星期二，我在推特上发布了一些链接press coverage关于在一所高中的新高级技术中心开业。好吧，我参加了昨天的开幕式，曾被邀请参加活动 - 有很多帽子（不是字面上的） - 我不得不说，这是我参加过的最好的活动之一。当您阅读本文时，请记住，这对我来说是一个本地活动，我对个人泛滥表示歉意，但是问题所涵盖are全球问题的代表。
鼓舞人心通常是一个过度使用的词，但是这里不可能更合适。该设施的开放汇集了一个共同点的折衷组合 - 他们对北威尔士弗林特郡的Holywell高中的学生提供了3D印刷技术的兴奋。毫不奇怪，孩子们对聊天很沉默 - 他们是青少年！我有一个人，所以我知道这是怎么回事。但是我确实花了一些时间在工作技术上观看它们并与之互动 - 他们在同伴团体中受到了启发，热情的态度，他们照亮了！那真是太棒了。
该设施是在学校内部专门建造的，可以容纳由前学生捐赠给学校的一系列3D技术，后者也是现任学生的父母，也是一直在3D印刷行业工作的本地企业主的父母20岁以上。凭借丰富的经验，安迪·阿尔肖恩（Andy Allshorn）于2007年在3D平方建立了自己的公司，并完全致力于将技术交给年轻一代。认识安迪多年来，我可以为此保证，他对这个问题既热情又发声，并且通过把钱放在他的嘴里来证明了这一点，昨天所有这些都取得了成果。安迪已向学校捐赠了一系列设备 - 以及入门级3D打印机there is also a3 d拉ser scannerand a设计套房的触觉— all supplied byA1技术, specialist suppliers of 3D technology for education. Beyond this, Andy has also placed a stereolithography (SLA) machine in the school — on loan — which is a first in a UK high school, as far as I am aware. Yesterday, Andy also pledged to continue to add to the equipment range each year, an announcement that delighted everyone there.
The sad fact is that without external partnerships with parents or local companies, most schools can only dream of acquiring this sort of technology portfolio for their students to experience. Talking to Mr Hoosen, head of faculty for the design & engineering department, I was taken aback, to say the least, to learn that the department’s budget for the year is £1200!! I knew education budgets were an issue, but that is truly disgraceful. How on earth are schools supposed to produce employable designers, engineers and technicians that are so desperately needed across industry now, with the skills gap set to grow further over the next 20 years in our rapidly expanding manufacturing sector? No I’m not deluded, more on that later!
Mr Hoosen also woke me up to the fact that for D&T in particular the national curriculum itself is a limitation that prevents true innovation. “Success in this subject is not about an exam result,” Mr Hoosen told me, “you learn more about D&T from a failed project than you do from a successful one.”
我认识一些工业设计师，以及至少有一位编辑会同意这一点 - [在下面评论！]
While delighted with the ‘shot-in-the-arm’ that yesterday’s event provided for the department and the school, it was gratifying to learn that Mr Hoosen’s ultimate goal with this technology suite is to produce employable youngsters and provide them with a future in one of the most exciting sectors within Wales — design and engineering.
And according to Professor Bill O’Neill of the Institute of Manufacturing at Cambridge University, the VIP that opened the centre yesterday, Wales, and more broadly, the UK is a burgeoning manufacturing nation! Bill cited many facts and figures to support this claim — I didn’t get them all down, but one indicator was that Rolls-Royce, Jaguar Land Rover and others will need to more than double their work forces in the next 20 years because, despite mainstream coverage, the message coming out of these companies is that production is increasing dramatically. Bill was delighted with the resources he saw at Holywell yesterday saying it was exactly what modern manufacturing was all about and would contribute to developing the skill sets that industry requires.
His most striking comment, to me, was his insistence that “this technology makes a real difference.” As far as I am concerned he was preaching to the converted, but I just hope and pray that that comment penetrates through to the local politicians, teachers from other schools and members of the press that were also in attendance.
To sum up, Holywell High School is a beacon in the morass of bureaucracy that afflicts educational systems and politics around the world, enabled by the vision and generosity of a parent and technology insider. But it is not the only one — fortunately — there are more and we will share others with you here soon. Here on 3D Printing Industry we will also be encouraging members of the younger generation to share their experiences and opinions of 3D printing too — after all, they will drive the future of this technology further than any of us dinosaurs.
