Before I go, let me tell you a story…

By Dr. Paul John Michael Mignone

It was late 2013, and I was invited to David Flanders’ house to discuss this new ‘researcher training initiative’ that ITS Research (now known as Research Platforms) was starting. I had met David the year before at a 3D Printing build party, and had helped him run a University-wide build party in early 2013. Aside from being one of the coolest, most dynamic people I had ever met, David had (and continues to have) the fantastic vision of building a community of researchers that were proficient in data science tools, and were able support researchers to do better quality, reproducible research.

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In The Beginning: The Pre-ResBaz 3D Printing Build Party!

At this point in time, I was at an ‘interesting’ stage in my PhD/life (same thing back then ;-). My PhD was facing some difficulties (to put it mildly), and I was running out of funding. At the same time, I was trying to setup my own initiative to get CAD training integrated into the engineering curriculum at Unimelb (with little success). Having been in the private sector before returning to academia, I felt the engineering students at Unimelb were at a disadvantage by not having basic CAD skills, especially in a tough job market where employers can be ‘picky’ with candidates.

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PhD: Mission Accomplished!

Therefore it shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that I said YES when David offered me the job to teach CAD as part of this ‘Research Bazaar’ initiative. For me it was an opportunity to teach engineering students and researchers relevant technical skills, while earning some money to finish my PhD (and cover my mortgage!). Back then we started with only six people: Me, Dejan, Steve, Damien, Katie and Grischa. Nearly three years later, I honestly did not expect to see ResBaz where it is now.

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What did ResBaz achieve in under 3 years? Look above…

The journey I’ve shared with ResBaz has been incredibly exciting and highly rewarding. I no longer see CAD as a tool for just designing and 3D printing ‘stuff’, but as a tool to create, manipulate and enrich 3D data. For me, CAD is a tool that is part of the great chain that is data science, and has the potential to be used far more effectively when combined with a dedicated research community, and other data science tools. As ResBaz grew in size (about 30 staff today), I had the opportunity to develop new professional skills by mentoring, leading and managing a team of brilliant individuals (Aliza, Louise and Vincent) under the #Cadventure stream. Today this team, now under the leadership of Dr. Louise Van Der Werff provides community, expertise and training around tools that create, manipulate and enrich 3D data.

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#Cadventure: An amazing team to lead!

ResBaz also provided me with the opportunity to work with a phenomenal group of people. People that were friendly, hard working, frighteningly talented and incredibly passionate about data science tools and their fields of research. A group of people that I count among my good friends today. As I head off overseas to do a postdoc, I realised that very few us in our careers will get the opportunity to work for an organisation where you get to build something from scratch. Something that you’re passionate about, and something that will change the way things are done for the better. To have the opportunity to build #Cadventure at ResBaz was a privilege, and something I will never forget. I would like to thank David, Steven, Nicole and all of the Research Platforms staff (current and former) for making ResBaz the amazing organisation it is today.

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#ResBaz: A phenomenal group of people!

For those interested in seeing my ResBaz story in the blogosphere, you can catch my work here: http://melbourne.resbaz.edu.au/tagged/paul 

If you would like to stay in touch, you can reach me on twitter or my new blog, where I will continue my outreach efforts: https://paulmignone.wordpress.com

As I set towards Ithaca once again, I thank the entire ResBaz community for an amazing adventure :-)

This is Dr. Paul John Michael Mignone, signing off…

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From ResBaz to ResBaz: A Glorious Year for 3D Data!

By Paul Mignone

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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:

  • 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 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.
  • 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.
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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.
  • 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!

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We are part of something bigger…

Autodesk Inventor at ResBaz 2016!

By Aliza Wajih

Oh, what a fantastic experience ResBaz always is, full of fun & surprises! 

Last year it was one of my goals to attract as many female participants to attend Inventor CAD class as I could. Through the year I managed to find a few communities like WISE (Women in Science and Engineering) Unimelb and RoboGals and was able to reach it with a 75% majority female class at ResBaz. I was also able to find two brilliant female helpers!

At Resbaz, we had a wonderful group of people from diverse academic backgrounds. We had two artists, Emilie and Tiziana, who plan on using 3D modelling and printing technologies for sculpting. We also had engineers, architects and PhD students. One of our participant, Lisa Giusti, plans on using Inventor to design safety vests for jockeys as an intrinsic case study in the role of design in radical product innovation! Inventor is just the kind of tool she would need!

We were a class of about twenty-four people with five helpers. Having this participant-to-helper ratio allowed us to maintain a collaborative space where we could get everyone talking. There were many questions, no hesitations, and a lot of collaboration and mingling. From my point of view, that is exactly what makes a successful workshop!

The Inventor course covered everything from basic sketching skills to complicated sketch designs and assemblies. This time however, we also focused quite heavily on free form modeling - as this feature in Inventor gives designers more ergonomic design capabilities.

Featured below is our most innovative member, Eve, participating in our Makerspace meditative colouring event!

All in all, ResBaz was another successful event but I could not have done this without my fantastic helpers! Pictured below are Bobby and Vincent , the Inventor training experts from last year, and five brand new additions to our Inventor family: Alison, Melissa, Bentley, Basit and Aston! We had been running intensive training workshops in preparation for ResBaz led by Bobby and I. From the excellent feedback we have received it is evident that everyone’s hard work has paid off.

