The insertion of low-cost additive manufacturing into engineering teaching: a case in central Mexico

Recently, multiple industrial sectors have developed a great interest in additive manufacturing (AM); as such, a need has been identified for familiarisation and training in this area. Hence, efforts to democratise knowledge in this area have been led by multiple educational institutions around the world. On the basis of the evidence on the advantages of AM in education, this paper puts forward a proposal for its use in fostering a proactive, cooperative learning environment with a constructivist vision based on problems and projects. It provides a description of the experiment that began in November 2015 involving engineering students and faculty in the training and use of AM equipment, in particular a 3D printer. In addition, it shows some of the faced problems and solutions implemented during the use of this equipment. Also, several projects are described involving implementation of AM alongside other techniques, such as computer aided design and finite element analysis, on different projects that were both academic and interdisciplinary applied research. Lastly, the paper details the impressions of the students involved in AM and there is a discussion of the positive effects of their participation on their competencies.