New director, new equipment, same old commitment to training engineers who can make things with modern machines and self-confidence

By Patrick L. Kennedy

The whine of a band saw. The sparks flying off a surface grinder. The long list of safety rules—don’t wear baggy clothing, wear goggles, tie back long hair. And then there are the dizzying, button-packed control panels that conduct the futuristic ballet going on inside the 3D printers and other big, mysterious machines. It can be intimidating to walk into Boston University’s Engineering Product Innovation Center (EPIC) for the first time.

But spend a little time there, and the people manning those machines will put you at ease—and teach you how to handle the high-tech equipment yourself. “Everybody there is just so kind and helpful and encouraging, it makes you feel like you’re not limited,” says Anya Keller (ENG’24), a former EPIC lab assistant. “EPIC tries to nurture an environment where people feel comfortable coming in and exploring their curiosities and not being afraid to learn the correct ways to use these tools. And when you use them correctly, they’ll treat you well back, and you’ll make something beautiful.”

Celebrating its tenth year in operation, EPIC is a 15,000-square-foot, multi-million-dollar engineering and manufacturing facility prominently sited on Commonwealth Avenue on BU’s Charles River Campus. More than a machine shop, it’s a space where engineering students—and all members of the BU community—are invited to gain hands-on experience in design, prototyping, and small-scale manufacturing. Whether for class assignments or extracurricular projects, students have been crafting creations there for a decade, with recent examples including a Braille typewriter, a dual-use utensil for camping, a data-collecting river rover, custom typeface stencils—even a laser-cut chainmail dress.

Professor of the Practice Steve Chomyszak, director of BU’s Engineering Product Innovation Center (EPIC).

Under the new directorship of Professor of the Practice Steve Chomyszak (who has for several years taught manufacturing courses out of EPIC), and with the support of industry partners—including PTC, Arrow Electronics, P&G, GE Aerospace, Shark Ninja, and Amazon Robotics—the center recently installed a spate of new equipment and programs. That’s essential to keep the shop up to date, given the center’s mission of training new engineers for the modern workforce.

“EPIC is not a stagnant facility,” says Chomyszak. “It’s constantly improving what it does, so that others can push boundaries further. If we didn’t do that, we’d be making parts out of stone with hammers and chisels.”

On the shop floor at EPIC, students train on the same kinds of 3D printers, laser cutters, waterjet cutters, manual mills, CNC mills, and other machines that they’ll find in the workplace. “We wouldn’t have been able to buy this equipment without those industry partners,” says Chomyszak. “They support us for this purpose: to keep our lab current, keep the technology moving forward, and keep pace with the times, and we strive to do that. It’s expensive to run a place like this, and we could not do it without them.”

Getting up to speed

Putting those modern tools in the hands of students, Chomyszak explains, “allows them to complete the cycle from theory to tactile experience.” And the products they create become a portfolio they can point to.

Tasker Smith, EPIC lab manager

“It’s a blend of giving them self-confidence and competence on these tools,” says Tasker Smith, EPIC lab manager. “Part of that is developing a portfolio, and a huge part of our mission is giving students a pipeline into internships and job opportunities.”

The invisible barrier that newbies might encounter tumbles quickly with the help of Smith, four full-time lab supervisors, and more than 20 lab assistants, who are typically juniors, seniors, and grad students.

“We assume that students walking in are starting at ground zero,” says Chomyszak. “You don’t have to know how to use any of this equipment to come in here. Our staff is trained to help you get up to speed.”

This peer mentoring system turns out to be educational for the assistants as well. “We’re training them to be able to field questions,” says Smith, “but we also tell them, ‘If you get to the limit of your knowledge and you still haven’t answered someone’s question, then grab a lab supervisor, and we’ll all learn together.’ Because they’re also all in their own arcs in learning and developing self-confidence and competence on these tools.”

Even Keller, who already had machining experience from her high school robotics club, learned plenty of new skills during her time at EPIC (as both a lab assistant and a client), including 3D printing, injection molding, sand casting, and more. “I would ask my colleagues for help, because everyone had a different knowledge base and different tools they were more specialized in or familiar with.”

Staff and lab assistants also guide students as they acquire and burnish their skills in computer-aided design (CAD). This is critical, because creating clear engineering drawings is a key first step toward creating a successful product in real life. “The designing and manufacturing processes are interlinked,” says Chomyszak. “You have to understand the manufacturing processes so you can design for them; then you get to push the limits, expand the boundaries, after you have a fundamental understanding of the processes.”

Hit the ground running

Keller says that the entire EPIC experience, along with Chomyszak’s Manufacturing Processes for Design and Production—“that was the most valuable course I took at Boston University”—combined to make her transition to the workforce an easy one. “It allowed me to hit the ground running,” says Keller, who is now a mechanical design engineer at ASML.

The virtuous cycle whereby lab assistants learn even as they teach extends to the non-engineering students they work with. Smith estimates that up to a quarter of EPIC patrons come from other BU schools, including CFA students building elements of a stage set, CAS students building an architectural model, and Questrom students interested in tech entrepreneurship.

“You improve your own knowledge of these tools when you’re teaching them,” says Keller. “Teaching was one of my greatest joys at EPIC. When someone came in not knowing anything about a certain machine, but they were interested and wanted to learn as much as possible; then they came out being able to create, and you’d helped to make that happen—that was magic.”

Anya Keller (ENG’24)

Another valuable skill Keller learned at EPIC: “Finding something to do,” she says. On the rare occasions when no students are walking in—and with as many as 1,300 people making 5,500 visits in a semester, down time is rare indeed—Keller says lab assistants are encouraged to do something. “Sweeping and organizing, putting stuff away—that’s not a remedial task, that’s not beneath you. Building that community of people who care about the shop and want to see it flourish made it a more enjoyable place to work at, and I like to bring that mindset wherever I go.”

Among the new initiatives in this, EPIC’s tenth year, Chomsyzak and Smith have been excited to implement a reconfigured floor plan to make teaching and demonstrations easier; extended evening hours to match typical student schedules; and a credentialing program for safety and accountability as well as resume and portfolio purposes.

Furnishing young engineers with the technical savvy to turn their ideas into reality is not tangential to ENG’s mission, says Smith. “There’s a spirit of encouraging people to use their talents to improve the world and make it a better place. We need skilled engineers to go out and solve problems.”

ENG doctoral student Leo Zamora at EPIC, working on a tiny segment of a medical device for heart surgeries. Photo by Cydney Scott