Formlabs Engineering: Meet Ben Katz

Formlabs Mechanical Engineering Intern Ben Katz

Ben Katz
Mechanical Engineering

Personal website: http://build-its.blogspot.com/

While at Formlabs this summer, I’ve been designing and prototyping parts for future products. I split my time between designing and CAD-ing parts, and fabricating prototypes in the shop.

Ben Katz roller coaster

I’ve been taking full advantage of Formlabs’ printer farm, and have slowly been printing a 1:60 scale model of a 120 foot long wooden roller coaster I designed. To make it fit on the Form 1+’s build platform, I dissected the model into 15 parts, which I fused together after printing with a syringe of resin and a laser pointer.

Ben Katz roller coaster close up

The most exciting part of this project is that I will actually be building the full-sized, rideable roller coaster in a week on the MIT campus. Stop by here to see it in person when it opens on August 24.

Ben Katz roller coaster model

Formlabs has fed my obsession with…..
SLA printing. I had never used any sort of SLA 3d printer before coming to Formlabs. Now I’m always disappointed in the quality of parts I FDM print outside of work.

Also coffee. My coffee intake has roughly tripled since the start of this summer.