Cubify
Home » Community » Cubify teams up with Big Brothers Big Sisters
formats

Cubify teams up with Big Brothers Big Sisters

Published on March 5th, 2013 by in Community

This past weekend, the most amazing thing happened at the Cubify office in San Francisco.

Fifteen boys and girls from Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area came to the office at Cubify San Francisco and had the opportunity many children don’t get to see or do–3D printing in action!

When the children arrived with their Big Brother or Big Sister, they were served a delicious pizza lunch, got some time to meet and make new friends and sat down to listen to a 20 minute tutorial on what a 3D printer is, what  it looks like, what it can make, and how we make 3D printed items.

Then they got the opportunity with their big brother or sister to have a tour of the Cubify offices and saw printers that were very small and very large. We talked about materials used in 3D printing and how fast it is going to grow.

The children then all had an opportunity to learn,design, and create their own personalized item on a Cube 3D printer with their big brother or sister.

The best part of the event was the three kids at the end who said “How can I work here someday?”

Our answer was to stay in school, do well in math and science and computer science, and there will be plenty of job openings in the next 10 years in the 3D printing field!

 
comments  3 Comments »
  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Susan-Mccaghren-Lawrence/100000217256248 Susan Mccaghren Lawrence

    I am stuck on this new possibility of creating things with the 3d printers.
    is this a company that can take my idea and make it real?
    Like the jewels to iphone cases- who makes the 3D photos/templates for the creations? I hope to learn more- I just need to be pointed to the place to start!

    • mlk12

      Start with the company that makes the 3D printer you are looking at or want to own. They can give you the ins and outs as to where to buy templates or how to design your own using their software. It won’t be long before whole companies spring up that compete to offer supplies for the printing medium and templates and design template software and one on one consultation and design. There is already one kid who has designed a machine that you can feed it your plastic recylables and it will take those and turn it into usable printing medium for a 3D printer. He is starting his own company to supply the machine he built to do this.

  • Kristie Karkanen

    You summed your answer to the question “How can I work here someday?” very well!

    “Our answer was to stay in school, do well in math and science and computer science, and there will be plenty of job openings in the next 10 years in the 3D printing field!”

    In light of the absence of skilled workers to filled STEM-related jobs, the U.S. is beginning to pay attention to just how deficient our educational programs are in regards to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math).

    American skills gap aside, wouldn’t we want to encourage our youth to gain education that will gain them not only employment, but a good standard of living?

    According to Forbes 2013, “Starting salaries for students graduating with liberal arts degrees
    continue to lag behind the salaries of students who major in engineering, computer science and finance, who bring home an average of between $56,100 and $70,400.”

    Liberal arts degrees aren’t a bad thing, but when the U.S. must continually import talent from abroad in order to fill critical jobs, it is evident that perhaps we have created an imbalance by placing too much of an emphasis on social sciences and not enough on valuable technical skills.

WARNING: Some printed parts may present a CHOKING HAZARD or may be SHARP; not for children under 3 years old.
Use of the Cubify.com Web site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Copyright © 2013 3D Systems®, Inc. All rights reserved.
Cubify®, Cube®, and the 3DS logo are trademarks of 3D Systems, Inc.

View in: Mobile | Standard