Jackson student helps revive 3D Printing club

Brackin Kuessner had never thought much about 3D printers until his mom bought him one for his birthday this past summer before his sophomore year at Jackson High School.

Once he started working with it, he said he was hooked and decided he would join his school's 3D Printing club.

However, he was told the club was set to be canceled because no student had volunteered to lead it.

Kuessner had noticed the ID holders students were using kept breaking, so he started making his own with his 3D printers. The 3D Printing club's sponsor, science teacher Andrew Helle, heard about it and talked with Kuessner about taking over the club.

Kuessner volunteered and became president of a club with no members. He jumped into action and started advertising around the school and set up a table during orientation day when students can decide what clubs they want to join.

"I created a giant sign that had over 300 LED flashing lights that said '3D Printing club', and it flashed every color and it was it was pretty cool," Kuessner said. "It got a lot of attention."

Jackson's 3D Printing club now has 45 members, and they meet once a month, but Kuessner said he wants to start meeting more and add more activities for the members.

Kuessner said members create items for fun, but also for class projects and they also take requests from students and staff. He said they charge minimal fees for the requests to pay for the materials and raise a little money for the club.

Two of the most common items the club creates are stands for smartphones and lanyard covers to hold student and staff ID cards.

Kuessner said he learned how to use a 3D printer from watching YouTube videos and he has taught other members who've never used one before.

He said he's always been interested in technology and all the work he's doing with the 3D Printing club will give him a lot of "bonus points" when he starts applying for college.

Kuessner said he plans to attend Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla, Missouri, after high school. He said he wants to be a mechanical engineer and work in robotics.

"Mechanical engineers deal with 3D printing every single day by testing prototypes, and that's what's amazing," Kuessner said. "It's a lot faster than waiting for Chinese manufacturers to make new machines and ship it over."

Kuessner said the club is not just about learning but about being creative and having fun.

"For my robotics and engineering class, we made a 3D model of our teacher, Mr. (Anthony) Stegeman's head," Kuessner said "We put it on a Stegosaurus dinosaur, and made it the mascot for our club."