By Paul Mignone
Me and Cadventure!
The creation, manipulation and enrichment of 3D data are still fledging spaces in the data science field. However with only a small team, the Cadventure stream at ResBaz has made great strides in building research communities around 3D data tools. Looking back over the past 12 months, I’m truly in awe of what my team achieved in such a short time. Let’s look back on the Cadventure team’s achievements:
- Our first recruit, Ms. Aliza Wajih, successfully launched her first Autodesk Inventor CAD course at ResBaz 2015. The course was highly successful, and received the highest feedback scores of any of the streams at ResBaz 2015. Since then, she has continued to grow the Autodesk community, engaging both researchers and students alike.
- At ResBaz 2015, I successfully launched a pilot initiative in partnership with Nvidia for students to access graphically intensive CAD software in the cloud. The pilot was highly successful, and has given Research Platform Services valuable information for future ‘Cad in the Cloud’ rollouts in 2016 and beyond.
- Our team partnered with the Austin hospital to launch the 3D Printing for Medical Applications seminar at Carlton Connect. The event was successful in identifying skills and resource shortfalls in medical image processing, leading ResBaz to build research community around this field. This saw the successful hiring of Louise, who has helped develop and lead 3D slicer training for this community. She’s also now working with Austin health to help them build their own 3D printing expertise.
- Our most recent hire, Vincent Khau, is now our resident 3D printing and lightweight CAD guru, offering courses in TinkerCAD and Autodesk Fusion 360. Vincent has been hugely successful in engaging Unimelb’s Victorian College of the Arts, offering regular lightweight CAD courses at VCA, as well as engaging them in various research projects.
- Despite being the youngest of the ResBaz streams, the Cadventurers would be the first to venture into the innovation space, working directly with Carlton Connect to produce their first hackathon event known as #SharksDen. #SharksDen is an innovation training program for early career researchers, teaching them to adapt their research and skills in more commercial ways. The inaugural event was hugely successful, attracting the sponsorship of Makerbot for the #SharksDen live hackathon at last year’s 3D Printing Showcase. On that note…
- Due to the huge demand and interest in 3D printing over the last few years, The University of Melbourne’s 3D printing showcase was held for the third time at Wilson’s Hall. The massive building was barely large enough for the huge turnout at the 3D printing showcase, which saw over 3000 attendees over a single weekend. The showcase displayed the latest 3D printing technology, race car challenges, hackathons, community makerspaces, as well as lives lectures and interviews.
So many achievements…so little time…
Bear in mind ladies and gentlemen, these achievements were all done before the 2016 Research Bazaar conference. By the time the Cadventurers reached ResBaz 2016 they were full steam ahead:
- Aliza and her helpers successfully ran the Autodesk Inventor stream, which is now a community 400% bigger in size, and with far greater gender representation.
- Louise successfully ran the 3D slicer course with her two new knowledge champions. She was also the first ResCom to record a live lecture with the creators of 3D slicer from Harvard University.
- Vincent successfully ran Autodesk Fusion 360 and TinkerCAD training with helpers from both the Parkville and VCA campuses. He continues to be our guru for all things 3D printing, helping researchers reach new heights with the technology.
- The ResBaz Partnership with Carlton Connect continues to grow in 2016. We now have a residence at their Lab-14 innovation precinct, and plan to run more joint events in the near future. Carlton Connect also made an appearance at ResBaz 2016, advising researchers on avenues to commercialise their research.
Looking back, I’m amazed by the number of wins my team has achieved over the last 12 months. I personally couldn’t be more proud! With Louise Van Der Werff taking the helm in April 2016, I have full confidence that the Cadventure team will continue to build the 3D data community, and bring it to the forefront of data science!
We are part of something bigger…