Lastly, I would like to thank all the participants and helpers for the wonderful experience. I hope Inventor is going to be helpful for you and that you enjoyed this as much as I did!

The Inventor course can be found here.

More workshops will be run for Inventor throughout the year so keep an eyen on the calendar if you have missed out on ResBaz!

What to Expect from Inventor?

by Aliza Wajih

Hey Everyone!

It’s ResBaz time again! If you have chosen the Inventor stream for your ResBaz conference or if you just would like insight into inventor this should be a good read.

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So, What is inventor?

Inventor is a 3D CAD software offering professional-grade tools for 3D mechanical design, documentation and product simulation. If you are doing research on a product that you would like to design and possibly have manufactured, Inventor is the tool you would use to design it!

Its application is largely in engineering. This software helps you easily handle large assemblies and automates advanced geometry creation for intelligent components. You can design using sheet metal, plastic parts, steel frames and rotating machinery as well as tube and pipe runs!

However animation tools and free-form modelling make it a great software for art and free-hand design too!

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Freeform Modelling View

Who is this class for and what do you expect to learn?

This class is for beginners! Don’t worry if you’ve never used 3D modelling software. We will go through it at a pace that will keep everyone on board! If you’re a fast learner there will always be more exercises to keep you busy.

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In our class we’ll be going through basic design element. We will look at how to take a 2-dimentional drawing & make it a 3D model! We will also look at how to work with multiple parts and make more complex geometries further on in the course. We will conclude the session by learning how to do some free-form modelling, as well as 3D printing our final products!

It is going to be a guided session with plenty of helpers and plenty of fun - hope to see you all there! 

Let’s bring our inventions to life with Autodesk Inventor!

Here is a rough timetable we will follow! See you all there :)

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My ResBaz CADdventure

Guest post by engineering student Mr.Tony Zahtila. Tony is now employed by Veolia thanks to his ResBaz experience.

Hi! I’m Tony and I was a part of the ResBaz CAD teaching team for 2015.

The CAD skills I learnt as a part of the program have since been helpful in creating virtual constructions of the work I do. The best part of using CAD in my work, it’s how cheap my mistakes have become. Sketching up my work and creating a 3D model allows me to visualise what I’m trying to build in the workshop. If I’ve miscalculated a length, or overlooked a geometry, I just change the design specs and I’m ready to build. A nice short-cut to the laborious task of finding what I’ve ordered doesn’t actually assemble. 

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The software is far-reaching and I can see applications for CAD skills in many fields. If engineers are to become digital blacksmiths, doctors can become digital plumbers. Organs can go flying around on the monitors of health professionals, all towards a better understanding of our bodies, or a doctor’s slightly-alarming idea of fun.. 3D models of the human body would allow for an alternative to the difficult to obtain cadavers with exploded views of our bodies, as well as clarity, versatility, and interaction that’s just not possible with the traditional textbook.

There’s many variations of CAD software and the form it finds itself in use with engineers is not necessarily what the software will look like to other professionals. Pulling and stretching apart, dividing into blocks, sculpting towards roundness, and smoothing coarse materials to see their altered appearance, all of these things can be achieved with CAD software as the focal point.

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I believe that the way of the future is interaction between until-now disjointed fields. The distinct lines between medicine, engineering, law, commerce, art, carpentry, and so on, they’ll blur. Communication between the fields will continue to grow as an integral skill. It’s not compulsory that you have an interest in becoming a CAD expert to gain from the course. Knowing the fundamentals will put you in good stead to clearly communicate with a CAD professional who can advance your work. An artist could have a realistic expectation and understanding as to the how their aesthetic piece could be re-worked into a digital symphony of polygons. The possibilities for experimentation are there and very accessible.

The ResBaz team are very friendly and it’s as much a sharpening of CAD skills for students as it is a festival of ideas between people who see the world with different lenses. I was challenged when I heard a visual artist, who had been taking the course and exchanging ideas as part of the group, ask whether it would be possible to ‘pull out’ a corner of a model. To visualise what was being described, imagine pinching some Playdoh and tugging on it to see how it stretches. I’d never thought of this in my exact and neat world of CAD use, I’d hitherto seen CAD as more of a program for making machine recipes.

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ResBaz is a fun and engaging environment. People are very friendly and I was able to get along with all the smiling faces and people who were excited to share their own work and to learn from others. I’d highly recommend the CAD course to both people who want to develop their skills into a powerful technique to add to their repertoire, as well as, people who want to understand the basics so they are aware and able to work in a team with CAD professionals.

ResBaz CAD Course Notes Now Available!

by Paul Mignone

Were you unable to make our highly successful ResBaz CAD course last month? Not a problem. Here at ResBaz we believe that, ‘a rising tide lifts all boats’. We believe in empowering our research communities, and to help our members better design and fabricate their ideas for the good of all. That is why we are releasing our highly successful ResBaz CAD course notes to all that are interested.

The Autodesk Inventor course notes have been released under the Creative Commons Attribution License. Under this license, users must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. In return, users will have complete flexibility to modify our course notes to their requirements.

Click here to access the course notes!

We’ve been amazed at the rate our CAD and 3D Printing communities have grown and are looking forward to taking these communities to the next level. If you are interested in learning more about our 3D Printing course notes, you can access them here!

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