From 3D printers to vacuum-formers, CNC machines to robotic arms, we've got it all. With a full wood shop, a state-of-the-art fabrication lab, the latest industry-standard software and 24-hour building access, the College of Design's facilities make it easy for students to bring their creative visions to life.
The design studio is where you bring knowledge to propose innovative design solutions to a wide range of spatial challenges. In studio, you are a key component in a culture of critical thinking and creativity that challenges your preconceptions, and encourages you to formulate new ideas that stimulate your imagination. It aims to spark your curiosity, and to propel you to foster your own vision for the future of the built environment.
In reality, the studio is a creative, collaborative, hands-on environment. In this setting, you will spend hours exploring, researching, discussing and analyzing design challenges with your studio instructor and classmates. You’ll get your hands dirty as you test your intellectual ideas and propose creative solutions through drawings, models, scale mockups and digitally fabricated prototypes. For many, working closely together in the studio environment – critiquing projects, exchanging techniques, and sharing ideas throughout all stages of the design process – is one of the highlights of a design education.
The Workshop and Digital Fabrication Lab at the College of Design provides a safe, well-maintained environment in which both students and faculty can explore three-dimensional construction in most media.
The laboratory maintains equipment to handle both large- and small-scale constructions. Below is a short list of the digital technology equipment and some of the more traditional tools and machines for making:
1st Year Fab Lab
96”x 48”x 17” Prefix 3axis CNC router
48”x 36”x 6” AXYZ 3axis CNC router
18”x 24”–60-watt Universal Laser
24”x 32”–120-watt Universal laser
Zcorp 310 plus 3d printer (starch)
Uprint Plus 3d printer (abs)
Dimension 1200es 3d printer (abs)
Soluble Station (SS)
Wax Dipping Oven
De-powdering Station
7 Stationary support computers
Two table saws
Panel saw
Two chop saws
Wood and metal lathes
Jointer
Scroll saw
Mortiser
Radial arm saw
Stationary belt sander
3 drill press (L, m, sm)
4 band saws
3 stationary disc/belt sander
Two planers
Manual roller
Vertical band saw
Large drill press
Polishing wheel
Shear
Break
Oxygen and acetylene torch set
Hobart MIG welder 110 service (inter-shield)
Melismatic 252 220 service MiG and somatic welder
Hyperthermia PowerHA 45 plasma cutter
Welding supports
Grinders
Abrasive chop saw
