Our Crowdfunding Groups
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Our Mission
As the primary 3D printing student organization on campus, 3D4E at UCLA strives to introduce students, faculty and the entire campus community to 3D printing technology in such a way to positively benefit our school, community, and beyond. Its student leaders aim to provide the knowledge, skills, and resources for the club’s members to develop as innovators in the field of additive manufacturing and original mechanical design. Despite its engineering undertones, 3D4E boasts an incredibly diverse student body from various non-engineering backgrounds and majors, providing the unique opportunities to elicit fresh ideas beyond the confines of scientific and mathematical spheres.
Our growth over the past couple of years has been very high. Originally founded as Avengineering in 2011, the club switched its name to 3D4E in 2015. Since then, 3D4E has implemented a computer-aided design and 3D printing workshop series and has increased the number and complexity of its projects.
Our Projects
Our two flagship projects are the quadcopter and musical instruments projects. New this year, the quadcopter project spans across the 3D4E chapters at other colleges along the west coast. During the annual spring showcase held during UCLA’s spring quarter, each chapter will participate 3D4E’s drone competition, where several quadcopters are judged on their flight abilities in an obstacle course. With this competition, we strive to establish an annual event for future 3D4E leaders to look forward to and plan for while providing another attractive project branch to our organization.
The musical instruments project started last year and continues on this quarter with the intention of distributing 3D printed instruments to a nearby Maryvale orphanage. There, we hope to not only provide each child with a 3D printed ukulele but also expose them to the versatility and excitement of new technology. As of today, the ukulele has been completed designed and successfully manufactured using 3D4E’s current resources. Additionally, several other simple instruments--such as shakers and pan flutes--have been designed and printed, while others like the recorder are still in development. Depending on the funding we receive, we seek to broaden the repertoire of instruments we mass produce and donate to Maryvale. Ultimately, our musical instruments project poses to be a tremendous opportunity for us to illustrate that science and art can coexist and thrive together, inspire the youth, and ignite their creativity.
Our Needs
All of the work we have accomplished so far has been made possible by our generous sponsors and partners. In spite of our club’s diversity, 3D4E at UCLA is a design and manufacturing club at heart, hence requiring more financial resources to purchase 3D printers, plastic filament (our printers’ “ink”), and hardware. Hardware, especially, accumulates very quickly considering the number of children at Maryvale and the high costs of complicated electronics for our quadcopter. Furthermore, due to their large footprints, 3D printed quadcopters and ukuleles use a large amount of filament, around 1.5 rolls for each. Printing quadcopter prototypes without stalling our other seven projects and, more importantly, mass-producing ukuleles will require the need for more 3D printers with large build volumes. In this section, you can find an estimation of our budget.
3D4E at UCLA is a fairly young club. Oriented towards design and manufacturing, we are often limited by our funding and inability to purchase necessary equipment. To take the club to new heights, we’ve done the best we can with what we have, from implementing a successful quarter-long design and 3D printing workshop series to increasing the number and complexity of our projects. In this way, we’ve raised our retention rate and cover a wide range of projects to address every member’s interests. With more assistance, we hope to make an impact both on campus and the community abroad.
We appreciate your time and consideration. Thank you!
$20 will get us a much needed roll of PLA filament that we will certainly need to print the designs we produce on a computer. Filament is our "ink" for our 3D printers and the fuel to our projects. In exchange, you'll receive a 3D4E keychain as a token of our gratitude if you know someone in the club or if you are on campus. (hence, a tax deductible donation of $18).
Carbon particulates in plastic filament makes everything stronger. Your donation makes our project stronger. For every $50, we can bring the music to a youth recipient at Maryvale and give them his or her 3D printed ukulele. If you're on campus or know someone in the club, you'll get a 3D printed bruin bear for your school-spirited contribution.
The step into the world of metal 3D printing opens many doors. Your gift does just the same. 3D printing gives us the ability to rapidly prototype many quadcopters--$150 gives us the ability to outfit each prototype with electronics to run cameras or other cool features for competition. Thank you! We'll ship you a 3D printed model of Powell Library for your dedication. (hence, a tax deductible donation of $140).
Steel, like your gift, was an industrial game-changer. Being over half the cost of large 3D printers, $300 will tilt us over the expensive price boundaries of 3D printers as well as finance the raw materials of many ukuleles for event at Maryvale. We'll give you a shout out on our Facebook page as well as a Powell Library and Iron Man Arc Reactor shipped to you. (hence, a tax deductible donation of $280).
This material is the coolest to work with, just like your gift. Thank you! Your gift is enough to purchase one of the printers we are planning to get, which boasts a large build platform to help us mass produce our instruments. We'll add you as a sponsor to our website and give you a shout-out on Facebook. (fully tax deductible!)
So amazingly awesome that it isn't widely 3D printed except in our dreams. Your generosity is similarly unparalleled. We'll put you as a sponsor on our website and send you an invitation to be a guest at our Spring Showcase during spring quarter. If you're a part of a company, we'll invite you to table at the event if you would like. Additionally, we'll ship you a 3D printed ukulele as well (hence, a tax deductible donation of $975).