Long road trips can spark periods of reflection. Ferris State University Golf coach Sam Stark used a return trip from Ohio to consider how to dress up the course for the men’s programs’ B&R Investments Bulldog Fall Classic.
“It was a random situation. We had competed in a tournament in Findlay, Ohio,” Stark said. “There were tee markers the University of Findlay program had turned out, with the aid of 3-D printers on their campus. As an alumnus of Ferris’ Education program, I was not real familiar with our College of Engineering Technology.”
That familiarity changed.
“Some questions got me lined up with Ferris’ MakerSpace, and assistance from Product Design Engineering Technology assistant professor and program coordinator Luke Hedman,” Stark said.
The tee markers were created and placed as the Bulldog men’s golf squad topped a 16-team field with a four-under-par third ro
For Class of 1996 alumnus Matt Howlett, Ferris State University has always felt like family, like a home away from home. Now in a position to give back, Howlett couldn’t pass up an opportunity to donate a six-figure high-caliber 3D printer to the College of Engineering Technology, which paves the way for future Ferris alums to graduate a step ahead of the competition from other colleges and universities.
Valued at nearly $130,000, 3DXTech’s Gearbox HT2 Printer System brings the faculty, staff and students of the College of Engineering Technology within arm’s reach of cutting-edge technology that will provide the training graduates need after college.
“We created this 3D printer to answer the question of how to enable the printing of higher-performance materials. Ferris has always been great for my family. I have my son who went here, and he has a family now,” said Howlett, president of 3DXTech, a leading supplier of carbon fiber reinforced 3D printin