Peter will start by providing a brief overview of 3D-Printing (focusing mostly on the hobbyist perspective): Available technologies, printers, materials, communities, third-party fabricators, design techniques, etc. Then, Peter will go through the process of actually creating a design from scratch using the open-source "FreeCAD" software, showing how it can be printed, and demonstrating the results. Then he will show that you can do all this without even having a printer of your own!
As usual we will be having a "Meeting After the Meeting" for talk and drinks afterwards at the Gordon Biersch restaurant in the Bolingbrook Promenade outside mall. The link goes to the restaurant's Bolingbrook website with a clickable, expandable map.
Peter Fales has been a computer geek, (ethical) hacker, and do-it-yourself enthusiast ever since learning BASIC, assembly language, and soldering while going to high-school in the 1970s. He earned his BS in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 1982 and his Master in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University in Palo Alto, California in 1983. He recently retired from a career developing software and software tools for the telecommunication industry (AT&T, Lucent Technologies, Alcatel-Lucent, and Bell Labs). His only son left for college last year, leaving him with still more time to indulge in both technical hobbies (Arduino, Raspberry Pi, 3D-Printing, and working with open-source software) and non-technical pursuits (biking, skiing, reading, home repair projects, and volunteer work with his church and the Boy Scouts).
Bolingbrook Fountaindale Library
http://www.fountaindale.org/
Meeting Room A (1st floor)
300 West Briarcliff Road
Bolingbrook, IL 60440
Use the library's FAQ (http://www.fountaindale.org/about/faq) as a source for how to get to meeting.
For more information about UniForum Chicago contact info@uniforum.chi.il.us.