Today I started my internship at Formlabs in Boston. Formlabs is a small company that designs and manufactures 3D printers that use Stereolithography (STL). STL is a form of 3D printing (unlike what we have at school) that uses a laser to cure a vat of resin and form it into the desired shape. The printers are capable of printing rubber, plastic, nylon, and many other materials at a very high level of detail.
The office feel at Formlabs is very relaxed which is very different from last week at MTD, a much larger company with more rules and a traditional business feel. Here they dress casually, bring dogs to work, and even have a ping pong table and couches in almost every office.
Today I worked on quality control for the vats that hold the resin. It was a long work day (9-6:30) but with free snacks at any time, music, and couches the need to go home was rather minimized. Tomorrow I will be able to design and print my own creations as well as helping some other guys around the office with some jobs they need help with.
What are you checking for when you are doing quality control on the vats? Also how many dogs are there 🙂
I was looking all day for scratches, dimples, smudges, and fingerprints. The vats are clear on the bottom and need to be completely spotless as thats where the laser shines through and any corruption could cause the laser to go astray and mess up your part. Also I’m not sure maybe 4 on my floor and like 10 in total, the best part is that they are all free game for petting hehe.
Ah that makes sense. It seems like an important assignment then! Oh my gosh that’s awesome, you should bring one back for the presentation.
Will they teach you how to design and print things on the 3D printer? Also do you like this setting better than last week: comfortable even though there’s longer hours?
Yes in fact they already did and yes that is how they manage to have the people work for so long but it is much better and more of a relaxed fun environment, more Montessori.