This wiki is a work in progress, please bear with us while we add articles!
¶ About Us
Located on Texas A&M's main campus in College Station, Texas, the J. Mike Walker '66 Department of Mechanical Engineering's Rapid Prototyping Studio provides Mechanical Engineering students, faculty, and staff with education, supervised self-use and part creation services on rapid prototyping equipment. Materials for use in these machines are also sold in the studio. A variety of equipment and processes are available, including several varieties of 3D printing, CO2 laser cutters, desktop CNC milling machines, waterjet cutting, vacuum forming, sandblasting, and CAD/CAM workstations.
¶ Useful Links
There are many useful links in the sidebar to provide you with information about topics related to the Rapid Prototyping Studio and our operations. Here are some of the most popular links to help you get started quickly.
- Using the Space - Information about our operations and how to make reservations.
- Pricing and Credits - Information on how our credits-based system works, and usage cost for equipment.
- Online Store - Here you can purchase materials and additional credits for your RPS account.
- Reservation Calendar - Use this link to set up training sessions, as well as reserve equipment in the Rapid Prototyping Studio.
¶ Contact Information and Hours
- E-mail - The best way to contact us for any reason is via email. We can be reached at meen3dprinting@tamu.edu. (If you have a question, please check the RPS Wiki for an answer before emailing us, you may find the answer to your question much faster on the wiki!)
- Hours - We are open from 9am-5pm during Fall and Spring semesters. (Summer hours are usually reduced and may vary.)
¶ Facilities and Locations
- JCAIN 421, 422, & 424 - The Rapid Prototyping Studio is centered around its main facility in JCAIN 421 & 422. This location houses our main CAD stations, 3D printers, CO2 laser cutters, and most of our other standard rapid prototyping equipment. The additional room in JCAIN 424 houses some our louder equipment, such as the WAZER water jet cutters and desktop CNC machines. It also houses our environmental testing chamber and hardness testing equipment.
- JCAIN 320 - This space houses much of our testing equipment, such as the fume hood, Cress double furnace, and salt spray chamber.
- JCAIN 102 - The MEEN/Physics joint machine shop is shared with the Physics department, and available working hours are split according to departmental needs. The space contains full sized manual milling machines, lathes, a band saw, and drill press, among other useful hand working tools for metals and more.
- Shared Equipment Offerings - Some of the faculty in our department generously make their research equipment available for use by individuals outside of their respective labs. The locations for these pieces of equipment vary by lab location.