The CNSI Innovation Workshop is comprised of the main facilities in Elings 3430 and the machining hub in Elings 2442. The Innovation Workshop is used by a wide group of students, staff, and external users in order to reach their fabrication goals. We have 3D Printers, a laser cutter and traditional machine tools in addition to a variety of more specialized tools, such as polymer casting equipment for PDMS microfluidics and our custom CNC glass/silicon cutter.
This Wiki has information about: becoming a workshop user; safety, reference, and training information for the workshop tools; Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs); chemical safety references; and other generally useful reference material for working productively in the CNSI Workshops.
Workshop wizards are undergraduate students who maintain the labs, provide training to users, design new tools, and build parts for users. Dr. Brian Dincau is the workshop manager. Please feel free to contact any of us with questions or ideas that you want to discuss.
3/16/2026
The Bambu H2D is Down. The hotend cooling fan has gone bad and needs to be replaced. Parts have been ordered but no ETA yet.
Most likely, it will not be up until after Spring Break.
3/12/26
After a moderate amount of testing and user feedback, we now only recommend Clear Resin for 3D Printed Microfluidics Molds printed on the Form 4.
While our users had a lot of success with Tough 2k V1 and V1.1 on the Form 3, the new V2 formulation does not work well with PDMS casting.
The upside is clear prints on the Form4 have an incredibly smooth finish, even better than the glossy treatment that we developed a couple years ago.
10/10/25
Fall Update: Wizards are back and training is ramping up.
Over the summer we installed one Form 4 resin printer, as well as a new wash and cure station. For those who are trained on the Form 3 printers, feel free to try the Form 4 – the workflow is nearly identical and up to 10x faster. Once we've used most of our Form 3 consumables, we'll install another Form 4 and retire our Form 3s.
This year we are launching the Future Makers program - a series of field trips and workshops to inspire young students to want to make things. The lab will be closed from 9am - 4pm on November 14 for our first field trip. Please do not plan to access the Innovation Workshop during that time.
Job Submission Google Form
The job submission form allows you to upload files or request correspondence to get a part made by our workshop wizards.
Training Request Google Form
The training request form includes the new user orientation, which is required to become a user of these labs.
Access to the Workshops
Please visit this page for information about becoming a new user and gaining card-key access to the labs.
Please reach out to Brian and/or the workshop wizards with questions or concerns about the lab and its tools!
Lab Manager
Brian Dincau: Elings 3217; bdincau@ucsb.edu; (805) 724-0426
Workshop Wizards
Yanis: yanis@ucsb.edu
Colin: ckwok520@ucsb.edu
Remy: remywong@ucsb.edu
Kenneth: kennethkho@ucsb.edu
Elaina: epace@ucsb.edu
Grace : grace_zhang@ucsb.edu
Flynn: flynnirvine@ucsb.edu
Marcos: marcos150@ucsb.edu
Ava: agraef@ucsb.edu
Feedback