We are pleased to announce the Fall 2016 EDU Grant Winners. The Shapeways EDU Grant provides $1000 in printing support, awarded twice a year to university-level students and professors whose proposals push the boundaries of 3D printing materials and technology. This fall’s grant recipients are:

Wooyeon Byun – Fashion Institute of Technology, New York
These avant garde fashion pieces will incorporate the structures found in the species Phyllocrania paradoxa or ghost mantis.

Eduardo Fiorin – Universidade Vila Velha, Brazil
Eduardo’s project will explore developing a made-to-order protective jacket for non-professional motorcyclists. The equipment is brought to life by 3D printing, including the fabric mesh, closures, and finishing – all tailored to the user’s body in order to provide the best performance and fit, optimizing effectiveness of the protective parts in case of an accident.

Robert Hemlich – DePaul University, Illinois
Robert is working to bring 21st century tools to stop motion animation. By keeping the scale of the figurines and number of frames relatively small, Robert wants to prove that it is possible for filmmakers to make fascinating art without any major barriers or extreme costs.

Dingzeyu Li – Columbia University, New York
Ding is developing a system to identify 3D printed parts using sound ID tags. As more people print objects to perform specific functions, it will become difficult from a user’s perspective to ensure that the design indeed functions as expected. Invisible tagging will investigate how to accurately embed invisible tags through optimization of 3D models.

Cliff Weitzman – Brown University, Rhode Island
BoardBrake is a removable foot-activated brake for longboards/skateboards. There is currently no effective way of stopping a longboard/skateboard. Bicycles have brakes, scooters have brakes, but longboards do not. BoardBrake allows riders to be safer, ride faster, and have more control.

Congrats to our latest grant winners and thank you to all the students who applied! Past grant recipients have completed projects in the fields of applied psychology, product design, and mathematics, to name a few. Our next grant cycle closes March 15, 2017. More details about the application process can be found at shapeways.com/education