MakerSpace 3D design workshop provides a casual introduction to 3D space

The Algonquin College Makerspace team held one of their weekly workshops, which covered the basics of 3D design, on Jan. 17.

The Makerspace, located in room C275, is an on-campus lab that students and staff are welcome to visit in order to use tools and software to build and design whatever they can imagine.

“Our plan is basically just to have a creative space that is open for everyone,” said 20-year-old Ryan Kowtecky, one of Algonquin’s Makerspace technicians and graduate of the manufacturing engineering technician

The Makerspace concept is based around the idea that no knowledge should be proprietary. The objective of their workshops is to invite people in to try new things that they might have an interest in, even if they are intimidated.

“I just want people to come in and feel welcome without any prior knowledge required,” said Kowtecky.

At the workshop, Kowtecky taught attendees the basics of 3D design in Fusion 360, a computer-aided design software that allows users to build and design in a virtual 3D space. The workshop covered some of the tools and theory of 3D design, such as sketching, extruding, revolving and the fundamentals of 3D modeling.

Approximately a dozen attendees, made up of both students and faculty, saw these techniques applied to actual design by following a step-by-step breakdown of the construction process of a domino in 3D space. Certain difficulties with the college’s internet made for some unforeseen challenges, but the workshop continued anyway.

“I definitely got what I wanted out of it [the workshop], and I appreciate that it’s free software,” said Amanda Baxter, 37, a professor of the baking and pastry arts program at Algonquin. “I’m confident enough to share the app with my students and let them know that this is a possibility.

Makerspace workshops are hosted in room C276 every Friday at noon.