What can students, teachers and 3D print do? PIANO!
02.06.2015
Engineering and drafting students at a Virginia private school are pushing the envelope by attempting a project that no one else is currently doing in a school setting: building a piano from scratch. The two teachers in charge of the project have both said that not even colleges are taking on such an ambitious task. With the help of a 3-D printer, students are designing and creating all the parts themselves.
Two creative teachers at Appomattox Christian Academy are taking on an innovative approach to teaching their students math, science, engineering, art and technology skills. They call it STEAM and they're using the concept of designing and building a piano from scratch. A project that no other class in the country is pulling off, according to teacher Mark Perry. "I think we are the only one doing something like this and that includes colleges." Chad Houk, Perry's fellow drafting teacher flips through the design photos of the piano, while students hold tightly to calipers and measure out the details. Houk chuckles, "The whole concept was to teach kids how to read blueprints and do some basic-and then..It evolved."
"The industry that we are training them in is called CAD design. Everything from building materials to graphics design. To whether we are making a piano or printing something out, you know the imagination can just run," says Houk.
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