Meet Jeremiah Burian, the Metal Lab lead at Groover Labs. He’s one of our earliest hires, and he’s worked tirelessly since mid-2019 to bring the Maker Labs online. It’s difficult to describe all that Burian does because much of it goes unseen. Burian’s superpower is that of vision - vision to see a project’s end before it’s begun, vision to find the flaws in designs before they’re implemented, vision to believe in Groover Labs before the blueprints were drawn.
Burian has vast experience in metal works, completing a professional welder program at the Tulsa Welding School. He enjoys teaching, and he’s ready to lead his first Maker Labs-related class at Groover Labs starting Oct. 1.
We sat down with Burian to discuss his upcoming four-week 3D Printing and Open Studio class. Below is a lightly edited version of the interview.
I know your background is in welding because we’ve worked together for several years now, so I’m going to come back to that. But, first, tell me about your experience with 3D printing, since you’ll be teaching a course on it soon.
I enjoy 3D printing. I did some at the makerspace where I volunteered before coming to work here. Our vision for the Fab Lab at Groover Labs was for it to be more in-depth. Then we ran into Covid-19.
Right. Covid-19 stopped everything in its tracks. But not the Maker Labs. This is when you ramped up operations. Tell me more.
We wanted to find a way to support the healthcare community, so we decided to 3D print headbands in partnership with other people and organizations in town - Sgt. Ted Wisely and their group. We sort of stepped into the deep end, and before we knew it, we’d ordered eight more 3D printers to help with the effort.
Those printers were lined up in the lobby and printed headbands 24/7 for face shields. Did you learn a lot from that experience?
When you use a 3D printer just some of the time, you don’t run into the same kind of problems you encounter when you run them all the time, which we were doing. So I learned to adjust all sorts of settings to get better prints. In the process, I learned maintenance.
Are your upcoming 3D printing classes and open studios based on what you learned in the earlier days of the pandemic?
Yes, what I’ll be teaching will include what I learned from troubleshooting the 24/7 printing process with multiple printers. We wanted to print as fast as possible with as high of a quality as possible. This created a lot of problems I hadn’t encountered before. I had to research them and find solutions. I’d like to share my experience with others so they don’t have to go through the same frustrations.
About the class: Who did you design the class for?
The class is meant to be basic. I want to teach to a larger audience, so it’s open to all skill levels. If you’ve never been around a 3D printer, but you want to learn, you should take the class. But if you have been around a 3D printer, you can also take the class. To some degree, as the class progresses, you’ll become responsible for what you want to learn.
If people have specific questions - some may want to learn how to do maintenance, others may not - they can ask those types of questions, and I’ll answer them. So I’d say the class is for beginners, and the class is for people who have experience.
Tell me about the “open studio” part of the class.
This is more like a course than a class. When you sign up, you’re signing up for all four classes. During the first class, we’ll go over some basic info about how to operate our 3D printers, and you’ll print something you’ll be able to take home with you. If you’re new, and you want to keep learning, we’ll build on your skills in each class. The “open studio” part means that after you learn the basics of how our 3D printers work, you can use them for your own projects during the open studio time.
There are so many different types of equipment in the Maker Labs. Why start with 3D printing?
I’d say first of all we’re starting with 3D printing because we have 10-plus printers available for people to learn on - everyone will have their own Groover Labs 3D printer to use. There are other classes I’ve been to where a group of people has to share one printer.
Because we have so many printers, and because we’re limiting how many people can attend, we can provide both a one-on-one learning experience and we can space the printing stations far apart from each other. Of course, it won’t always be like this, but it makes sense for us right now. Smaller classes mean more one-on-one time. That’s a huge benefit.
I read in the class description that the instructor (you) has pre-selected what objects attendees will print in the first class. Why is that?
By researching objects to print ahead of the class, I can test and determine how long it takes to print them. That way, each student can leave with an object they printed. Sometimes 3D printing can take some time. I also want to make sure whatever is selected will print. Just because you find a file online doesn’t mean it will print flawlessly and without errors. If there are mistakes, I’ll feel confident they didn’t come from the machine or the file. This allows me to identify user errors and teach how to work through them.
I keep seeing 3D printing showing up in different areas of my life. I don’t go looking for 3D printing that often, so I’m wondering if it’s entered the mainstream. Do you agree?
I’d say kids are getting thrown into this type of technology much sooner. And getting started early is critical to developing and getting them on the path to technology-related work. The younger you can start someone, the more you can foster their growth.
What’s an example of large, commercial use of 3D printing?
The number one thing I’d say they’re used for is prototyping products. You don’t want to have to spend all the money upfront on the cost of molding or making a physical product part; you want to use fast - well, I say fast when compared to the tooling process for injection moldling as an example - and affordable 3D printing so you can print something you can hold in your hand. You can make the prototyping part of the client’s product development process easier.
How did you meet Groover Labs’ co-founders Curt Gridley and Tracy Hoover?
We met because we were all members at a local makerspace. Curt and I designed and built a 4x4 plasma table at MakeICT.
(Interrupts) You both also worked on a plasma table for Groover Labs, right?
We did. We designed and built a 4x8 plasma table over several months for the Metal Lab, and we used the Tormach to machine several parts for the gantry.
What was the appeal of coming to work at Groover Labs?
Groover Labs is a place where I can teach and share my knowledge with others. When I’m not teaching, I can work on projects like bringing a new piece of equipment online or consulting with a group who might want to prototype a part for a product or even a startup. So I get to do a little bit of everything here.
I also wanted to be part of something - part of a team - that helped to build something new in Wichita. That and I’ve been able to set up the Metal Lab the way I want to. In the process, I’ve been able to help shape the community.
Teaching is a topic you keep coming back to. Why do you enjoy teaching?
I like to teach what I know. I’ve taught several classes on a variety of different skills - 3D printing, laser cutting, welding, powder coating, and CNC plasma cutting, to name a few - and one of the most important things I’ve observed is that not everyone learns the same way. So, I’m not locked into a traditional teaching method. Instead, I try to look at the way people learn, and adjust accordingly. If I do my job right, we all reach the same goal together.
Are there any teaching styles you mimic? I’ve had some great teachers, and when I teach, I find myself trying to emulate what they did that caught my attention. Do you do the same?
I’d say welding school taught me welding techniques, but it didn’t teach me how to use them in a professional environment. Most welding schools have setups where you mimic what others are doing. Once you’ve held a job as a welder, you learn tips and tricks from the old timers. Sometimes they are unorthodox methods that aren’t taught in school. So while I learned quite a lot in welding school, the hands-on experience is more rewarding.
if you don’t share this kind of stuff, it’s going to get lost, and people will struggle in the future to adapt to something that seems complicated but isn’t because it doesn’t get passed down to the next generation.
Do you think of yourself as an old timer now?
[Smiles, thinks for a moment.] Ask me again in 10 years.
What else do people need to know about your 3D printing and open studio classes?
During each class, we’ll have a look at different parts of the Maker Labs. For example, the first class is designed for 3D printing, but maybe we take a minute to look at the laser cutter and discuss a class we’re thinking about teaching. Maybe in the third class, we walk over to the Metal Lab and demonstrate some of the welds we’re considering, and we do a demonstration of the plasma table.
People might come in for 3D printing, but they end up loving three other areas in the Maker Labs more than 3D printing. We want to expose people to as many parts of Groover Labs as possible.