”My research focuses on open and applied sustainability, which is the application of science and innovation to ensure a better quality of life for all, now and into the future, in a just and equitable manner, whilst living within the limits of supporting ecosystems.
Specifically I am interested in exploring the way solar energy can be used to provide clean sustainable electricity through photovoltaic devices and how the sharing of open source hardware and software can create sustainable and equitable means of production (e.g. create open source appropriate technology and other free and open source hardware).“
Michigan Tech's Open Minds
Joshua M. Pearce
Shane W. Oberloier
”My research centers around two main topics — Low Cost Metal 3D Printing, and Open Source Electronics. Making metal 3D printing low cost is essential to our objectives of democratizing all technology. I have a love for electronics design, and aim to design things that have a meaningful impact on society.
I also have a passion for education — and specifically public education. I'm working to build a public-access maker space in my community. Our objective is to educate & enable makers at a reasonable cost (most of the time, free!).“
Apoorv Kulkarni
”I am a PhD student researching in the field of additive manufacturing. My project is to integrate fused filament fabrication 3D printing with polymer derived ceramics to make ceramic additive manufacturing widely accessible at low cost. As additive manufacturing is being considered an essential part of the fourth industrial revolution, it is exciting to work closely with the rapidly growing field.
Part of the research also consists of working with Open Source Hardware technology. With the development of more open source hardware, advanced technology can be made widely accessible to a large population who otherwise do not have access to it.“
Aliaksei L. Petsiuk
”I am focusing on monitoring and closed-loop control in additive manufacturing processes and working on minimization of the impact of local defects in 3D printing, which potentially could lead us to zero-failure plastic and metal additive manufacturing technology.
Open source significantly empowers individual efforts and drives technological frontiers further ahead. It is the thing that works while you sleep and positively leverages your endeavors.“
Adam M. Pringle
”The focus of my research is on exploring the usage of metal and polymer additive manufacturing to solve problems. It is critical to understand the variables inherent to the printing process and how they can be controlled, or modified to create ideal prints.
Right now my interest is in printing aluminum alloys and augmenting the process with polymer components to improve material properties, resolution, and printing speed while overcoming the inherent challenges. I want to demonstrate the growing applicability of additive manufacturing in a rapidly changing world.“