Team:RHIT/HandsOn.html

We created a hands-on, three-dimensional model of our system so that people could have a more intuitive understanding of our project. To achieve this, the model yeast and the E. coli have the same relative sizes to each other as they have in reality. In addition, they are similar in shape as reality: the E. coli is rod-shaped with flagella and the yeast cell is budding so it is egg-shaped.

We used Solid Edge to design the parts and a 3D printer to make them, courtesy of the Rose-Hulman Facilities department. The printer, a Stratasys Dimension SST1200 professional, is a Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) Technology printer that deposits thin layers of plastic on top of each other to create the model.

Since we envision the yeast and E. coli binding to each other to form a multicellular complex, we gave the yeast holes and the E. coli pegs which can fit inside of these holes. From this model, people can sense how the yeast and E. coli might form the multicellular machine.