LFHS has a long history of being early adopters to new technology, 3D printing being no exception to that. As early as 2016, the school purchased six 3D printers. In 2020 the Lake Forest High School Foundation issued a near $20,000 grant to buy six new 3D printers, ensuring the school stays up to date on new technology.
The type of printers the school uses, which are also the most common type, use a technique called fused deposition modeling (FDM). Although this sounds complex, it simply involves taking a strand of solid plastic and heating it until it melts. The printer then lays down lines of melted plastic and layers them on top of each other to form a cooled, solid model.
3D printing allows students to easily turn digital creations into real objects, which is particularly useful in computer-aided design (CAD) classes. In classes like CAD Architecture, 3D printing is used to…
