For those students who were planning to start the A Level Design and Technology: Product Design course this academic year, one of the benefits of the lockdown before the summer was the opportunity to get ahead with online skills such as using 3D Computer Aided Design packages such as Onshape. Each year the Lower VI D&T students are challenged with a task to design a business card holder that can be 3D printed and can be produced for under £10.

Whilst a small product, it highlights the difficulties of designing to a brief and bringing in a solution on price. Students quickly realise the need to review and modify their design ideas to make them realistic, often because to their surprise, first ideas come in at close to £50. Designs then need to have wall thicknesses reduced, solid sections made hollow and perforations made to the design to reduce material content. Eventually the costs come right down!

With each student signing up to Shapeways, who are a specialist 3D printing company based in the Netherlands, they can upload their CAD designs to the Shapeways website to find out what their designs would cost and if they are suitable for manufacture. This year the students took to the challenge particularly well because of their familiarity and previous experience with Onshape that took place during the period of distance learning. Designs were completed in just a few lessons and the CAD results can be seen in the accompanying photographs. Equally, the 3D prints which take just two weeks to arrive from the Netherlands, proved successful and varied. The quality of the laser sintering process is a step up from the fused deposition 3D printing we can do in the D&T department and it also gives the students a chance to appreciate the different 3D printing methods available to the designer. They also end up with a set of skills that allow them to design and make remotely without having to invest in any production equipment and at the same time realising the benefits of the international market place.

Students completing the design challenge successfully were, Tom S, Tom W, Hugo P, Amy C, Ala G, Nathaniel P, Ashton C, James K and Mykola P

Design Technology at Felsted