Besides their freshly minted diplomas, 2015 Carnegie Mellon graduates now have an extra bit of memorabilia available to them.
Pittsburgh's PieceMaker Technologies, a startup that produces 3-D printing kiosks, has landed its first official license with its co-founders' alma mater, offering two limited-edition items designed for the class of 2015. According to co-founder and CEO Arden Rosenblatt, the rollout is also the company’s first test of online ordering and off-site manufacturing, and its first metal products.
PieceMaker Digital is making a steel keystone coaster and a metallic plastic “Gyro Scotty Pendant” that can hang from a rearview mirror or serve as a key chain. Both products pay tribute to CMU, where Rosenblatt and co-founder Alejandro Sklar were students when they founded the company in 2013.
“By August, we will be adding personalization so that new students and alumni alike can tune these special-edition CMU pieces to their own class, even add initials and soon custom messages,” explains Rosenblatt.
PieceMaker is also bolstering its in-store presence, returning to Pittsburgh's Robinson Mall for the summer to continue its live 3-D printing pop-up experience.
“After a great first test month in April, we have hired staff, created new content and will be deploying our next-generation printers to continue printing custom toys, jewelry, souvenirs and other gifts on-the-spot, designed by patrons of the Robinson Mall,” says Rosenblatt.
The mall pop-up will also feature 3-D selfie — patrons can take a photo on a green screen and in 30 minutes walk out with a one-of-a-kind 3-D portrait or nightlight — and a new line-up of custom action figures.
Rosenblatt envisions a seamless integration of online and physical retail sales, “an omni-channel personalization gateway – where items can be ordered and picked up online or in-store, blending the best of on-demand and custom manufacturing to bring our customers a full suite of personalization options in a variety of materials and technologies.”
The CMU partnership, he adds, is a first step in maturing the digital supply chain; more partnerships are in the works.
Source: Arden Rosenblatt, PieceMaker
Writer: Elise Vider