Purdue's 'smallest drum' a product of university's 3D printing technology

Deanna Watson, Lafayette Journal & Courier
·2 min read

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — This Purdue marching band's newest drum could fit in Notre Dame Stadium.

In fact, it could be in the palm of your hand, and you might not even know it.

Last football season, Notre Dame alerted Purdue's All-American Marching Band that it's World Largest Drum would be too big for stadium in South Bend. For the first time in 42 years the drum — weighing a quarter of a ton and standing 10 feet tall — would not take part in the halftime show.

Aaron Davis (left), a mechanical engineering PhD student, in the lab alongside Georges Adam.
Aaron Davis (left), a mechanical engineering PhD student, in the lab alongside Georges Adam.

This recently created drum, though, created through microrobotics at Purdue University, is definitely small enough — the width of a strand of human hair.

David Cappelleri, a professor of mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering, recently tested out a 3D printer used in the production of microscopic materials for pioneering medical treatments, according to the university. The Nanoscribe Photonic Professional GT2 3D printer, as it's called, is the first in operation in Indiana and was acquired with a U.S. National Science Foundation award.

Based on Purdue’s “All-American” Marching Band’s Big Bass Drum, the microscopic version of the drum is only the width of a strand of human hair. Dave Cappelleri, a Purdue professor of medical engineering, came up with the idea for the world’s smallest drum to test out the new Nanoscribe Photonic Professional GT2 3D printer.
Based on Purdue’s “All-American” Marching Band’s Big Bass Drum, the microscopic version of the drum is only the width of a strand of human hair. Dave Cappelleri, a Purdue professor of medical engineering, came up with the idea for the world’s smallest drum to test out the new Nanoscribe Photonic Professional GT2 3D printer.

The printer is housed at the Birck Nanotechnology Center in Discovery Park District, Purdue stated. The drum, on display at Hagle Hall, served as the perfect reference point for Boilermaker faithful.

“Everyone knows what the World’s Largest Drum looks like. People know what the Boilermaker Special looks like. So now we can tell them, this is the same thing — but less than a human hair in diameter. It’s a good visual,” Cappelleri said in the release.

The World's Largest Drum wasn't the only member of Boilermaker lore created microrobotically. With the help of Georges Adam, a postdoctoral researcher in the field, Capperlleri's team also created microscopic replicas of the Unfinished Block P sculpture, the Boilermaker Special and the Class of 1939 Water Sculpture, also known as the Engineering Fountain, the news release states.

Dave Cappelleri, professor of mechanical engineering (left), and postdoctoral researcher Georges Adam are breaking new ground in microrobotics with the Nanoscribe Photonic Professional GT2 3D printer.
Dave Cappelleri, professor of mechanical engineering (left), and postdoctoral researcher Georges Adam are breaking new ground in microrobotics with the Nanoscribe Photonic Professional GT2 3D printer.

The printer is an untethered device, less than a millimeter in size and can be controlled wirelessly, Cappelleri said in the news release.

“We can streamline the manufacturing to make things even smaller, with more detail — and faster,” Adam added, in the release. “So instead of taking about a week to make robots, now I can do them in a few hours.”

Two other Purdue faculty members in biomedical engineering, Luis Solorio and Craig Goergen, also worked on the project.

Creating Purdue University favorites was a fun way to approach a serious need in the field of biomedical applications.

“Microrobots can go places that you just can’t get to with larger-scale robots,” Cappelleri stated. “By developing these robots to go into the body, it allows you to do some really precise operations, whether that be deliver a drug, manipulate a cell, characterize an object, etc.”

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Nod to famous World's Largest Drum, Purdue creates microscopic version