Faculty Projects
Scaling MAT_SCI 331's 3D Printing Resin Design Laboratories with Dynamic Covalent Chemistries and Computational Methods

Ryan Truby headshot

Faculty

Ryan Truby, MSE/ME
Jonathan Emery, MSE
John Torkelson, ChBE/MSE
James Rondinelli, MSE
Kenneth Shull, MSE
Rajan Kumar, MSE

Amount Requested

$22,104

Summary

Professor Truby used his 2023 Murphy Society Award, "Resin Design Laboratories for 3D Printing of Soft, Functional Materials," to transform MAT_SCI 331: Soft Materials from a lecture-centered curriculum into an active, hands-on, materials design-based experience with 3D printing. Undergraduate and graduate students now work in teams across six intensive laboratories to design, characterize, and 3D print their own resin formulations, culminating in the fabrication of a functional buckle capable of withstanding mechanical loads. The 2023 Award was used to purchase twelve desktop resin printers that now reside in the MSE Teaching Laboratory, and the course has earned widespread recognition, including a feature in McCormick Engineering News (April 2025) and designation as the showcase project for Professor Truby's 2023–24 Searle Fellowship. Student feedback has been enthusiastically positive, and as the Department of Materials Science and Engineering is anticipating significant increases in student enrollment, we are applying again for Murphy Society support to sustain this undergraduate curricular highlight so that MAT_SCI 331 can accommodate up to 50 students per year.

This proposal seeks FY27 Murphy Society funding to expand the laboratory experience through three targeted enhancements. First, we will introduce new lab modules centered on dynamic covalent chemistries, incorporating materials developed by Professor Torkelson's group. These chemistries add a dimension of programmable and responsive behavior to soft materials with applications like recyclability that students cannot encounter in standard resin kits. Second, we will add a computational modeling module in collaboration with Professor Rondinelli, enabling students to simulate polymer network structures and connect molecular-level intuition to the mechanical behavior they observe off their printers. Third, in collaboration with Professor Shull, we will integrate revised laboratory content into the MSE Core Text (msecore.northwestern.edu). Finally, Professors Truby, Kumar, and Emery will co-lead a formal study of student learning outcomes through the printing labs, targeting publication in ACS' Journal of Chemical Education.

Together, these enhancements will equip undergraduates with exposure to cutting-edge polymer science, computational tools, and iterative engineering design, while touching each pillar of the McCormick Strategic Plan by contributing to Design Thinking that Permeates, Concurrent Materials Design, and Climate-Resilient Communities.

Planned Activities/Investments

Building directly on the infrastructure and pedagogy established under the FY23 award, this project will pursue three integrated lines of investment and course development:

  • More 3D Printers for More Students:

Scaling the resin design labs simply requires more printers and reagents than the original twelve we purchased with the first award. Therefore, the central investment of this project is adding 20 new 3D printers and their required accessories to the MSE Teaching Labs for MAT_SCI 331. We anticipate this to be an appropriate number of printers to last at least four years because 11 of the original 12 printers purchased are still in operation after two years of heavy use. This number will allow us to replace older printers as they age past their useful life.

We increasingly find that students who leave MAT_SCI 331 want to use the 3D printers in later classes, like MAT_SCI 332 and the MSE Capstone Sequence (which Truby instructs). Being able to purchase 20 new printers will enable us to slowly retire the older printers for general student use in later courses while having extras on hand. The extra backup printers are key to helping students be successful in the labs without needing to worry about printer repair.

  • Scalable Laboratory Modules on Dynamic Covalent Chemistry and Glass Transition Temperature Prediction:

The current resin design labs challenge students to optimize the mechanical properties of custom resins. Optimization requires students to have access to many different reagents, driving up cost for the labs and making scale-up from 30 to 50 students difficult if not impossible. Professor Torkelson has reagents that can be incorporated into the existing labs, which will greatly reduce cost by challenging students to incorporate dynamic covalent chemistries rather than optimize formulations. Truby will modify one lab to enable students to incorporate dynamic covalent chemistries into their resins and study their effects. As the class scales, this is one opportunity to keep costs low without compromising the quality of the labs.

Since the cost of reagents and supplies is a major challenge facing scale-up of the MAT_SCI 331 labs, another way to scale the labs is by having more students on each team (i.e., more students per printer). The final goal of the current resin design labs is to have students 3D print functioning buckles. To accomplish this, they must establish processing-structure-property relationships that trace resin composition to final mechanical properties (e.g., Young's modulus). Many students do not make the connection between the glass transition temperature (Tg) of polymers they form in their resins and the final mechanical properties of printed parts. Therefore, Truby and Rondinelli will also develop a module for the existing labs that enables students to predict Tg from molecular dynamics simulations. Incorporating a computational component to the resin design labs will allow more students on each team; teams will need to show agreement between final prints and simulated polymer networks.

  • Dissemination of Resin Labs Teaching Outcomes:

Truby will teach the resin design labs for the third time in their original format in Winter 2027. Murphy Society support will enable students in the upcoming offering of MAT_SCI 331 to have all the resources necessary to conduct the labs in their original form. Truby will work with Shull and Emery to update the MSE Core Text with all the lab exercises, and Truby, Kumar, and Emery will work together to collect student data (e.g., in the form of pre-post surveys) to include in a peer-reviewed journal article in chemical education.

Truby has received increasing interest from companies like 3M and PPG in contributing resources to MAT_SCI 331. Being able to share a paper on the impact of the resin labs with companies like these will be a critical investment for securing future funding.

Impact

This project will impact undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in MAT_SCI 331, a core undergraduate course in MSE. With a robust inventory of new 3D printers supporting teams of 3–5 students, the expanded course will accommodate up to 50 students per year, a significant increase from the current enrollment of approximately 30. The expanded laboratories will allow the printing labs to incorporate dynamic covalent chemistry concepts and computational polymer modeling to reduce the current materials costs incurred by the current laboratory objectives.

