Challenges Universities Face
Universities are full of bright minds and problem solvers. It’s no surprise that many labs have come up with several unique processes to ensure all students have success in 3D printing and can get their jobs completed in an orderly fashion. We sorted through some example instructions online and prepared some thoughts below:
Go from ugly 13 step printing instructions to intuitive, easy to use submission.
Get rid of manual “Submission Forms” and entering data (Time Estimate, File Name, School, Person Name, Email) that the system should already know!
Don’t tell students that they can check updates on their prints by going through the menu system of the LCD screen itself.. in person only. It’s 2022. You’re better than that!
Eliminate Custom forms and “quotes”, making students wait for a live manager/admin to get back to them. These are exposed to the world.. create your university-only polar cloud setup where users cant even see the printers or forms unless they’ve logged in with a vetted student email.
Don’t give students “pricing guides”, let them upload objects and get an exact
Having students look at random MM cartesian box dimensions and guessing which printer is best for their use
Get rid of a table for 4 different slicers for 5 different printer makes
Trim your horribly complicated steps for simple 3D printing
Instead, with the Polar Cloud..
Go from Idea to Printing in Seconds
When your University is on the Polar Cloud, any student on your campus (or even remote learners) can quickly get access to your print program.
They simply log in, join the university, and submit an object for printing. Print jobs are then fulfilled by a certified print managers or labs on campus, assuring the job is prepared correctly.
If you choose to, you can quote an estimated price for a student job or put limits on use for fair shared use of machine time.
Employ Student Managers
Some students are night owls or their course load demands 24/7 access to the lab. If you aren’t able to always staff an employee to manage the printer during these hours, assign trusted students to prepare print jobs for others and control certain aspects of the printers.
Student Body Collaboration
Allow students to showcase their work in your University Store and raise funds for the Print Program.
