PITTSBURGH (Sept. 9, 2019) — As with many creative projects,
this one started with a doodle. Students at this year’s Makerspace Bootcamp at the University of
Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of Engineering learned that to create a finished
product, (in this case, a laser-cut lampshade), you must first translate the
idea in your head onto paper.
The 31 rising sophomore engineering students were asked to quickly
sketch out a lampshade design, and then another, and another. By the end of the
day, they would turn one of the sketches into a working lamp.
“The project goes from physical, to digital, and back to
physical. We walk through the design process, using software to create a
digital model from the sketch, cutting it with the laser cutter, and assembling
the lamp,” says David Sanchez, PhD, assistant professor of civil and
environmental engineering at the…
