Case Study: UMass Amherst ADDFab achieves industrial‑grade, rapid prototyping and hands‑on additive education with Markforged

Additive Manufacturing in Education UMass Amherst ADDFab

ADDFab, the Advanced Digital Design and Fabrication Core Facility at UMass Amherst led by Dave Follette, set out to bring industrial-grade additive manufacturing into education so students could learn real-world, production-ready 3D printing. Funded by a Massachusetts Life Sciences Council grant and staffed largely by undergraduates and grad students, ADDFab needed reliable, easy-to-use machines for rapid prototyping, research, and hands‑on teaching—so they integrated Markforged printers, including the Markforged Onyx One and Mark Two, into their lab.

Markforged’s printers and the Eiger web-based workflow gave ADDFab fast warm-up times, simple operation for student users, and consistently high-quality parts—enabling students to prototype in hours rather than wait for lengthy setups. Using Markforged machines, ADDFab supported COVID-19 respirator prototyping, produced research sensors and lattice geometries, improved part finish and turnaround, and expanded experiential learning that has helped alumni move into the additive industry. Markforged’s tools directly scaled ADDFab’s teaching, research, and community support capabilities.

ADDFab

Dave Follette

Head of the ADDFab