The Rapid Prototyping Studio has a wide variety of equipment available for use. Some basic equipment, such as CAD workstations, hand tools, and worktables, are freely available on a first-come, first-served basis. More advanced equipment, such as 3D printers and other CNC equipment, requires completion of training before access will be granted. In order to make a reservation on equipment in the Rapid Prototyping Studio, you will need to meet the following prerequisites:
- You must be an enrolled MEEN student, MEEN Faculty/Staff, or a non-MEEN major who is currently taking a MEEN course, or performing Research work.
- You must be trained on the equipment you want to use (unless training is not required.) To get trained, log in with your NetID and make an appointment using the training slot on our reservation system.
- You must have enough credits in the reservation system to make a reservation. Credits are given for free in set amounts to users enrolled in certain MEEN courses, and for Personal use by all MEEN students, at the beginning of every semester. For Research use, and Personal use that goes over your current account balance, credits can be purchased in our online store. Credits are non-refundable, but do not expire, except upon graduation. Credits can also be transferred to other students upon request.
Academic use is any reservation that is for a specific assignment in a non-research MEEN course. (Research courses must use the pathway for research requests.) Academic use is also available to instructors teaching a MEEN course, as long as it is related to that course.
- To get trained, log in with your NetID and make an appointment using the training slot on our reservation system.
- All students enrolled in a MEEN course which uses the Rapid Prototyping Studio will be given a set number of credits for free prior to the start of their assignment. The number of credits will vary depending on the expected usage for that course, as agreed between RPS Staff and the course instructor. It is the instructor's responsibility to contact RPS Staff prior to releasing an assignment to request credits for their students.
- Academic reservations that exceed a student's credit balance must be approved by their instructor in writing, usually via email. Once approval is received, RPS Staff will add an agreed upon number of credits to the student's balance to allow completion of the assignment.
Academic job requests are in the process of being phased out permanently, and are currently only available for Capstone teams. Please note, technicians cannot estimate completion dates for jobs due to unpredictable events such as print failures and machine outages. To submit a Capstone-related Job Request, please use the Capstone Project Request Form.
All students who are actively taking a MEEN course are given an allowance of 15 credits for personal use during that semester. This can be used on any of the machines in the shop.
- To get trained, log in with your NetID and make an appointment using the training slot on our reservation system.
- If a personal reservation exceeds your credit balance, you have a few options:
- You can purchase additional credits from our online store. Credits are non-refundable, but do not expire, except upon graduation. Credits can also be transferred to other students upon request.
- On equipment where the reservation includes material charges, you can get a credit discount by bringing in your own material, provided it meets our quality standards for use in our machines. Please note: If you are bringing in your own material, you will need to have RPS Staff manually return the credits to your account balance, and possibly create the reservation for you.
PLEASE NOTE: Personal reservations may only use a maximum of 2 printers. If more are needed or a bulk batch is requested, you must come in to the RPS to discuss your project.
Research self-use of RPS equipment is charged by the hour. Training and self-use is encouraged for most equipment to reduce costs.
- To get trained, log in with your NetID and make an appointment using the training slot on our reservation system.
- Research users will need to have sufficient credits in their account balance to make reservations on equipment. We encourage research labs to purchase larger numbers of credits in advance of expected high usage times or semesters to streamline the process, as credits must be manually added to user accounts after purchase, which can lead to delays in the ability to make reservations. Research faculty are responsible for ensuring that their students have enough credits to reserve equipment at the RPS.
- Most research labs need to assign all purchases, including RPS credits to a specific university account. This can be done through your department's Purchasing Office in the same way as all other research purchases are made.
- Credits can be purchased from our online store. Credits are non-refundable, but do not expire, except upon graduation. Credits can also be transferred to other students upon request.
There may be some cases where you would like to have RPS Staff to fabricate parts for you, i.e. 3D printing or laser cutting parts. For this type of work, we do still allow iLabs requests. We do not use iLabs for self-use equipment such as hardness testers or microscope usage. Please note, technicians cannot estimate completion dates for jobs due to unpredictable events such as print failures and machine outages. To submit an Research request, please use the relevant submission form on our iLabs page. (If you do not have an iLabs account, you will need to create one and be accepted into a research lab by your PI before submitting a request. If your PI has not used iLabs before and requires assistance learning the system, please contact Ashlyn Montgomery at amontgomery@tamu.edu or iLabs support directly at ilab-support@agilent.com for assistance, as RPS staff cannot help with initial account setup ans training.) If this is your first time submitting a request, please read the following directions first, to ensure proper submission.
- In the “lab” drop-down, select the research lab your request is for. (This lab usually has the name of your PI in the title.)
- Fill out the submission form that appears. You will need to select "Research" for request type, upload your model or file, and indicate parameters to be used, such as material, machine settings, etc.
- Click the button that says “save completed form.”
- Select an account number to be charged. (If you have no account number assigned to you, your PI will need to grant you access to one. If you have access to multiple accounts, be sure to choose the correct one.)
- Click the button that says “submit request to core”.
- We will review your request and respond with a quote. This will usually come in the form of an email notification, with a link to your request in iLabs. If you agree to the quote provided, follow the link, and click "Agree".
- Your request will be forwarded to your PI, who will also need to agree to the quoted price. Once the PI has agreed to this cost, we will begin working on your request.
- You can follow the status of your request in real time within the iLabs database.
- Once the request is complete, an automated email will be sent to let you know that the parts are ready for pickup.