Burlington, Mass. - May 4, 2005 - Z Corporation today announced that Jonathan Barnes from the Lorain County Joint Vocational School (JVS), which serves 13 school districts in Northeastern Ohio, won first place in the company's first annual 3D Printing Student Design Contest. The winning entry, which beat out numerous entries from high schools and four-year colleges and universities participating in Z Corp.'s Leaders in Education Applications Program (LEAP), was a fully functional, mechanical clock housing.
The winning entry was selected by a panel of two judges from the Mechanical Engineering Department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) — professors Woodie Flowers and Dave Wallace. Judging criteria for the entries, which consisted of CAD drawings and corresponding 3D prototypes, included design quality, complexity, and originality.
"3D printing technology is valuable in educational settings," Wallace says. "It helps students explore design alternatives via physical prototypes that would be difficult for them to fabricate using other means. The establishment of this 3D Printing Student Design Contest illustrates Z Corporation's commitment to education and provides students with a venue to showcase the quality of their work."
Jeff Hejl from the Kent State University School of Technology placed second. The contest was open to all LEAP-participating high schools, colleges, and universities and carried monetary awards for first-place and runner-up winners. Z Corp. launched the LEAP program and the annual 3D Printing Student Design Contest in 2004 to support the engineers of tomorrow by making 3D printing technology accessible to educational institutions nationwide. The LEAP program provides participating schools with discounted pricing on materials, curriculum modules and educational planning tools, and opportunities for participating in contests, special programs, and user group meetings.
"It is truly amazing to see what young engineers in training can do with 3D printing technology," notes Tom Clay, Z Corp. president. "Education is an important and growing market for Z Corporation because it provides the skills, experience, and training that future engineers need to compete successfully. We will continue to develop programs and enhance the use of Z Corp. 3D printers in educational settings."
About Z Corporation
Z Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets the world's fastest, high-definition 3D printers — machines that produce 3D physical prototypes of real-world objects with the speed, ease, and affordability of 2D desktop printing. Leading manufacturers, Fortune 500 companies, and centers for research, including Sony, Fisher-Price, Adidas, Canon, NASA, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, BMW, Porsche, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, Harvard, MIT and Yale, rely on Z Corp.'s printers to produce prototypes as part of the development of a broad range of world-class products and technologies. Z Corp. systems are not only the fastest 3D printers on the market but also offer the only color 3D printing capabilities. Z Corp. holds patents on its proprietary 3D printing materials and equipment and licenses others from MIT, where the company's technology was originally developed.
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