Curiosity for individuals, educational project within schools, willingness of professionals to benefit from cost reductions, additive manufacturing has been attracting growing interest for several years now. Training the French is becoming a necessity. The French landscape is full of knowledge about 3D printing. From a simple discovery course to a university diploma, training courses dedicated to additive manufacturing have been very successful.
The creation of training courses dedicated to 3D printing
Still dedicated to a niche not so long ago, 3D printing can now help everyone in their design or creation projects. That's why the training sector is becoming more structured, so that people who love new experiences, students, people looking for a job or even professionals in training can broaden their learning of additive manufacturing thanks to adapted training courses.
TheUniversity of Southern Brittany in Lorient, in the Morbihan region, has been offering since 2014 the first French university diploma, providing a complete training (120 hours) on 3D printing. This DU is open to anyone with a bachelor's degree in the scientific field.
Léo, a ComposiTic intern, wants to use the 3D printer to renovate boat equipment. Ouest-France
" This is the only continuing education program in the university system today," says Stéphane Bruzaud, professor and head of the program.
That same year, Arts et Métiers Paris Tech launched a professional training course to understand and use 3D printing.
Various private organizations also offer a wide range of training courses. 3Dcelo, for example, is an additive manufacturing laboratory, consulting firm and 3D printing training center. It offers training to support the integration of 3D printing in companies.
La Ferme 3D, a 3D printer park, which hosts a technical center for production and research on 3D printing, offers certified training in additive printing and its applications.
L'Etablisienne, Préférence 3D, Le Tarmack, Atlan3D, Kouros Formation, Atelier Imprimante 3D, Geekofyou, A3D - l'Atelier Numérique... also offer modeling and production training for additive manufacturing. This list is obviously non-exhaustive: the training organizations are extremely numerous on this technology in full development.
Even internationally, training in the 3D printing sector is popular. TheUniversity of Queensland, the University of Wollongong in Australia, the University of Utrecht in Holland and theUniversity of Würzburg in Germany have collaborated to set up the first Master's degree in BioPrinting. It allows medical students to specialize in biofabrication and regenerative medicine.
In addition, a new short professional training program for engineers has been launched at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Additive Manufacturing - From 3D Printing to the Factory Floor.
These trainings will become essential for anyone who wants to create, design or produce...
The creation of training courses dedicated to 3D printing
Indeed, if today 3D printing is developing a lot within companies, we still need competent people who master the technology. The machine is not everything: engineers, technicians, sales people and designers (of both software and optimized parts) are all necessary jobs in the field of additive manufacturing.
Even if these professions are not only found in the 3D printing sector, a specialization remains necessary to understand the stakes and the possibilities offered by such a technique: mastery of the tool is important, and the processes are also very specific. A complete knowledge of these processes is therefore necessary.
Assuming that 3D printing will become a full-fledged technology in the business world, it is imperative to integrate this know-how into the school curriculum as early as possible. That's the goal of the One 3D Printer Into Every School program launched by theAmerica Makes Institute and the manufacturer MakerBot, which aims to bring the technology into schools. Their idea is to equip all American public schools with 3D printers, offering to co-fund educational projects using additive manufacturing. No doubt, 3D printing will eventually be everywhere!