TriMech Blog

Without water, life would cease to exist. In the United States, we never have to worry about the quality of our drinking water, but that's not the case for everyone around the world.

Successful rapid prototyping could be the difference between beating your competition to market or heading back to the drawing board. Lucky for you, one of our Application Engineers, Tommy DuPuy, shared some of his tips for successful rapid prototyping.

Do you work with living hinges? If you’re in the consumer products space, it's likely that’s a “yes.”

Living hinges are found in plastic packaging, dispensing caps, thermoformed clamshell packaging and more. Manufacturing guidelines are easy to obtain for a variety of use cases. The hinge itself is simple—just a thin, flexible piece made from the same material as the rigid components it connects.

This holiday season, ModernTech is focusing on the meaning of gratitude. We are thankful to have a great partner like Stratasys and to be a part of technology that impacts the lives around us. 3D printing enables manufacturers, designer and everyday people to create and print complex and customized parts.

Recently, we’ve had the fortune to work with Doug Shover, a Project Manager at The Lewis Group Architects in Knoxville, TN. Doug was working on a building project at the University of Tennessee when a contractor brought in a 3D printed model of their Strong Hall project. Interested in 3D printing technology, Doug obtained ModernTech’s information from the contractor and quickly reached out to us.

Doug’s 10-year old daughter, Riley, is Type 1 diabetic. Riley has a continuous glucose monitoring system (CGM) that allows her to measure glucose levels in real-time, identifying trends such as rapid high or rapid low. The only problem with Riley’s CGM was that her glucose levels could not be monitored remotely by her mom and dad.

Doug sought out solutions and discovered the Nightscout project, better known as CGM in the cloud. Nightscout is an open source, DIY project that allows real-time access to a CGM from web browsers via smartphones, computers, tablets and other technology. This integration is achieved by attaching an uploader device to the CGM and sending the information to the cloud. When searching for the best way for Riley to utilize the system, Doug found out about a 3D printed “rig” on thingiverse.com. The rig holds Riley’s phone, her CGM receiver, and a micro USB cable together.

See Nightscout case on thingiverse.com

Unaware of other solutions, Doug gave ModernTech a call and asked us to quote out the rig and provide information on available colors. After all, appearance was of utmost importance to a 10-year old girl. Without hesitation, ModernTech looked at the model from and adapted it to Riley’s needs and phone specifications. We decided to offer the rig for free as a gesture of support for the cause and to promote end use applications made possible with 3D printing. Riley now has her device and is pleased beyond words.

“The rig was invaluable in our situation and has provided Riley with a better quality of life. My wife and I now have a peace of mind that we have not had since her diagnosis,” said Doug. “3D printing the rig with ModernTech offered a customized solution that provided my family with immeasurable benefits in regards to management.”

If you have a problem, we would love to help you solve it. Contact TriMech for more information in Riley’s rig or other 3D printed solutions that can make a difference in the lives of our friends, family and neighbors.

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"FDM is the perfect fit for us. It allows us to easily change designs at any stage in the game without being penalized by cost or delays."

— Jacob Rooney, Mechanical Designer, Nova Tech Engineering