'Layer by layer': U of R engineering students utilizing new labs, 3D printers during fall semester

Engineering students at the University of Regina are beginning their fall semester with new labs and equipment, allowing for more hands on design work.

Engineering student Chance Smith is excited about the new 3D printers. He claimed there are the best he’s ever used.

“These are hot inside so they are temperature regulated so it’s basically taking the filaments of plastic and then it’s putting it through the machine,” Smith said, explaining the printing process.

“Melting it down to build it up layer by layer.”

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Student will have the tools to construct what previously could only be conceived on paper, adding valuable experience to the program.

“Hands on experience building their designs and this sort of space didn’t exist before,” said David DeMontigny, the associate dean of engineering at the U of R.

“We were able to do this due to the generous donation that the faculty received.”

An anonymous $1 million donation was gifted to the U of R’s Faculty of Engineering.

It has allowed for the purchase of equipment to create three new labs, including one dedicated to electronics and instrumentation.

Syied Mohammed, an electronics and instrumentation technologist, said the new equipment will be a great resource for engineering students.

“So the students would be learning how to design prototypes,” Mohammed explained.

Engineering is about coming up with better designs. Students will now be able to take their ideas and build them.