Educate 3D Contest: Materialise Extends New Challenge to Southeast Asian Teachers & Students

Great questions deserve great answers–and we can’t wait to see how this plays out in the latest challenge, ‘Educate 3D,’ by Materialise’s Ideas Worth Making.

Unfortunately, in this journey through life, it’s all too common that we encounter many individuals–and business teams too–who have plenty of ideas, but often they are not capable of realizing them, are held back by fear, or just can’t figure out how to put concepts into action and move forward. With a new generation of technology–and inventors–propelling along new processes in 3D printing, robotics, virtual and augmented reality, and more, there can be such a wide range of choices in equipment and materials to choose from that sometimes it’s difficult to get to the starting point even if you are motivated and organized.

Belgium’s Materialise is well-known for helping to take 3D printing endeavors from A to Z all over the world; whether in working with medical professionals to help save lives with 3D printed models and devices, or with their Ideas Worth Making platform that is completely focused on seeing that concepts and reality do meet for both students and often teachers too. And as the IWM team points out on their site, it’s all about “making stuff that matters.” That can be easy to say, but hard to do. This is where IWM comes in with motivational 3D printing challenges that involve the chance to win cool rewards, but no matter what–offers a great learning experience for all involved.

We’ve just received word that IWM is gearing up with a new challenge for students and teachers. Similar to the challenge in Belgium that we reported on earlier in the year, the Education 3D Challenge is taking on an entirely new area of the world this time. Taking this new highly beneficial contest to primary and high school students and teachers in Southeast Asia, IWM will ask those who enter to share their ideas about what they would do to make education more engaging if they had a 3D printer.

Students enter their ideas to win prizes such as:

• A V-811 3D printer from Vagler
• Quickview scanner from Vagler
• SketchUp Lab licenses
• $2000 SGD of vouchers on i.materialise
• Training series for teachers

The great thing about this challenge is that you don’t need to know a thing about 3D printing initially–IWM will educate you with an easy-to-order book, The Free Beginner’s Guide, which you can order, read, and then use to dream up your ideas about how you would completely transform the classroom with 3D printing with a specific tool or project. It’s crucial that ideas are clearly defined, and that they are actually valid for 3D printing. Winning entries will also, of course, be 3D printed.

The lasting benefit the IWM team hopes to see from this challenge in Southeast Asia is that those involved in schools are able to be inspired in an exchange of ideas that truly benefit learning–in 3D. All who enter should have a great chance to learn, share, connect, and be even more inspired. It’s important to note that even if you don’t live in Southeast Asia, you are still invited to share ideas on at Ideas Worth Making, as well as gleaning inspiration from the contestant’s entries.

The last date to enter submissions is June 28^th, an extension from the original deadlines of the 14^th, with winners being announced on July 1^st. Is this a contest you have a great idea for? Share with us in the Educate 3D forum thread over at 3DPB.com.