The team, led by Meredith Rivin, Burke Museum paleontology collection manager, and Steven Weidner, affiliate UW mechanical engineering instructor, is referencing fossils from a Columbian mammoth discovered in Richland, Washington, to scan and digitize its bones.

“Since this mammoth is only 20% complete, we’re scanning bones that we have a left for and not a right,” said Meredith. “And if we don’t have a bone at all, we’re scanning bones from other mammoths and scaling them to fit.”

When we last checked in on the project, the team was scanning and printing out some smaller models of bones to test their technology and processes.

Over the summer of 2017, two UW mechanical engineering students, Banks Hall and Jack Kamel, spent the quarter building out crucial engineering aspects of this monumental project and sharing their work with visitors in the Burke’s Testing, Testing 1-2-3 exhibit. 

For Jack, the focus was on constructing a large format 3D printer that will print some of the larger mammoth bones. For Banks, the focus was on creating mounts for the mammoth so that the structure would stay in place.

“We have over 110 digital models, and we’ll start to assemble them into an actual mounting,” said Steven. “We’re experimenting with different engineering concepts and challenging our students to think about creative ways to engineer mounts to minimize their visual impact while providing the required structural integrity.”

As a result, the team was able to start printing some of the larger mammoth bones that have already been scanned, such as models of the femur and the display holders for the mammoth’s feet.

Article Source: Burke Museum