Eight stacks of laser-cut wooden medallions on a wooden work surface. The medallions have a variety of logos.
Laser-cut medallions for the Panhellenic Council

IMRC Center Fall 2024 Newsletter

January 11, 2024 Fall 2024, immersed, IMRC Center News

immersed

vol 3 issue 1 fall 2024

View F24 IMRC Newsletter Print Version (PDF)

Supporting Research and Innovation

This fall, the IMRC Center acquired a FormLabs 3BL stereolithographic 3D printer, accompanied by professional finishing equipment.

The 3BL builds on the capacities of our previous Form 2 models, specifically in its ability to print items with more detail and speed, and with a broader range of materials. FormLabs describes this printer as specifically scaled for anatomical modeling and medical device fabrication, but it will also continue to be available at the IMRC Center for a variety of print types and purposes. Contact us to learn more about how this equipment may complement your academic needs.

We’ve been enjoying hosting a variety of guests at Stewart Commons this semester, and welcome our campus community to stop in and explore the labs and common spaces. Want to learn more? Stop in for one of our monthly tours.

Two grey machines are on a narrow work surface next to a white wall. A green chair is in the foreground. Amber-colored glass allows the user of the machines to view items being printed and finished within them.
The new FormLabs 3BL SLA 3D printing equipment
Four students are seated at two separate tables, looking at laptops with information that they are discussing.
Students from Judith Rosenbaum’s graduate Communications course compare statistical analyses

Dean Stewart Returns

Stewart is seen sitting on a window ledge with a dark curtain and white blinds behind him. He wears a medium-toned suit and dark tie, as well as wire-rimmed glasses, and has a serious but pleasant facial expression. The black and white portrait is framed in dark wood with gold trim.
Portrait of Dean John E. Stewart

A portrait of Stewart Commons’ namesake has been returned after several years in storage.

Dean Stewart Returns to Namesake Commons

CORE Décor

Four people stand next to a beige wall between two office doors. Staggered between them can be seen three black and white framed prints of microscopic views of different material.
Graduate Technician Sam (second from left) and Undergraduate Technicians (from left) Jacob, Mia, and Kenny stand in the hallway of the Engineering and Science Research Building on the Orono UMaine campus.

IMRC Center Student Employees create a custom display.

The Writing (and Pictures) on the Wall

Spotlight

Read about Bryce Butterfield’s (’27) laser engraving project here

Student Bryce Butterfield looks down at an engraved wooden box project in his hands. The box shows an image of a boat, with the words "Balmy Days II" visible above it.
Butterfield shows his finished project, created in the IMRC Center Prototyping and Fabrication labs.

Cross-Campus Collaborations

Summer is a great time for prospective students to visit and see campus resources up-close. We host a number of interactive prospective student visits throughout the year, but summer groups brought to campus by other departments tend to have more time to explore.

The Maine College of Engineering and Computing hosted Educate Maine’s chapter of Girls Who Code, who visited us to see how emerging technologies like computer-aided design are used at the university level.

The Transportation Infrastructure Durability Center, a major program within the UMaine Advanced Structures and Composites Center, hosts a week-long camp, the Maine Summer Transportation Institute. MSTI students visited a number of local transportation facilities, and came to us to learn how 3D printing and computer num-erical control can contribute to precision prototyping.

We also met with the Cohen Institute’s High School Leadership Program (pictured), who enjoyed testing out audiovisual production tools and having a little fun in our “photo booth.”

A group of students in professional clothing face the camera. They are holding up signs with slogans and "photo booth"-style props. Some wear oversized sunglasses or leis of artificial flowers.
Visiting Maine high school students from the Cohen Institute’s Leadership program
A speaker stands behind a wooden podium to the right of the image. Next to him is a large projection screen with an image of a tree with golden leaves, a blue sky, and a white steeple. People sit in shadow in folding chairs in the foreground.
Matthew Shaw speaks to Intermedia students in October

This fall, the IMRC Center has hosted a number of events, including:

  • the continuing Intermedia Speaker Series, featuring artists Lara Kramer, Matthew Shaw (above), and Constantina Zavitsanos;
  • the 25th anniversary year of the English Department’s New Writing Series, featuring Carlos Villacorta with translator Chelsea Johanson, Keith Rosson, Rod Moody-Corbett, and Babak Lakghomi;
  • a screening of the film Gathering Wild, organized by the Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine;
  • and a screening of the film Farewell Disco, accompanied by a talk with Dr. Mariana Ivanova, UMass Amherst, organized by the McGillicuddy Humanities Center with the support of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany.
A band plays a live concert on a stage with theatrical lighting. Two of the musicians hold guitars. The central musician sings into a microphone.
Student band Tease performs at the 2024 Bridge Week Welcome Concert in the IMRC Center Fernald Adaptive Presentation and Performance Environment

2024 by the numbers:

Facility Tours: 46

User base: +15%

Fall Hunter Fund Awardees: 6

New undergraduate employees: 5 – Mia Bellemare, Leah Bloomquist, Makai Moody-Broen, Kenny Lema, and Hailey Inman.

A number of facility upgrades have taken place in Stewart Commons over the summer and fall, including updated energy-efficient LED lighting throughout the building, and renovated flooring in all restrooms.

In the Community

When the Texas-based company Tyler Technologies acquired the former University Inn, located near the Orono end of College Avenue, they made plans to reflect the natural surroundings and community features of our area in their building’s design. The company approached the IMRC Center and the Intermedia Department to brainstorm some potential installations for the building that would also showcase skills and talents of the university population.

One prominent installation, conceived and executed by Sean Taylor, is the sign featuring the company’s logo seen in the reception area.

A large wooden sign with blue and green lettering is mounted to a wall over a line of cabinets. Three potted plants sit on top of the cabinets. The surface of the sign has ripples like the surface of water when a stone is dropped in.
The IMRC Center fabricated a sign for the main entrance of Tyler Technologies’ Orono campus

The sign is composed of several lengths of local hardwood that were carved here with the ShopSabre CNC Mill to capture water-like undulations, representing the natural history of northern Maine forests and the Stillwater River.

Portrait of Brenna

Internship Partnership

We’ll be saying goodbye to our undergraduate intern, Brenna Martens, at the end of Winter Session 2025, when she finishes her program in Communications and Journalism. Brenna started as an undergraduate work study technician, and returned this fall to complete an internship that was created as a partnership between the CMJ department and the IMRC Center.

Over her internship, Brenna developed processes for social media content strategy, scripting and editing tutorial video, and working as part of a communications team.

You can read more about Brenna’s experiences on our website: Head to the News tab and look for the IMRC Center Student Blog. Congratulations, Brenna!

Thank you!

Thank you so much to both the Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies and Director of UMaine Events and Hospitality, Tiffany McIntosh, for their donations this past semester.

Both the Center and McIntosh identified items in their storage (such as the pictured hat press) that would be used more regularly by the university community if available to people through the IMRC Prototyping Lab.

A bright teal tabletop hat press sits on top of a wooden work table.
Hat press donated by Tiffany McIntosh
A person in a black bear mascot costume leans toward a table with a blue tablecloth. Another person demonstrates how a piece of equipment on the table works.
Bananas the Bear learns about electronic music from graduate assistant James LeBlanc at New Student Orientation

submit your project or event to be featured in immersed: imrc@maine.edu