On the 15th and 17th of June 2023, the IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society (AESS) Brac University Student Branch Chapter hosted an online workshop titled “Fusion 360: Unleashing Creativity in 3D Design.” The workshop’s keynote speaker was Mr Arafath Mohiv Munna, founder of 3D Printing Hub, a renowned additive manufacturing firm. In recognition of his extensive expertise in this area, he has been awarded the distinguished title of Solidworks Champion by Dassault Systèmes, and he was formerly a highly regarded member of AutoCAD’s Customers Council. Students coming from a wide variety of academic backgrounds participated in the workshop. Additionally, students from foreign universities also participated in the workshop.
Fusion 360 is a commercial computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), computer-aided engineering (CAE), and printed circuit board (PCB) design software application developed by Autodesk. Being a cloud-based software, it allows collaboration and can work on devices with limited computational power. It also provides design flexibility, cloud-based collaboration, affordable subscription software, parametric modeling, realistic renderings, and sketching. In addition, it provides a vast array of features, including electronics design, generative Design, and 3D printing capabilities. Nowadays, it is very much a popular software for beginners who want to learn 3D modeling from scratch.

The workshop was conducted over two days, beginning with 2D Design and finishing with 3D printing. On the first day of the workshop, the speaker started his session by providing an overview of Fusion 360 and its various applications in real-world situations. Beginning with the software, he offered a concise summary of the software’s user interface. Following that, he proceeded to explain the various 3D design dimensions. Then he started sketching a rectangle in the 2D plane using the previously set parameters. He added height, width, and length to the rectangle, transforming it into a three-dimensional box. While creating this 3D box, he demonstrated some of the software’s features and options (e.g., shell, filet, extrude, pattern, mirror) that can be used to design more complex structures. This simple element provides versatility to any design. In addition, he clarified how to save design files that can be exported from various devices in the future. The first day of the workshop concluded with a productive question-and-answer session.

The final and second days of the workshop included more complex topics like applying joints and constraints between components, creating assemblies, and preparing files for 3D design. The second day of this workshop mainly focused on preparing the Design for additive manufacturing, which includes 3D printing, adding supports, and tweaking parameters to get the best print quality. He started by applying limits to different parameters and limitations that are required for the final printing procedure. Moreover, he showed the process of creating and assembling other parts into a single model. Additionally, he showed some available features that can be used for different real-life simulation purposes. These tools are very efficient for optimizing model parameters in different scenarios. He designed and assembled a cover for the 3D-designed box to show the process. He showed how to use Prusaaslicer and Ultimaker Cura to convert the 3D-modeled STL file to G-code, which is used as an input in the 3D printer for printing. The workshop concluded with a lively question-and-answer session between the speaker and participants. Moreover, he discussed the current condition of the 3D printing market and his perspective on it. He also inspired participants to explore the realm of 3D printing and develop these design skills to stay ahead in the job market. Last but not least, the session ended successfully, with the host and the attendees expressing their sincere gratitude and appreciation to the speaker for sharing his insightful observations and extensive knowledge with them.