Kao ICS Provides Upgrades with New 3D Printers, Expanded Hours & Workshops
In an effort to enhance the student experience and support creative growth, the Kao Innovation & Collaboration Studio (Kao ICS) has upgraded several features of the student-operated makerspace. Among the changes that launched in the fall of 2026 are new 3D printers, extended hours, and increased workshop opportunities.
Located on the ground floor of the Zeanah Engineering Complex, Kao ICS provides tools, resources, and a collaborative environment for students across the University of Tennessee campus to build and turn ideas into reality.
Kao ICS has expanded operation hours on Monday-Thursday from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. and Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. to give students more opportunities to visit after the most popular daily class windows.
Upgraded 3D Printers
Kao ICS has replaced older 3D printers with new state-of-the-art modern 3D printers. The makerspace now has 24 in the main print farm and others that are open to students on a case-by-case basis.
“The 3D printing has been a massive use service for us,” said Associate Professor of Practice and Kao ICS Manager Jeff Foote. “We’re expecting the quality of the prints to go up quite a bit, which should increase their use in student projects from freshmen all the way up to senior design projects.”
CNC Machining Workshops
Foote and his staff have transitioned CNC machining classes into a workshop format. Instead of taking labs over a full semester, students can take them in three-week blocks. The shift allows Kao ICS to increase the number of people who can participate each semester from 24 to nearly 36.
“It’s still the same kind of time commitment and covers the same material; it’s just taking away the requirements of it being a class,” Foote said. “Any students who still want to get class credit can still complete a project with me, so the class opportunity is still there. The Department of Mechanical Engineering still honors it as a tech elective.”
Welding Space Expansion
Kao ICS has added another welding machine to the Welding Shop to bring the total to six. The expansion of the space will allow five people to participate in welding workshops, which Kao ICS began offering last year. The workshops will also increase from once a week to twice a week, with classes on Monday and Friday afternoons.
“The demand is really high for welding. A lot of students don’t necessarily have a specific project they are working on; they just want to learn how to weld,” Foote said. “We are trying to provide those workshops to introduce them to the tool and give them some projects to immediately begin working on if they want.”
Shared Gathering Spot
Selected rooms on the second level of the Kao ICS are being made available to student groups and organizations to gather, much like a shared workspace for entrepreneurs in the business world.
“Some of them don’t have the best spaces currently to work in, and we want to provide a small space that they can call their own,” Foote said. “Then, there’s a larger space where they can collaborate amongst themselves and hopefully have some cross collaboration with other groups that are also using the space.”
Contact
Rhiannon Potkey ([email protected])