Young minds + 3D printer technology = winners

Young inventors will show off the products of their imaginations and skills Thursday during a Maricopa Center for Entrepreneurship-hosted event.

The 3D printer contest awards ceremony will be 6 to 8 p.m. in the Sequoia Pathway Academy gymnasium.

Student participants were asked to build 3D printers from kits and develop 3D designs in the following categories: toys, modified-consumer products, teaching tools and art.

The event is free and open to the public. Interested members of the public are asked to RSVP at 3Dprinterevent.eventbrite.com.

Twenty-nine students from Sequoia Pathway Academy, Maricopa High School and Legacy Traditional School participated.

The designer contest was divided into three age groups, 8 to 12, 13 to 18 and 19 and older.

“The designers ranged from all ages,” said Carla Brooks, assistant to the MCE director. “Some of the kids worked alone and some in teams.

“The teachers really embraced this challenge, allowing (students) to make this part of their classroom agenda, helping them to learn about 3D software and technology,” Brooks said. “They had to create a concept and learn how to make that concept a successful reality.

“The designers experienced the world of inventing at its finest – project planning, conceptualizing, time management, problem solving and working as a team,” she said.

MCE hosted the contest, funded by Pinal County, because “we are interested in providing a place where innovative entrepreneurs can congregate,” said Tom Baxter, MCE director, adding future plans are to form adult makers club.

“The event will (also) provide a venue for the Maricopa Ak-Chin Science Technology Engineering Arts Math (STEAM) Foundation to kick off its makers clubs program,” Baxter said.

Established in 2012, the foundation’s goal is to increase awareness and engagement in core curriculum subjects, said Rachael Burno, the organization’s president. The makers clubs give students a chance to work with a technology they might not otherwise have the opportunity to do.

One aspect of the foundation’s goal is to involve the community, explaining the group’s involvement with MCE, Burno said. 

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