A new study published by Primary Research Group has been released examining American college students and their use of 3D printers.
The survey looks closely at how many and which students are using 3D printers at their colleges, along with how much they are using them. The report also collected students’ opinions on the value of 3D printers and how aware they are of their availability in their academic settings. The report aims to assist college and university officials to estimate the current and future level of demand for 3D printing and the source of demand. Data was collected through a representative sample of 1,076 students attending four-year colleges in the United States.
Key findings of the survey are:
46% of students majoring in engineering, mathematics, and computer science had ever used a 3D printer, the highest of any major or range of academic fields in the sample.
Older students aged 26 to 35 were much more likely than others to find a 3D printer valuable or very valuable.
Students raised abroad used 3D printers three times as much as students raised in the United States.
More than 64% of students from the lowest income strata were unaware if their academic libraries offered a 3D printer.
Data in the report is spread across more than 20 personal and institutional variables, including year of study, type of institution, type of major, age, sexual orientation, and gender, to name a few.
The complete 83-page report is available here.
2 Comments
"Students raised abroad used 3D printers three times as much as students raised in the United States." That's probably because most foreign students who could afford an American architecture degree are well-off to begin with.
I'm curious what is the material waste created by the prevalence of 3D printing. Most architcture students do not prototype the way engineering students do - test hypothesis and improve a design. Rather, there is a strong tendency towards endless form-making. When one had to make iteration models by hand, the labor and time that goes into fashioning even the most rudimentary of massings might dissuade students from casually turning preliminary ideas into reality. With 3D printing as cheap, easy, and fast as it is today, studios are sometimes crammed full of "studies". A lot of plastic being used and disposed.
There have been some efforts to explore bio-plastics and more Cradle to Cradle approaches for 3d printing feedstock. Even at the (de)-building scale. But yes definitely an opportunity.
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