Keith P. Imaging Facility

January 2017 - May 2019

Between January of 2017 and May of 2019, I managed the 3D printing lab at the Keith R. Porter Imaging Facility (KPIF) of the College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences at UMBC. KPIF provides core instrumentation for biological and materials science research, and biological imaging. My work at the printing lab involved a wide range of duties from reconstructing image stacks to making 3D models, to assisting professors and grad students with CAD for designing biological containment devices and slide holders, to writing basic Python and HTML to streamline the client-to-print process. In the lab, we used SLA 3D printers.

Please see below some of the projects I have been involved in:

This program tabulates all correctly-named Preform files (Formlabs' 3D printing slicer) and tabulates them into an excel sheet, so that the lab gets a monthly table of resin use and revenue generated.

< From a folder full of this

To an excel sheet of this >

Iterative testing to pick an optimized device size/shape for a bio-containment device

Trying new materials for consistent reliability and efficiency in different lab applications/environments

CAD'd a piece in Fusion 360 that can hold thin glass wafers (coverslips) for use in a gas cooling apparatus for use in extreme temperatures. After printing this piece, the tests proved that the commercial (metal) replacement of the part is not required, saving the lab hundreds of dollars.

3D Printed egg chamber I reconstructed from image stacks from a fluorescent microscope. Reconstructed I reconstructed it in Imaris software, but I had to do a lot of model processing in Meshmixer + Blender. Note the many internal cavities, all connected to each other with thin tubing.

I then filled it with green coloring to visualize internal structures and capped both ends with super glue. This model won an award for best ornament in a biology holiday party.

A model required by a faculty member in the math department. I converted a multi-variable equation into a surface and then 3D printed and processed it

Sometimes promo material for events were required. This model was found online, edited for branding, 3D printed, and painted.

Here are some of the things I modeled / printed out on display by the entrance of the lab. Note that models range in applications from microfluidics, to heat exchangers, to reconstructed pollen grains, to master molds of toys that were cast in acrylic and others.

GIF of a broccoli after scanned on MRI (~250 slices)

I separated each image using a Python script I wrote and then I 3D reconstructed it in Imaris + Blender

Wrote a standard operating procedure on how to turn a stack of images from a fluorescent microscope into a 3D printable model

SOP Final.pdf

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