{"id":30880,"date":"2018-03-16T15:59:45","date_gmt":"2018-03-16T15:59:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.padtinc.com\/2018\/03\/16\/padt-intern-wins-nasa-and-asme-3d-printing-competition\/"},"modified":"2022-09-09T16:59:46","modified_gmt":"2022-09-09T23:59:46","slug":"padt-intern-wins-nasa-and-asme-3d-printing-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.padtinc.com\/2018\/03\/16\/padt-intern-wins-nasa-and-asme-3d-printing-competition\/","title":{"rendered":"PADT Intern Wins NASA and ASME 3D Printing Competition"},"content":{"rendered":"

We are very proud of our Additive Manufacturing intern Austin Suder who just won Future Engineers<\/a> \u201cTwo for the Crew\u201d Challenge<\/a>, presented by the ASME Foundation and NASA.\u00a0\u00a0The challenge asked to invent a multifunctional object that combined two items into one for 3-D printing by crew members aboard the International Space Station (ISS). As a winner he will receive a trip to Washington DC, a MakerBot 3D printer donated to the orginization of his choice, and best of all, his design will be printed on the ISS<\/strong> and used by the astronauts.<\/p>\n

Austin’s design was a\u00a0Carabiner Tool Clip<\/a> that combined a way to easily secure a tool and hold the sockets and drivers that the tool needs.\u00a0 After designing the part he then used simulation to iterate on the design with virtual testing, and then he 3D Printed a prototype on his home 3D Printer. \"\" <\/picture>Austin started this project by researching what problems the astronauts faced. He found that a big problem was that tools would drift off in the micro-gravity environment of the station.\u00a0 This was annoying when they are working inside the station, and a critical problem when they are on a space walk.\u00a0 He also realized that they used a separate “holder” to keep the sockets and screw driver heads that the tool needed. Using this knowledge he developed a simple to operate carabiner to secure the tether on the hand tool to the astronaut and then use that same part to hole the sockets and drivers.<\/p>\n

But he did not stop there. He also learned what he could about the MadeInSpace<\/a> 3D Printer\u00a0 that is on the station, and adapted the design to make sure the printer could make easily. Austin then used simulation to make sure the design was strong and robust. Then he printed his samples on his own home printer.<\/p>\n

Local Phoenix station ABC15 stopped by PADT yesterday to interview Austin and here is their story:<\/p>\n