By Jason Emerson
editor
A 3D scanner worth more than $80,000 has been offered as a donation to the Cazenovia school district — and the board of education has eagerly accepted the gift.
The Faro Coordinate Measurement Machine is a 3D scanner than measures the physical geometrical characteristics of an object and is manually controlled. The CMM allows users to scan an object, bring it into 3D modelling and modify it or 3D print it, according to Chris Hurd, technology department chair.
The scanner is small, portable, foldable for storage, can be used in any district classroom and is accurate to a 10,000th of an inch. These machines are used in industry to reverse engineer parts, produce highly accurate 3D models and for inspection of manufactured items. It is widely used in aerospace, automotive, metal fabrication and molding/tool and die industries, he said.
“This allows you to take something that’s already been done and make it better, which is what the design process all about — improving stuff,” Hurd said. “The kids will now be able to use this high-tech, state-of-the-art equipment and, when they go to college, they’ll be able to say, ‘Yeah, I know how to use that,’ and their professors will say, ‘What?’”
Local engineer Fred Marconi offered the machine to the district because he had no use for it in his product development company MCM Design, Inc., Hurd said. Marconi is a parent of a present and former Cazenovia student and a former Industrial Arts teacher.
The value of the machine and software is about $84,000, Hurd said. It will cost $5,000 to replace a broken part and certify the machine’s accuracy, but Marconi will pay $3,000 of that, leaving the district to fund the remaining $2,000. Marconi also has offered to come into the classroom and train district teachers and students to use the machine.
“This is an incredibly generous gift,” said BOE member Lisa Lounsbury.
“It’s like a diamond ring for the technology program,” said BOE President Jan Woodworth. “We offer an immense thank you to the donor.”
