This course was an extremely unique, one of a kind experience. The semester was full of surprises from beginning to end. Although the course load was much more than I had expected, there were many valuable lessons that I was able to take away from taking this course.
First, this course exposed me to the world of 3D printing for the very first time. I had never really heard of 3D printing until I took this course and it was an amazing experience to learn about this disruptive technology that is said to possibly cause another “Industrial Revolution” where the traditional manufacturing process will change in its entirety. It was also an incredible experience to work with a 3D printing software (SketchUp) as I cannot imagine where else I would have had an opportunity to work with such a program. When I told my friends outside of this class about my experience working with a 3D design software and showed them my printed cookie cutter, they were absolutely amazed.
Second, this course helped to develop my skills as an entrepreneur. Taking an idea and putting it in the form of a business model is extremely difficult! This course definitely taught me that having great ideas is simply not enough. It also taught me the difficulty in explaining an idea to a third party as the audience of a presentation is only present during the actual presentation and does not see the entire process from ideation to the finalized business pitch.
Finally, this course has given me the opportunity to work with people at an involvement level I probably would not have had the opportunity to come across elsewhere. This is my fourth year at Baruch but it is the first time I worked on a semester-long group project. I will admit that it wasn’t always fun and pleasant to have to constantly work collaboratively, especially since it was an ongoing process throughout the entire semester. However, the sense of accomplishment I felt after the group presentation was complete, and the relationship that I feel I have developed with my team members is priceless and made the entire experience worthwhile.
