After four wonderful years working on the 3D Printer Filament Reclamation Project, my time as an undergrad is almost over, and the time has come for me to start stepping away from the project.
This project has come a long way since I joined the team in 2018, and we have reached many of our initial goals. We have set a framework for 3D Printer Filament Reclamation on the UC Berkeley campus and provided proof of concept that this can be done by a student team.
However, the project has so many more goals that can be achieved. For example, our framework can be scaled up to include all 3D printing labs on campus, not just Jacob’s hall. We can also share our project across other campuses (to other UCs, to other Citris labs locations, to other university campuses, to high school clubs, to independent businesses). Or, we can continue to make our workflow smoother such that the filament reclamation can be taken over as a work-study position on campus. Lastly, we can expand to recycled ABS and other plastics in addition to PLA.
As I close out my time with the project, I am hopeful that we can find another student who is eager to take over this project and help to expand its impact even further.
This blog post was written by Brooke Chang.
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