The College of Fine Arts obtained TCU’s first 3D printer in 2012. TCU now has nine printers: five in the New Media Lab, one in the Idea Factory and three in the Fab Lab.

The printers in the Idea Factory and the Fab Lab are open to anyone on campus. “Our goal is to help realize ideas and give students, faculty and staff an opportunity to see, design, hold and even test their ideas in real space,” said Cedric James, assistant director of the Idea Factory.

Brenton Cooper, associate professor of psychology, worked with students to design tiny headphones for songbirds studied in his auditory memory research, using the 3D printer in the Idea Factory. Cooper wants to create a new headphone model with Bluetooth technology, enabling the birds to move more freely while researchers conduct their studies. The professor hopes to finish the new model by the end of the spring semester.

A 3D printer isn’t much to look at, but it can give form almost anything. (Photo by Gary Logan.)