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Thomas McCulloch Museum 3D Scans Now Available on DalSpace

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Working with the DalSpace 3D Model Collection, School of Information Management student Amy Lorencz has just finished uploading and cataloging the 3D scans created earlier this year of a number of marine biology specimens from Dalhousie’s Thomas McCulloch Museum.  The 3D scanning done for this project was made possible in large part through a grant from the Canadian Association of Research Libraries.

Haliotis corrugata_T5

A pink abalone, or haliotis corrugata, getting 3D scanned.

The 3D scans, like all models stored in the DalSpace 3D model collection, are made available through an Open Access copyright license – so feel free to download them and share them with your friends. The 3D scans can be 3D printed through Dalhousie’s 3D printing service too. If you’re feeling creative, using a 3D modeling program like SketchUp, you could even turn one of these the Thomas McCulloch Museum 3D scans into a customized ring or necklace.

AbaloneCapture

The resulting 3D Model

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The 3D printable model

We’re always looking for new submissions to help grow the 3D model collection. If you’ve done any 3D printing and you’d like to share the model you’ve created with the rest of Dalhousie, send your model to 3Dprint@dal.ca with “submission” in the subject line, or else come over to the Killam Library Help Desk and ask to speak to Gino.

3D Printing at Startup Weekend Halifax

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Startup Weekend Halifax recently took place in the Learning Incubator & Networking Centre (LINC) room of the Killam Library. Based out of Seattle, Startup Weekend is a grassroots movement that encourages entrepreneurs to get together over a single weekend, pitch their ideas, form teams and start companies. Startup Weekend usually features a variety of students and business professionals, mentors and investors.

 

3D Printing Friday Night at Startup Weekend

The Killam Library’s 3D printer was used at this event to create quick, on-the-spot prototypes for products created during this event.

One of the groups formed during the event was working on a more efficient solution to the panic buttons currently given to at-risk patients in hospitals. A prototype of the groups’ device was designed in Solid Edge and then 3D printed right in time for their final presentation in front of potential investors.

 

3D Model of a New Medical Device

3D Model of a New Medical Device

 

The 3D Printed Medical Device

The 3D Printed Version

There were a few web-based companies at the event who weren’t working with any physical products, but who still took advantage of the 3D printer to get their logos printed. One of these companies, U-Ride, turned their logo into a 3D printed stamp.

U-Ride Logo

U-Ride Logo

 

U-Ride 3D Logo

U-Ride 3D Logo

 

3D Printing the U-Ride Logo

3D Printing the U-Ride Logo

The Killam Library’s 3D printer is available from 9 a.m.-9 p.m., Monday to Friday, at the Help Desk in the Learning Commons. Learn more about the 3D printer and what it can do, or come to the Help Desk in person. If you already have a 3D model you want to print, you can send it to 3Dprint@dal.ca for a quote.

Dalhousie 3D Model Collection on DalSpace

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The Dalhousie Libraries has launched its online collection of 3D models on DalSpace.

The collection currently features 3D scans created through a partnership with the Thomas McCulloch Museum in Dal’s Biology department. Right now you can see a canine skull, a nautilus shell, and a few other 3D scans, with much more to follow over the next few weeks. 3D printable versions of these objects will also be stored on DalSpace, for replication on the Killam Library’s 3D printer.

                                

The NextEngine 3D Scanner, which was used to scan both of the above objects, is available for student and faculty use on the main floor of the Killam Library. You can book time with this scanner through the Dalhousie University Libraries Room Booking System.

The Dalhousie Libraries 3D collection is completely open for student and faculty submissions as well. We are accepting 3D scans and 3D models created through other methods, such as those designed using AutoCAD, SolidEdge or 3D Studio Max. To submit a model for inclusion in the Dalspace 3D collection, simply email it to 3Dprint@dal.ca with ‘submission’ in the email’s title. If there’s any 3D models you’ve created during your time at Dalhousie, this is a great way to preserve your work and build a portfolio to show future employers.

 

3D Scanning at the Killam Library

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The NextEngine 3D Scanner is now available to Dalhousie students and faculty at the Killam Library. You can book the scanner any time between 10AM and 5PM, Monday to Friday, by accessing the Dalhousie Libraries Study Room Booking System and selecting Killam 3D-Scanner from the dropdown menu. The NextEngine 3D scanner is available free of charge.

Scanning an item will typically take between 1 and 2 hours, so it’s recommended that you book the scanner for at least two hours if you want try it out. Remember, since it’s a laser scanner, it will have problems capturing overly reflective or dark, dense surfaces such as glass or felt. It is extremely good, however, at capturing materials such as rock, wood and plastic. Using the NextEngine 3D Scanner you can create 3D models of your favourite baseball hats, dolls, action figures, frog skeletons, theater props, or any cool seashells you find at the beach.

A screenshot of a scanned horseshoe crab.

Once you’ve created your 3D model it can be exported as an OBJ file, which can then be brought into a software program such as 3D Studio Max to be animated, recoloured or redrawn; or else you can simply share it with others online . By exporting your model as an STL file, and cleaning up it using the freeware programs MeshLab and Netfabb, you can also send it into the Dalhousie Libraries 3D Printing service to be 3D printed.

You can read more about the NextEngine 3D scanner here: http://www.nextengine.com/faq.