Colorado State University adopted a state-of-the-art 3-D printing program three years ago. Since then, the program has been changing and evolving, and this year there will be an online 3-D printing course available to everyone.

CSU’s Idea-2-Product 3-D printing lab has offered courses in the past at the Morgan Library and as an engineering credit course. Now, Idea-2-Product has created the Foundations of 3-D Printing online course so that students can learn the ins and outs of 3-D printing from the comfort of their own home.

The online program is not a credit class. Instead of having credits, the class will display a digital badge when the course is completed, which will be available to put on resumes, online portfolios and social networks.

David Prawel, founder of Idea-2-Product, says the initiative behind the online course was to make a new 3-D printing course that will be available to all students.

“The online course is basically the entire beginning portion of the engineering credit class,” Prawel said. “We wanted everyone to have access to the program.”

The idea behind creating the online course was that people inside and outside CSU can have access to 3-D printing in an affordable and easy-to-learn way.

According to an article from SOURCE, Prawel believes the new online program will teach companies how to use technology to its full potential.

“We think we can reach so many more people and help so many more people get up-to-speed on this technology by making it available in a much easier-to-consume format,” Prawel said. “… It’s not hands-on, of course, but it offers a lot of detail about what it takes to do 3-D printing, the software tools required and the major types of machines out there.”

The course will be available to anybody, including students not enrolled at CSU. The program’s main focus is teaching the foundations of 3-D printing but also gaining a better understanding of technology in general.

For more information about the Foundations of 3-D printing course, visit http://www.online.colostate.edu/badges/3d-printing/ or call CSU Online at (970) 491-5288.

Collegian Reporter Allec Brust can be reached at news@collegian.com or on Twitter at @Brustyyy.