Making your first Prototype: Design Thinking & 3D Printing

What is prototyping?
An experimental process where individuals, makers or learners implement ideas into tangible forms.Building a prototype and testing it can help us understand and analyze the concept model better. It also gives us critical feedback allowing us to improve the existing solution by exploring the problem areas in depth & resolve it by creating new solutions.

Prototyping is a necessary step of Design Thinking process, bringing us clarity of Design, early feedback, saving time & cost, evaluating technical feasibility and building marketing communication.

Earlier, we would use cardboard, wood and DIY supplies to make tangible models, until the advent of 3D Printing, that can just make the prototype straight up, by doing all the hardworking in the digital design itself.

3D Printing or Additive Manufacturing has come a long way since it was first developed in the 1980s by Chuck Hull. It originated as a toll for rapid prototyping and is now used for making multiple applications.It is big in the Aerospace & Defense sector, one of the earliest adopters of 3D Printing, heavily contributing to ongoing research efforts within the industry.

Overall 3D printing can be used to make the following things as per the industry guidelines:

• Functional Prototypes

• Tooling

• Lightweight components

What do you learn in the course?

In this course we will explore digitally designing simple tools & viable mechanism prototypes that we use in everyday life, even unconsciously and see their motion mechanics using Fusion360. We will learn how simple prototyping is, once you follow the best design practices. 3D Printing helps us create really accurate & high resolution prototypes of varying sizes and functionality, the magic lies in the Design thinking & the digital transformation that can make Anything Anytime Anywhere.