Impact will be assessed through multiple avenues:

  • Pre- and post-course assessments evaluating conceptual mastery of polymers, dynamic covalent chemistry in soft materials, and polymer network modeling
  • CTEC surveys measuring student-reported engagement, challenge, and satisfaction
  • Team project rubrics evaluating design reasoning, iterative refinement, and integration of computational predictions with experimental results
  • Longitudinal surveys of current students (e.g., 2-4 quarters post-course) asking students how the resin design labs have impacted their design-oriented thinking as they embark on and complete our Capstone Sequence
  • Longitudinal surveys of alumni (e.g., 1-2 years post-graduation) asking students to reflect on how the lab experience influenced their problem-solving approaches in research or industry

Beyond MAT_SCI 331, integration with the MSE Core Text ensures that improved conceptual scaffolding reaches students across multiple MSE courses, particularly our department's structural materials sequence of MAT_SCI 331 and MAT_SCI 332 and our newly revised Capstone Sequence of MATSCI_390/391. Publication of the learning outcomes study will make the pedagogical model available to educators nationally and internationally, amplifying the undergraduate impact well beyond Northwestern.

Deliverables

The major deliverables for this project are:

  • Two new laboratory modules on dynamic covalent chemistries and molecular modeling of polymers, fully documented with student handouts and grading rubrics
  • Revised MSE Core Text sections incorporating lab-validated content developed in MAT_SCI 331
  • A formal student learning outcomes dataset, including assessment instrument results, CTEC summaries, and longitudinal follow-up data
  • At least one peer-reviewed educational publication (target: Journal of Chemical Education or Journal of Engineering Education) reporting the effect of the full Resin Design Labs curriculum on student learning outcomes in MAT_SCI 331
  • Presentation of findings at one national educational conference (e.g., the North American Materials Education Symposium or the American Society for Engineering Education annual meeting)

Sustainability

The FY23 Murphy Award established the core laboratory infrastructure for MAT_SCI 331, including 12 desktop resin printers. This proposal adds 20 Anycubic Photon Mono 4 printers, bringing the total lab capacity to support up to 50 students per year in teams of 3 to 5. Resin reagent costs of approximately $3,000 per year are budgeted for four years of course offerings; leftover reagents can be used in following years.

Ongoing reagent costs for the existing and new labs are within the scope of the MSE Teaching Labs educational budget, which will sustain materials replenishment after the grant period.

Professor Truby's continued leadership of MAT_SCI 331, together with the involvement of Professors Emery and Shull as curriculum collaborators, ensures stable faculty ownership of the laboratory program across multiple years.

Previous Project

In FY23, Professors Truby and Emery received a Murphy Society Award of $12,200 for the project "Resin Design Laboratories for 3D Printing of Soft, Functional Materials." That award funded the procurement of 12 desktop resin printers and resin reagents.

The FY23 project has been fully implemented and has exceeded its original scope. Key achievements include:

  • Development and deployment of six laboratory modules in MAT_SCI 331; 11/12 printers that were originally purchased are in active use
  • Students now design, synthesize, characterize, and optimize custom 3D printing resins, culminating in the fabrication of a functional load-bearing buckle
  • Strong student outcomes, including reported gains in problem-solving confidence, materials intuition, and collaborative engineering skills, as reflected in CTEC feedback
  • The course was featured in a McCormick Engineering News article (April 8, 2025): "3D Printing Adds New Dimensions to Core Course on Soft Materials," highlighting student and teaching assistant experiences and the broader model for materials science education it represents

This track record of successful implementation, student engagement, and public recognition provides a strong foundation for the expanded efforts we proposed for this fiscal year's Murphy Society Awards.

Budget Overview

  • 20 3D Printers (Anycubic Photon Mono 4 with Wash & Cure) [$418/unit, $8,360 total] — 20 Anycubic printers and their accessories will support 3–4 students per printer and up to 50 students per year; this number will allow for backup printers in the event some fail or need repair.
  • Resin Reagents (various, from Sigma-Aldrich) [$3,000/year for 4 years, $12,000 total] — Based on estimates from previous courses, ~$3,000/year in reagents required to support 50 students per year across expanded lab modules.
  • 1 Case of Small Nitrile Gloves (e.g., Microflex Gloves from Fisher Scientific) [1 case, $436/case, $436 total] — Students require nitrile gloves for safe handling of resins and reagents throughout all lab sessions.
  • 2 Cases of Medium Nitrile Gloves (e.g., Microflex Gloves from Fisher Scientific) [2 cases, $436/case, $872 total] — Students require nitrile gloves for safe handling of resins and reagents throughout all lab sessions; medium is the highest-demand size.
  • 1 Case of Large Nitrile Gloves (e.g., Microflex Gloves from Fisher Scientific) [1 case, $436/case, $436 total] — Students require nitrile gloves for safe handling of resins and reagents throughout all lab sessions.

Total Budget Amount: $22,104

Matching Funds

The following matching commitments are anticipated for this project:

  • MSE Teaching Labs (Department of Materials Science and Engineering): In-kind contributions of $2,000 ($500/year) for reagent and supplies budget for course offerings beyond the grant period
  • Torkelson Group (Professor John Torkelson): Donation of synthesized dynamic covalent materials and technical expertise from his research group to seed the new laboratory modules at no cost to the grant

Professor Truby is also actively working with the Office of Corporate Engagement to secure industry funding for the labs. For example, he submitted a proposal last week to 3M for $5,000 of support; Kate Rice is also helping Professor Truby secure ~$10,000 from PPG.