Marcel van Nispen
Marcel discusses his experience in establishing the first 3D lab at the Academy and the future of additive technology
→ What role do you have in the 3D lab?
Marcel van Nispen: I feel like i’m the translator for student's ideas, and the first person to be able to tell them what’s what. I’m looking at the world of 3D printing and I want to give something back to this parade we call Design Academy Eindhoven (DAE).
Within this workshop, just like every other workshop — things come alive. You can see them growing with and without the students around. As a student you might not know the possibilities, this industry is very new and it’s different to other industries that came before. You are growing parts additively rather than subtractively like in the wood workshop and metal workshop. Sometimes, it’s hard for students to understand this and see what you can do, I guide them on this journey of discovery. I’m also a mediator because you can learn from other students who have the same or similar technology at home. It makes the process more difficult sometimes, because there’s so many ways to do the same job, you end up just chasing your tail. It takes someone with experience to navigate between the different approaches and to get over that hurdles.
“You want to give them enough freedom to experience failure in a safe environment, learn from it and rediscover the balance to get back on their own feet.”
→ What has your experience been like as an instructor at the Academy?
MvN: Working as an instructor feels as if I am parenting the students. You want to give them enough freedom to experience failure in a safe environment, learn from it and rediscover the balance to get back on their own feet. Finding the sweet spot is about understanding material properties and machine settings but also about how the design is translated into the machines. We called our workshop “3D lab” because of these reasons. The errors are part of the learning process. Sometimes, the most beautiful results happens when you least expected it.
→ How long have you been working in this industry?
MvN: I’ve been working in 3D modelling and printing for around 30 years and i’ve been at DAE for 15 of those. We got the first 3D printer in 2012. It was very expensive back then but now we have around 10 machines in the lab. Before DAE, there wasn’t much education on this kind of thing so I had to learn it by myself. As a young creative, I left school and worked as a 3D modeller, visualising designs, making animations and imaginaries for several well-known companies. I worked with architects and virtual reality. I actually worked on Eindhoven’s town plaza at 18 Septemberplein, between the Bijenkorf and the MacDonalds, with the architect Massimiliano Fuksas. My company also worked with game designers from TU/e. I was quite young at this point, around 19 or so and I put a lot of energy into learning these new technologies alone. Now that i’m older I don’t want the students to make the same mistakes I did. Leaving school made me want to join a school again.
→ How did the 3D lab at DAE start?
MvN: First, I started in the wood workshop on Wednesday evenings and later at the digital workshop. 3D knowledge was not really implemented in the educational process at that time. I spend a long time with students sharing my knowledge. Investing in DAE’s first 3D printer was a game changer for me. It gave me the opportunity to actively prove the purpose and benefits in making a 3d model. It is like a reward system.
After a year or so I asked for a separate place to do 3D printing specifically. After investing in a laser cutter and finding a hatchery spot within the building, the 3D lab was born at the 3.5 floor. Roughly 8 years later we have about 11 3D printers and we are preparing ourselves for the next jump in the evolution of the 3D lab.
“Coming to work at DAE every day is amazing, It’s like being on my favourite game show — you never know what to expect!”
→ What’s your teaching method?
MvN: I understand what it means to be completing a project, I know what can go wrong. I also know the stress students are under so I can give them an easier approach, a helping hand and some comfort. I do this by providing the most comprehensive information so they can plan and execute their projects in the most efficient way possible.
Coming to work at DAE every day is amazing, It’s like being on my favourite game show — you never know what to expect! You never know what student will come up with, what questions they will ask. I listen to them and try to make their fuzzy ideas more clear. I use everything in here, 3D printing and laser cutting to get a visual representation of what they like.
3D printing is changing so rapidly as if it is morphing each year into a new species. I like to think of myself as being researcher alongside the students who are also fellow researchers. By building on this relationship, there is a very nice balance between us because we equally share the results. I try to pass this through to the new group of students every year. So everyone can benefit from the past evolution.
→ What is the next step for the 3D printing lab?
Each year during the introduction of our 1st year students, I hear their questions about more Bio based materials. They hope to make their products with a smaller CO2 footprint by using more Bio based materials. We are living in this plastic world and we have been stuck in it since the sixties so it would be great to break from that.
The demand for 3D printing and laser cutting keeps growing and I think we need to see where that demand is coming from. I think it would be a good thing if we could help more students. It is a unique chance we will have, knowing we are moving to a new building in 2027. We could use a larger space to begin blending and collaborating where possible with other workshops.
I also see an opportunity in exploring new ways in making our designs. It is not only about using a mouse, sitting behind a screen and clicking your way through the digital world. Many students already began working with Gravity sketch on VR headsets, 3d scanning handmade prototypes or things made by nature, using Clo3D for designing fashion etc. It would be great to support this new growth and development!
→ How do you see the hands on approach compared to the digital making approach?
I am older and I have lived between the analog and digital world. So it is logical for me to use both technologies. I still make a prototype before I start with a digital 3D model. I use tape, paper and cardboard, sometimes clay and putty to capture a profile of an existing object.
I think making things with your hands is still very important to understand the shapes and scales. Getting things into a computer programs is one thing, but the moment you need to get things out of a computer program it becomes real. You can zoom in and out endlessly on screen. By 3D printing 1:1 you will see the consequence’s of your decisions.