Engineer Track
Advanced materials, parametric CAD, engineering analysis, failure diagnosis, and production workflows. Train to think like a product developer running a print farm.
Advanced Materials
FreeMove beyond PLA into the engineering polymers that define functional, load-bearing, and environment-resistant parts. This module covers ASA, Nylon (PA), and polycarbonate (PC) for structural work, plus carbon-fiber composites and TPU for stiffness-to-weight and flexibility. You will learn the physics of each polymer, how to dial in process windows, and how to select materials the way a practicing mechanical engineer does.
Specify the correct engineering polymer for three real briefs: an outdoor UV-exposed enclosure, a snap-fit living hinge that cycles thousands of times, and a lightweight drone arm that must resist vibration. Justify each choice against mechanical, thermal, and environmental requirements, then define a process window (nozzle, bed, chamber, drying) for each.
Onshape Fundamentals
Pro lockedBuild real parametric CAD fluency in Onshape. You will master the sketch-constraint-feature workflow that underpins every professional model: fully defining sketches with geometric constraints, turning 2D profiles into solids with extrude and revolve, and refining parts with fillet, chamfer, and shell. The goal is not to draw shapes but to encode design intent that survives change.
Model a small two-part snap-fit enclosure entirely from fully-defined sketches. Drive the wall thickness, fillet radius, and overall dimensions from a variable table so the whole part rebuilds cleanly when a single number changes.
Advanced Slicing & Print Optimization
Pro lockedMove beyond default slicer settings to engineer print strategies for speed, strength, surface quality, and cost. Master adaptive layer heights, variable infill, sequential printing, and modifier meshes to solve real production constraints.
Take a functional part with mixed requirements (fast draft base, detailed cosmetic top, strong load-bearing ribs) and slice it with different strategies per region using modifier meshes, adaptive layers, and variable infill.
Engineering Analysis
Pro lockedTreat printed parts as engineered structures, not crafts. This module gives you the mechanics of materials needed to predict how FDM parts deform, where they break, and how long they last under repeated load. You will learn why print orientation sets strength, how to read a stress-strain curve, how fatigue silently destroys parts that pass a single static test, and how to choose a defensible safety factor for a layered, anisotropic material.
Take a load-bearing bracket and produce a short engineering justification: identify the worst-case load path, choose a print orientation that puts layer adhesion in compression rather than tension, estimate the working stress, apply a defensible safety factor for fatigue, and state the expected failure mode.
Failure Analysis
Pro lockedMove beyond surface-level troubleshooting and diagnose the failures that separate hobbyists from professionals. This module dissects mechanical artifacts — ringing, ghosting, and layer shift — alongside thermal and material failures like moisture contamination, heat creep, and interlayer delamination. You will learn to read a failed print like a forensic report, trace each symptom to its root cause, and apply systematic, evidence-based corrections rather than guesses.
Using the Failure Lab, work through a set of seeded defects spanning both mechanical and thermal categories. For each, document the symptom, the physical mechanism, the root cause, and the corrective action, then assemble them into a one-page diagnostic playbook a teammate could follow.
Print Farm Operations
Pro lockedMove from running a single printer to operating a production line. This module covers the operational discipline behind a profitable print farm: queue management and throughput modelling, preventive maintenance and uptime, filament inventory tracking, and the quality-control gates that keep scrap and reprints under control. You will think like an operations manager who is accountable for cost-per-part, on-time delivery, and machine availability.
Configure a multi-machine print cell in the Print Farm simulator: build a maintenance schedule that holds fleet uptime above target, sequence a mixed queue of jobs to hit a delivery deadline, and define the QC gates and inventory rules that keep first-pass yield above 90%. Document your decisions as a one-page standard operating procedure.
Try it yourself
Hands-on interactive labs that pair with the Engineer Track.