Basic Safety Orientation
This is a required class for all students, members and non-members to take before you are allowed to operate any equipment.
Equipment access: 3D printer
Length of time: 2 hours
Once you take and successfully pass this class, you can use some equipment and be prepared to take additional equipment classes at our facility.
Audio Recording
From Hip Hop to Rock and Roll...come make your own music! Learn how to record a song from a musical jingle in your head to completion of a recording. Our state-of-the-art studio provides the capability of doing live and/or Midi recording sessions. Call for more information on the use of the recording studio and/or classes that are available to take to learn more about audio recording.
3D Printer
Thanks to 3D printing, you can quickly and easily create a physical object from a computer model, literally printing the part as you go. This is an easy way to prototype your parts before machining or injection molding. In this class, you will learn how to import, prepare, and print your three-dimensional parts using the uPrint SE 3D printer. By the end of session, you will have all the information and knowledge necessary to use this machine for all your 3D printing needs.
The class will print a small part, but due to the short length of class, not everybody will have a part to take home.
Project: class project, not individual projects
Prerequisite(s): Basic Safety Orientation
Equipment access: 3D printer
Minimum age: 12
Length of time: 2 hours
Laser Cutting and Etching
Learn how to use a laser cutter to cut, etch, and engrave designs in a variety of materials up to 24" x 18" and up to 9" thick in this Safety and Basic Use (SBU) class. Work with acrylic, wood, paper, cardboard, fabric and leather. Using graphics software like Adobe Illustrator cut intricate designs and engrave highly detailed images at the touch of a button. The sky is the limit with this simple and versatile tool.
Supervision requirements: During class, all 12- to 15-year-old students must be accompanied by a parent or guardian who is also enrolled in the class.
Autodesk AutoCAD – Mini Basics
In this course, you will learn how to draw precise, vector-based CAD drawings that can be interpreted and used by CAM (computer aided machining) programs. The vector drawing skills taught in this class are the basis for creating designs to be used with our equipment. The 2D drawing skills taught in this course also translate to designing, drawing and manipulating 3D parts in other Autodesk software such as Autodesk Inventor and Revit. In this class, you will learn:
• How to set up your workspace for efficiency
• How to draw with arcs, polylines, splines and more
• How to use text and reference images in your designs
• How layers work
• The theory behind drawing clean vectors
• Optimization tips and tricks
Length of class: 3 hours
Adobe Illustrator Part 1
Adobe Illustrator is an extremely powerful 2D vector graphics drawing program. Almost any product or invention that you imagine can begin in Illustrator. In this class, you will learn the basics of the interface and navigation, effective drawing techniques, how to convert bitmaps to vectors in one step, creating clean and optimized vectors, and the most efficient techniques to prepare your files for CNC operations.
Length of class: 3 hours
Adobe Illustrator Part 2
Learn additional features and functions of this powerful illustrative tool.
Length of class: 3 hours
CS6 Suite – Part 1
You will go beyond Illustrator in this class, you will learn basic photo corrections, working with selections, layering basics, correcting and enhancing digital photographs, masks and channels, typographic design, and vector drawing techniques. Software includes: InDesign, Flash, Photoshop, Dreamweaver and After Effects.
Length of time: 3 hours
CS6 Suite – Part 2
This class is a continuation of part 1 for digital enhancement techniques.
Length of time: 3 hours
Building an Arduino Part 1
The Arduino is a microcontroller; a small computer that has a single function. Microcontrollers run everyday items like toaster ovens, electronic toys and MP3 players. An Arduino can be programmed to monitor sensors and watch for inputs like temperature, pressure, light, voltage or a button or switch. It can also be programmed to control switches, relays, motors and other outputs. There are many add on boards, called shields, that add features like WiFi, GPS and card readers.
Electronic "smarts" can be added to projects to make them interactive. For example, a pet door could be modified to lock if it's dark outside and the temperature is below 45 degrees.
This class is the first step in using the Arduino: soldering the parts onto the circuit board. Come to class with some basic soldering experience and get help and guidance while assembling the board.
Length of time: 2 hours
Building an Arduino Part 2
This class is an introduction to the use of microprocessors and uses the Arduino. This is Part 2 of the Arduino Electronics Series. Part 1 is building your first Arduino board although you can skip that class and just buy one if you like.
Please bring the Barebones Arduino board you built in the Arduino Part 1 class, the BUB board. If you want to bring your own laptop it must be loaded with the Arduino software and drivers pre-installed. The soft-ware may be downloaded from Arduino Software.
In this class, you will learn how to use an Arduino in simple projects. We will cover programming and the simple electronics need to connect an Arduino to switches, dials, brightness, temperature and other sensors; and to lights, motors and other output devices. The three hours will switch between instruction, hands-on and some free time.
The material fee includes a breadboard, switch, sensors, motor, LEDs and various electronic components.
Prerequisites: Arduino 1 class
Length of time: 2 hours
Building an Arduino Part 3–Programming
Do you want to bring interactivity and intelligence to your projects? Programming basics for Arduino builds on the lessons learned in Arduino 1 and 2 with an in-depth look at how to write your own Arduino programs.
In this class, we will cover the structure of an Arduino program, functions, variables, arrays, control structures, using Libraries and Arduino-specific functions.
If you have no programming experience, you will appreciate learning basic concepts and structures for programming for the Arduino. If you do have programming experience you will appreciate learning the ins and outs of adapting their coding for use with the Arduino.
Prerequisites: Arduino 2 class
Length of time: 3 hours
Introduction to AutoCAD
In this in-depth course, you will gain an understanding and use of the interface. You will learn how to create Lines, Arcs, Circles, and Polylines as well as tackle the basic drawing tools to help create accurate geometry. You will learn about objects and layering; how to control layers and change properties on the objects in drawings. You'll learn about scale, how to set up and prepare to plot your drawings. Students are responsible for purchasing books ($100 each).
AutoCAD II
Designed to build on the skills acquired in the AutoCAD Level I class, this course introduces the student to both basic and advanced dimensioning and hatching techniques with AutoCAD. The AutoCAD topics covered in this Level II course include using the geometry calculator and selection filters; drawing and editing polylines, multilines, and splines; inserting fields and tables, dimensioning techniques; hatching, inserting blocks, assigning block attributes, using externally referenced drawings, and creating sheet sets. Students are responsible for purchasing books ($100 each).