Introducing -- the Ultimaker Game Engine Starter Pack! (An experiment from North America)

[mattgriffin 28]

Why is it that so many 3D printing-powered education projects rely heavily on downloading and printing someone else's creations? For the 2017 back to school season, the Ultimaker North American Community Team has constructed a game that puts the power of design back in your hands. Presenting the Ultimaker Design Engine Starter Pack: a game created to provoke, inspire, and entertain students, educators, 3D designers, artists, and engineers of all experience levels!

In collaboration with our North American reseller partners, Ultimaker will offer a free Ultimaker Design Engine Starter Pack for every new machine ordered by a school, library, or makerspace from September 1st to December 31st, 2017 (or until Starter Pack supplies run out). While we only have enough sets for North American customers during this experiment phase,  in the near future, we are planning to share the entire set for download and remixing as well.

Not picking up a new Ultimaker this season? There are other opportunities to experience the Starter Pack at public events organized by the North American reseller partners and the Ultimaker North America Community Team at education workshops and other events we attend and host.

 

You can

read all about it here, on the Education pages!

https://ultimaker.com/en/blog/50940-introducing-the-ultimaker-design-engine-starter-pack

 

 

The Starter Pack can be used to generate scores of new projects, fueling a deeper exploration into the use of desktop 3D printers. For educators, students, and 3D designers of all backgrounds, the Starter Pack is both a handy icebreaker and a challenging activity that sparks creativity.

While this is currently an experiment for North American education customers, there are a couple of aspects that everyone can experience and enjoy. In particular, starting September 5th, we will be launching a once-a-week Challenge within the Ultimaker education blog that anyone can explore and use. We already have heard from a bunch of schools looking to use these challenges as icebreakers in their classroom, encouraging students who are strongly interested to take this in earnest.

We will share here next week for the launch of the challenge series, with details and answers to your questions, but for now, just wanted to make sure you know about this project and that even those beyond North America can make use of this!

Here are a few testimonials so far:

 

• I could see so many applications for this activity, from icebreakers, to brain breaks, to brain stretches. There are no limits. There were so many ways to play. — Shawn Grimes, Executive Director, Digital Harbor Foundation
  
• As an engineer, we are taught to look for the 'right' answer. This game is wonderful at breaking through 'right answer' thinking to reach creative and inspired outcomes that can lead to real innovation! — Kathy Rutherford, FIRST Robotics Mentor
  
• After playing the Ultimaker game and judging student presentations after they played the game, my mind was whirring with all the possibilities this game has to offer. From using it as a brain break to using it for a complete invention innovation project, the Ultimaker game gives teachers the tools to teach and reinforce STEAM on a daily basis. — Jan Abernethy, East Elementary, Greenville, PA
  
• A great way to get your students in a designer’s mindset; the cards will elevate brainstorming to an even higher level. — Andrew Woodbridge, Grover Cleveland High School, Ridgewood, NY
  
• This will be an incredibly useful tool to use with students for their independent project work and creative prompts for design challenges. Thank you, Ultimaker! — Erin Riley, Greenwich Academy, Greenwich, CT
  

 

Edited September 6, 2017 by Guest

[mattgriffin 28]

By the way, by request -- here is the "Starter Round" sequence from the blog post. Give this a try!

In the recommended “Starter Round” that introduces the game to first time users, participants receive one Challenge Card and two Parameter Cards.

 

• The Challenge Card sets the stage for all of the activity that follows. The participant studies this card to identify the problem(s) to solve.
  
• The two Parameter Cards provide additional considerations the participant must address in the design.
  

 

We have dealt the following cards to you (above), the black-and-white Challenge Card on the left, and two blue-bordered Parameter Cards on the right.

Read them, and consider what physical object(s) you might create/invent/construct that would solve this challenge: "Design a tool that can be used for drawing and sketching." And how will you address the face-up elements on the Parameter card in your design -- "Bike" and "Ancient"?

By the end of just three minutes, you must generate the following:

 

• Name of your creation.
  
• An elevator pitch (no more than one minute) that would clearly communicate your idea to a stranger.
  
• Any quick sketches you need to help you to describe your project.
  

 

Anyone game?

[STEMedTeacher 13]

I had my Computer Aided Design students do the Starter Round yesterday. I think the framework is great. Ambiguous enough to get them thinking outside the box, but constrained enough to develop some focus on the idea. The class had a ton of fun doing it, looking forward to getting my hands on the full game.

Here are some pictures and videos of my students working with it.

This was just our first run through, I am looking forward to seeing the full game.

[Nicolinux 288]

Alright, here is my entry. "Free Wheeler". Kinda like an ancient bike laying flat on the side. The small wheel has a pin which is used to keep the wheel pinned down to the paper. The Big wheel has a pencil at the center. With the two grips, one holds the contraption and draws wobbly circles.

Edited September 3, 2017 by Guest