Functional 3D Printing in a Spanish School
We recently had the pleasure of being introduced to Jokin Lacalle Usabiaga, a passionate technology teacher from a school in Basque Country, Spain. In today's post, we'd like to share an inspirational story from Txantxiku Ikastola, the school where Jokin teaches.
9th January 2017 • Case Studies
Jokin explained how it all began with a simple problem at the school when he first started teaching there:
“One of the first things that called my attention in my school was that all handles of the windows were missing. I asked about them to some of colleagues and they told me that, some time ago, there were problems related to objects thrown from the windows by the students. So they decided to take them off from the classes. Each teacher has their own handle, so when it is hot inside they can open the windows”.
Being new amongst the school, there were no handles left, meaning he would often have to ask to borrow from other teachers – something that could often be inconvenient. One day, 12 year old student Kepa asked Jokin why he didn’t carry a handle with him. In response, Jokin explained that there were no more handles to go around. Kepa instantly replied with,
“Why don’t you design one and print it with the 3D printer?”.
Being slightly surprised but also inspired, Jokin saw an opportunity to teach the importance of design and digital fabrication. He challenged Kepa to design a handle in Tinkercad, a free 3D modelling program. Kepa, who was very excited, accepted the challenge immediately.
Using a caliper, Kepa started measuring an original handle and in a few days, the design was completed. Jokin 3D printed the handle and to everyone’s joy, it worked first time!
“Kepa was amazed and very proud of his job at the same time. And I was also very proud of him”.
It was a pleasure to hear this story from Jokin, who overwhelmed us with his passion for 3D printing in education. We will certainly be in touch with Jokin throughout the year to learn more about his school’s 3D printing journey.
And finally, to prove that the window handle works, below is a quick video! A big thanks to Jokin and Kepa for sharing this amazing content with us – it’s an inspiration to see how 3D printing is being used in schools around the world.