In 2013, Michael graciously became what we deem as a 'partner' in the work of YouthQuest to try to change the trajectory of young lives through the learning of 3D design and printing.

Seven years and hundreds of at-risk Youth Challenge students in 3 states later I can tell you that we continue in our conviction that the UI organization and high level of capabilities make it uniquely capable of taking a student (mostly high school drop-outs) with absolutely no previous 3D experience through about 80% of what MOI3D has to offer in less than 4 months of once a week classes.

But, it has done more than that. By allowing them see 'failures' in a whole new light, it truly has changed the course of their lives. MOI3D allows them to easily design something for printing... check the print... fix the design based on what the first print reveals and the print again... repeating until they achieve success.

For a student population that got where they are by quitting in the face of failure this is an entirely new experience for them.

Our students in the Youth Challenge programs probably won't become designers and engineers; but, through tracking their post-graduation lives, we know they will make for much more resilient and creative employees that have learned not to quit through their encounter with MOI3D.

But, there is one group of at-risk students that we have come to believe CAN have a future in the 3D design and printing world, and that are our students on the autism spectrum. Autism spectrum high school graduates face around an 80% unemployment rate. Yet, our experience teaching them 3D design, using MOI3D, tells us many of our students are well above average when if comes to learning 3D design and printing using MOI3D.

So, YouthQuest has merged with the Phillips Programs to create a vocational program that provides the training and experience for employment in the Additive Manufacturing industry.

The first time Michael wrote about our work, many of you relied with encouraging words. But, what you didn't know is how much you have helped over the years with your tips and videos that taught the teacher. This community, whether they have known or not, has played a huge role in increasing our understanding of the possibilities MOI has to offer and where it fits with augmenting products. So, we want to thank you.

We can't pass on what we do not know and we demonstrate results that require skill we do not have. But, as you share YOUR knowledge and SKILLS, we ARE able to pass on things well beyond our grasp. I won't name names because I would surely miss some. But, from now on, when we point to a video or article that we use to encourage our young people on the autism spectrum to follow their passion to the fullest extent I will pop back up here and post a thanks so that you will know just how important your contribution has been in changing the trajectory of a life.

And, I will start with this one. Liminal4D. I am showing my class your SciFi Tank video today. It's a time-lapse and doesn't provide step-by-step directions. But, to a person I know that this video will cement a desire in our students to strive to get where that video takes them. You will provide the goal and like bloodhounds they will pursue that goal with the best of their abilities.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPusyYTw8fA

Uh... you can't get THERE with TinkerCad can you?

Thanks to all of you! And, a special thanks to Michael Gibson!

Thanks for the update Tom, and for all your work helping these kids! I'm really glad that MoI has been useful for this purpose!

- Michael

Tom's story is nice example of inspirational colaboration among poeple across the world, this is the huge positive power for future of each of us.
Mik

I have to comment on this. I worked with a group called 'Future Scientists and Engineers of America'. This group, and others like it, were created to fill a need: the public school systems do a poor job of teaching science and preparing students for jobs in engineering. The Very Worst thing about 'education' is the rule that you must Not make mistakes -- or you will be punished! Design, the scientific method, and biological evolution is Error-Correction! And you can't correct an error until you have one to correct! As Charles Kettering once said to a graduating class at Yale, the way to succeed in engineering is to make lots of mistakes! (Kettering was second only to Edison in the number of patents that he held.) Somehow, we have to reverse the current method of 'education'. BTW, I have Asperger's Syndrome. When Dr. Asperger discovered this, he did not see it as a disability. It might best be thought of as a different skill set. Where we fail miserably is in interpersonal skills, which most people value very highly, and reject the person with AS because he can't be effective on that level. But we excel at other things. I seem to have a particular talent for geometry and engineering, and MOI gives me the tools that I need to display my talent. I will go so far as to say that MOI makes me look smarter than I am! I also want to mention that MOI is a very good tool for teaching Calculus. The simplicity of drawing curves and finding tangent lines makes the derivative obvious (which it certainly isn't in algebra). Also, MOI makes it relatively easy to find areas and volumes using Simpson's Rule. Of course, there are other programs that can help in this way, but MOI can do this and so much more.