DSU faculty member donates 3D printed toys for Toys for Tots

A Dakota State University faculty member has become a 3-D “printing elf”.  

Dr. Tyler Flaagan, Assistant Professor of Computer and Cyber Sciences in The Beacom College of Computer and Cyber Sciences, volunteered this year to make toys using his two 3-D printers.  It’s all part of a campaign by IC3D Industries, a digital 3-D printing company based in Ohio, to create 3-D printed toys for the Toys for Tots program, a program of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve.  The idea started in 2018 and this year, the campaign surpassed their goal of 50-thousand 3-D printed toys. 

The company offered several toy options, providing templates and the plastic filament to create toys such as dinosaurs, horses, sharks, or train engines.

Flaagan chose to produce train engines. He could print three at a time; the separate wheels he could print 16 at a time. He started early in October so he could create as many as possible before the shipping deadline.

There were some supply chain issues with the filament provided by IC3D, but in late November he shipped 23 engines to the nearest Toys for Tots shipping hub. He said he’s hoping to do even more next year and plans to possibly get DSU’s Computer Club involved as well.