How to Use the RPS

Version 7.5 by Alex Troyer on 2025/05/29 15:16

Accessing the Space and Equipment

The Rapid Prototyping Studio is available to the following individuals only:

Currently enrolled MEEN Majors
MEEN Faculty and Staff
Non-MEEN majors who are currently taking a MEEN course or performing Research work under a MEEN Professor.

In order to make a reservation on equipment in the Rapid Prototyping Studio, you will need to meet the following prerequisites:

You must be trained on the equipment you want to use (if required.) Click here for instructions on how to sign up for training.
You must have enough credits in our system to make a reservation. Click here for information on RPS credits and pricing.

How you use the RPS will also vary by use case. There are currently 3 use cases available at the RPS: Academic, Research, and Personal. Please review these use cases below to determine the rules for your specific use case. Academic and Personal use cases must go through the standard training and self-use process outlined above, while Research use has alternative options.

Academic Use (Self-Use)

Academic use is any reservation for an assignment in a non-research MEEN course. Research courses must use the pathway for research requests. Academic use is also available to instructors teaching a MEEN course, as long as it is related to that course. It is the instructor's responsibility to contact RPS Staff within the first 2 weeks of the semester to request credits for their course.

All students with an assignment that uses the Rapid Prototyping Studio will be given credits prior to the start of their assignment. The number of credits will vary depending on expected usage, as agreed between RPS Staff and the instructor.
Academic reservations that exceed a student's credit balance must be approved by their instructor in writing, usually via email. Once approval is received, RPS Staff will add an agreed upon number of credits to the student's balance to allow completion of the assignment.

Personal Use (Self-Use)

All students who are actively taking a MEEN course are given an allowance of 15 credits for personal use during that semester. This can be used on any of the machines in the shop, and can also be used for academic or research work if the student wishes.

If a personal reservation exceeds your credit balance, you have a few options:
- You can purchase additional credits from our online store. Credits are non-refundable, but do not expire, except upon graduation. Credits can also be transferred to other students upon request. Click here for information on RPS credits and pricing.
- On equipment where the reservation includes material charges, you can get a discount by bringing in your own material, provided it meets our quality standards for use in our machines. Please note: If you are bringing in your own material, you will need to have RPS Staff manually return the credits to your account balance, and possibly create the reservation for you.

PLEASE NOTE: Personal reservations may only use a maximum of 2 printers. If more are needed or a bulk batch is requested, you must come in to the RPS to discuss your project.

Research Use

Researchers can fabricate parts at the RPS through 2 different methods:

Self Use - generally faster and cheaper, but requires training on the equipment to be used
iLabs Requests - RPS staff will make everything for you, but this method takes much longer and costs more.

Please note, researchers are not allowed to use the MEEN/Physics Joint Machine Shop for self-use at this time. In our current agreement with the Physics department, this equipment can only be used by staff, so these fabrication requests must go through the "iLabs Requests" route.

Research Self-Use (MEEN Researchers only)

To get trained, log in with your NetID and make an appointment using the training slot on our reservation system.
Research users will need to have sufficient credits in their account balance to make reservations on equipment. We encourage research labs to purchase larger numbers of credits in advance of expected high usage times or semesters to streamline the process, as credits must be manually added to user accounts after purchase, which can lead to delays in the ability to make reservations. Research faculty are responsible for ensuring that their students have enough credits to reserve equipment at the RPS.
Most research labs need to assign all purchases, including RPS credits to a specific university account. This can be done through the department's Purchasing Office in the same way as all other research purchases are made.
Credits can be purchased from our online store. Credits are non-refundable, but do not expire, except upon graduation. Credits can also be transferred to other students upon request.

iLabs Requests

There may be some cases where researchers would like to have RPS Staff to fabricate parts for them, i.e. 3D printing or laser cutting parts. For this type of work, we do still allow iLabs requests. We do not use iLabs for self-use equipment such as hardness testers or microscope usage. Please note, technicians cannot estimate completion dates for jobs due to unpredictable events such as print failures and machine outages. To submit an Research request, please use the relevant submission form on our iLabs page. (If you do not have an iLabs account, you will need to create one and be accepted into a research lab by your PI before submitting a request. If your PI has not used iLabs before and requires assistance learning the system, please contact Ashlyn Montgomery at amontgomery@tamu.edu or iLabs support directly at ilab-support@agilent.com for assistance, as RPS staff cannot help with initial account setup and training.) If this is your first time submitting a request, please read the following directions first, to ensure proper submission.

In the “lab” drop-down, select the research lab your request is for. (This lab usually has the name of your PI in the title.)
Fill out the submission form that appears. You will need to select "Research" for request type, upload your model or file, and indicate parameters to be used, such as material, machine settings, etc.
Click the button that says “save completed form.”
Select an account number to be charged. (If you have no account number assigned to you, your PI will need to grant you access to one. If you have access to multiple accounts, be sure to choose the correct one.)
Click the button that says “submit request to core”.
We will review your request and respond with a quote. This will usually come in the form of an email notification, with a link to your request in iLabs. If you agree to the quote provided, follow the link, and click "Agree".
Your request will be forwarded to your PI, who will also need to agree to the quoted price. Once the PI has agreed to this cost, we will begin working on your request.
You can follow the status of your request in real time within the iLabs database.
Once the request is complete, an automated email will be sent to let you know that the parts are ready for pickup.