Subject: Help revolutionize classroom learning and research by supporting UMD crowdfunding project Description: Dear CMNS students— With your help, the fragile fossils and rocks once displayed in University of Maryland geology classes will be replaced by plastic. Using 3-D scanning and printing technology, students will receive plastic copies of objects they wouldn’t have been allowed to hold before, such as delicate fossils squirreled away in museums and teaching collections around the world. Department of Geology students and faculty members are spearheading a crowdfunding campaign to raise $7,000, which will allow them to purchase a 3-D scanner, a three-color 3-D printer and printing supplies. Three-dimensional scanning and printing of rocks, fossils and geologic data will revolutionize teaching and research in the department. 3-D models are nearly indestructible, will last longer for students to use in class and can be created without risking damage to the originals. Geology students and faculty members envision 3-D printing many different types of geological objects, including dinosaur skeletons, rocks, topographic maps, crystal models, and volcanoes. When students and faculty members scan geological objects from the university’s collections or create their own objects from digital data, they plan to make the 3-D specimen patterns available to the public by posting them online. You can learn more about this project by visiting http://ter.ps/78e. The team’s crowdfunding campaign runs through November 22. You can support the team by visiting https://www.launch.umd.edu/geo3d. Contributions are tax-deductible. -- Abby V. Robinson, Ph.D. Director of Communications College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences University of Maryland 2318 Symons Hall 301-405-5845 [log in to unmask] www.cmns.umd.edu @UMDscience Contact Person: Abby V. Robinson, Ph.D. Contact Email: [log in to unmask]