{"id":65251,"date":"2025-07-08T16:00:20","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T14:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/?p=65251"},"modified":"2025-07-08T17:11:35","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T15:11:35","slug":"students-bring-mathematical-models-to-life-using-3d-printing-080720255","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/students-bring-mathematical-models-to-life-using-3d-printing-080720255\/","title":{"rendered":"Students Bring Mathematical Models to Life Using 3D Printing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Students at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have created new 3D models of mathematical surfaces and theorems. In a project spearheaded by the Illinois Mathematics Lab and the Champaign-Urbana Community Fab Lab, undergraduates at the university were able to recreate a selection of the university’s historic models with some dating to the 1800s, using FDM printing<\/a>. The models are part of a 400-piece collection owned by the university\u2019s mathematics department.<\/p>\n

The collection itself includes visualizations of complex theorems constructed from plaster, wood, cardboard and metal. Many of the pieces were designed by an Illinois facility and previously used for classroom instruction and demonstration. The original pieces were imported from Germany and are part of one of the world’s largest collections of mathematical models. Mathematics librarian Sarah Park noted, \u201cThese are a department treasure. They offer unmatched educational value to students and researchers alike.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Student

Student-created version of Dandelin spheres [left] with original wooden model [right].<\/p><\/div>\n

Due to recent renovations at the university\u2019s mathematical department, Altgeld Hall, the original models were taken out of storage. This relocation offered students a unique opportunity to document, study and digitize the historic models. Students were then able to select models and utilize software tools such as Mathematica and slicing programs to render them in 3D. The new models were then printed at the CU Community Fab Lab using plastic filament and optimized printing settings. Some of the re-created models include a conic section-proof Dandelin sphere, a Kummer surface, and other ruled surfaces using taut threads. Students were tasked with creating descriptions to accompany each newly printed model which allowed them to study the original equations from sources written in German.<\/p>

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The new mathematical 3D printed models<\/a> will be used in educational outreach to the local Urbana-Champaign community including in some middle and high schools. The new models offer more durability than their fragile predecessors and offer a hands-on learning experience for students studying math. With these new models, they offer an opportunity that digital tools or simulations can not often replicate. The original models still remain in the university archives and continue to be preserved by the University Library\u2019s Preservation Services. A digital archive is currently in the works and will include high-resolution photographs, explanations, and downloadable 3D model files<\/a> for educators and researchers to utilize free of charge. Through this project, students have been able to preserve mathematics history while also helping ensure these models remain accessible to all.<\/p>\n

\"Student

Student created 3D print of a Kummer surface.<\/p><\/div>\n

To learn more and access the digitized collection of math models, click HERE<\/a>. How do you see 3D printing reshaping education, preservation, and even math itself? Let us know in a comment below or on our LinkedIn<\/span><\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0<\/span>Facebook<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>pages! Plus, don\u2019t forget to sign up for our free weekly\u00a0<\/span>Newsletter<\/span><\/a>\u00a0to get the latest 3D printing news straight to your inbox. You can also find all our videos on our\u00a0<\/span>YouTube<\/span><\/a>\u00a0channel.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

*All Photo Credits: University of Illinois, Fred Zwicky\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Students at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have created new 3D models of mathematical surfaces and theorems. In a project spearheaded by the Illinois Mathematics Lab and the Champaign-Urbana Community Fab Lab, undergraduates at the university were able to recreate…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6118,"featured_media":65254,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-65251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6118"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65251"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65251\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65284,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65251\/revisions\/65284"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}