Skriware and Dartmouth College Team Up to Deliver 3D Printing and Robotics Education

There are a growing number of 3D printing companies that put education among their highest priorities, and that’s a wonderful thing, as there can never be too many organizations working to educate young people in the 3D printing skills that will be so badly needed in the workforce of the future (and present). One of those companies is Skriware, a Polish/Swedish startup formed for the purpose of making 3D printing accessible to everyone through both low cost and ease of use.

Skriware decided to create a 3D printer that would be both affordable and high quality, as well as easy to use, regardless of skill level. The Skriware 3D printer retails for $999, and is a simple, plug and play printer with user-friendly software that can be used easily by any age and skill level. It’s designed to be a quality starter 3D printer, requiring no prior 3D printing experience or expertise, which makes it highly appealing to one industry in particular: education.

Skriware has reached out to the education market since the beginning, and is now expanding its educational focus even more through a new collaboration with Dartmouth College. The two organizations are working together to create an interdisciplinary, STEAM-based educational platform geared towards equipping students with the skills they will need to be successful in the workplace. Those skills include, in particular, 3D modeling and printing, robotics, and programming.

The interactive e-learning platform is scheduled to be released by the end of 2017, and will include courses, videos, guidebooks, and instructions. An interactive 3D modeling software program will allow users to create customized robotic projects without having any extensive knowledge about technology.

“Every single robot available on the platform is designed to help develop STEAM skills,” said Karol Górnowicz, CEO of Skriware. “We want to inspire our users to take creative action and realize unconventional ideas by engaging into designing, building and coding their own, personalized robot. Our goal is to prove that the development of competencies across robotics, programming, and 3D modeling – encompassing both technical and artistic skill set – is an excellent investment in the future and a fun way to realize their potential.”

Users will be able to upload the 3D models they create and 3D print them with Skriware printers, and a mobile app will allow them to program and control the robots.

Programs like this one are vital, as, according to Skriware, by the end of 2018 half a million new employees will be hired by major corporations such as Google, Facebook, eBay and Amazon, with two thirds of those job openings requiring STEAM skills. The importance of creativity shouldn’t be overlooked in technological fields, and one of Skriware’s goals is to make sure the Arts aspect of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math doesn’t get left out.

“3D printing industry can fill the gap which emerged during the transformation from STEM to STEAM education. The notion that innovation resides where art and science connect is not new,” Górnowicz told 3DPrint.com. “When Einstein was stymied while working out General Relativity, he would pull out his violin and play Mozart until he could reconnect to what he called the harmony of the spheres. And more recently, Steve Jobs publicly praised taking calligraphy classes at Stanford, which lead him to later designing the beautiful typeface on Macintosh and further ‘connecting the dots’ in delivering revolutionary UX of its operation system. Our goal is to to be at the very heart of this philosophy. We want to engage and encourage students to freely experiment with a variety of forms and materials, making the learning process as multidisciplinary, effective and entertaining as possible.”

Encouraging kids to use their creativity is a great way to keep them interested in technology, which is why programs such as this one tend to be so successful. You can learn more about Skriware’s educational program here. Discuss in the Skriware forum at 3DPB.com.