Student Club

TJ3D is a student club at Jefferson Hills Intermediate School (JHIS) in the West Jefferson Hills School District (WJHSD).  It was founded in October 2019 with over 100 student members in the 4th and 5th grade.  The goal of the club is to promote, encourage, and support students taking initiative to learn 3D printing and design processes along with real world entrepreneurial skills.  Members of the club take part in online activities, discussions, and challenges via Google Classroom.  Once per week, students spend their recess time working in small, cooperative teams in which they are assigned various roles:  project manager, accountant, advertising, customer relations, inventory control, marketing, and design specialist.  Each student in the club works to create original 3D models, promote them for sale on our store website, and fulfill and deliver orders.  The profits from the sale of 3D printed products goes to support future activities of the club and continuation of the business.

Teacher Leaders

TJ3D is led by Mr. Adam Gebhardt.  Mr. Gebhardt has been teaching art to third through fifth grade at JHIS for the past 14 years.  He is a 2018 Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year Finalist, Remake Learning Teacher Champion, and Pennsylvania Teacher Advisory Committee Member.  Mr. Gebhardt has been the recipient of numerous grants including Voya Unsung Heroes and has participated in collaborative work with Lego Education and the National Network of State Teachers of the Year.  He incorporates technology into his lessons and projects in an initiative he calls ArtEd21 through which he seeks to modernize the traditional art-making experience with 21st century learning and technology resources.  Mr. Gebhardt enjoys expressing creativity in any medium from graphite drawing to 3D printing.

Sponsors

The TJ3D club was started with generous financial and organizational support from Real World Scholars through their EdCorps platform which empowers and supports opportunities for students to explore entrepreneurship and business operations.  TJ3D is always in need of and searching for additional corporate sponsors.  If you or your organization would like to support our efforts in teaching 3D design, manufacturing, and entrepreneurship to our students, please contact us at:  tj3d@wjhsd.net

Design

The majority of the design work for our products is done using TinkerCAD.  This is an entry-level, web-based CAD (Computer-Aided Design) program that makes digital design accessible to our students while giving them creative options and flexibility.  While most of our work is entirely original designs, some products are derived from existing models that are modified and customized.  We strive to make sure that all models that are borrowed from other sources are free to use for commercial purposes according to Creative Commons License regulations.  Whenever possible, credit is given to the original designers  for any modified models. 

Manufacturing

At Jefferson Hills Intermediate, we utilize Prusa and Lulzbot 3D printers.  Our manufacturing printer farm includes Prusa Mk3s, Prusa Mini, Lulzbot Taz 6, and Lulzbot Mini printers.  Through personal exploration and experimentation, we have found these to be reliable, well-supported, and easily repaired machines that consistently produce quality results.  Their open-source programming allows endless modifications and continual updates that allows them to advance with improving technology.

Most of our products are printed in Polylactic Acid (PLA) which is an environmentally safe, degradable material that has minimal particulate emissions when used for 3D printing.  Flexible objects are made using NinjaTek NinjaFlex and translucent plastics are made of Taulman 3D t-glase filament.  A smaller percentage of our products are made using composite filaments by colorFabb and Proto-pasta which are made of metal powders (copper, bronze, iron) or wood fibers suspended in PLA.