help them learn more about technology. One of our most popular projects is 3D design and printing: so popular, in fact, that we added a third 3D printer to alleviate the project queue!

Our members, aged 8-18, are quite competitive, so we introduced a 3D design contest. Our members were able to develop their newfound CAD skills and show off their creations. Members could design and 3D print anything they wanted. There was only one rule: they had to design an object from scratch. It's been a blast learning more about our members by seeing the range of creative ideas they came up with. Winners received “Lincoln Bucks” or Club Bucks which is an internal rewards system that can be used to purchase school supplies and toys.

Our members and staff here at BGCH voted for their favorite design and anyone outside the building was invited to vote online. Our winners are as follows:

People’s Choice Award Winners:
Members and staff of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Hartford voted on their favorite projects. These are the winners locally:

Kham (Age: Teen): Kham’s project of an iPhone case included a learning and applied use of calipers to achieve accurate speciation of a true to fit project which was persistently worked on over a series of weekly attendance.

Robyn (Age 10): Gift Box with Ring pushed beyond her current knowledge to achieve a 3-part project. Robyn also learned through multiple early revisions of prints the importance of clearances and fits to achieve the final design that was submitted.

Future Engineer Award:
These members used precision measuring and advanced CAD techniques to create their designs.
Kham (Teen): Iphone case (see above)

Kaylie (Age: 8): Airpods with case achieved early adaption to creating in a 3D environment exploring / learning about the application different shapes to achieve the goal of duplicating a difficult hard to replicate shape. She also learned about the importance clearances and fit with multiple pieces.

Most Skilled Designer:
These members learned a lot about 3-D design while making their projects.

David (Age:8): Ben10 Omnitrix- achieved results after overcoming many frustrating challenges of reproducing a comic book superhero wrist wearable. With encouragement from staff, David battled a demanding learning curve with persistence to finally get to the completed design he envisioned.

Enyce (Teen): Basketball - On an initial overview the design shape of a basketball seems simple. It took some online research and advanced application of unique workplanes in 3D design to achieve the accurate result.

Most Artistic Project:
These members had incredible creativity while designing their 3D prints.

Nydan (8): Iphone 11 with apps: Nydan’s new familiarity with CAD made this a fun and detail-oriented project. In addition, Nydan learned about the process and importance of duplicating repetitive attributes which made the project more accurate and efficient.

Elias (Teen): E-Lion Ring: Elias’ positive attitude to varied makerspace projects is sparked by his personal brand “E-Lion”. In this 3D print / CAD application, besides overcoming the obstacle of a design with no easy base plane to start, Elias had to learn the importance of size and structure with early versions that were the wrong size or broke easily.

Visionary Award: These members had a great vision for their project from the beginning and executed it perfectly.
Robyn (10): Ring with Gift Box (see above)

Kayla (8): Realistic Iphone X Kayla started with zero knowledge of Tinkercad but surprised us with her ingenuity. She learned about placing objects in three dimensions, rounding corners and edges, and using a real-life object as a reference. In addition, Kayla’s (with a small amount of guidance) learned how to import and apply existing design shapes to her design. (actual Apple logo on back of phone)

Honorable Mentions:

Londynn (8): Star Gift Box Londynn designed a gift box decorated with a star.

Anari (9): Nametag Anari made a custom nametag for a family member.

Jerimiah (10): Personalized Drinking Cup Jerimiah made his own drinking cup and personalized it with his initials.

Auri (8): Valentine Gift Box Auri created a box that she decorated with a heart.