Friday evening, University of Maryland Mechanical Engineering student Cooper Gilbert gave a demonstration on how 3D printers work.  Our prototype radiation/weather shield for our instrument package is made up of 3D printed layers that stack on top of each other.  The pictures below show the 3D printer creating one of these such layers, in two separate pieces that must be glued together (due to size limitations).  After 7 or so of these are created, a top and bottom layer will be created to make it a complete enclosure to protect our sensors and electronics from the outdoors.