Education 7.27.25 - Flipbook - Page 8
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The Baltimore Sun | Sunday, July 27, 2025
From cadavers to CNC machine,
continued from page 1
Photo by Maximilian Franz for Maryland Engineering
the confidence needed for real-world
patient care.
“It gives me more confidence heading
into clinical settings,” she says. “You feel
more prepared because you’ve already
worked through so many scenarios in a
very realistic way.”
Another standout aspect of the
Anatomage Lab is the way it fosters
collaborative learning. Unlike traditional
study tools, which often encourage solo
cramming, the lab becomes a space for
conversation, group discovery and shared
problem-solving.
The digital tables also offer flexibility across disciplines. While Rankstad is
studying occupational therapy, the lab
is used by nursing, athletic training and
speech-language pathology students as
well. Each group can tailor their sessions
to focus on the body systems most relevant to their training, which Rankstad
sees as a huge benefit.
“You’re not just memorizing a nerve,”
she says. “You’re thinking about how that
nerve affects speech or movement. It
helps you think like a clinician.”
Yet for all its cutting-edge features,
the lab still instills an important lesson
in respect – one that mirrors traditional cadaver labs in an unexpected way.
Rankstad notes that even though the
bodies on the tables are digital, she and
her classmates are encouraged to treat
them with the same reverence they would
if they were real human donors.
Now in her final phase of doctoral training, Rankstad credits the lab with helping
her develop the technical knowledge, professional confidence, and collaborative
mindset that she’ll carry into her future
university, serving research labs, student
groups and individual makers. Orders
range from components for robotics
teams to structural parts for biomechanics experiments.
Communication is key, especially since
the makerspace is largely run by student
staff. From woodshop to metal lab to
electronics, each division requires collaboration and coordination across roles.
Mark says that even though students
might be working in different specialties,
they often rely on each other to complete
complex orders.
“You’re learning how to communicate technical details, delegate tasks,
and make sure everything is aligned,”
Mark says. “It’s not just about using the
machines. It’s about managing the full
production process.”
Terrapin Works offers training to any
student or researcher interested in using
While the technical skills are impressive – CNC machining, laser cutting, CAD
modeling – the deeper takeaway for Mark
has been how this experience translates
to career readiness.
“One of the most important things
I’ve learned is how to design parts that
are actually manufacturable,” Mark says.
“Understanding that early saves time,
money and effort. It prevents redesigns
and sets you up for success in a realworld engineering role.”
That understanding isn’t always something taught in lecture halls, which is why
Mark believes makerspaces like Terrapin
Works are essential.
“This is where you take everything
you’ve learned in class and put it into
practice,” Mark says. “And it’s where you
realize what’s actually possible – and what
isn’t – once you try to build it.”
For students like Mark, the space isn’t
career. And while the Anatomage tables
may look high-tech, their true value, she
says, is in how they deepen students’
understanding of what it means to care
for others.
“It’s a special opportunity,” she says.
“And I’m really grateful to be a part of it.”
In a corner of the University of
Maryland’s College Park campus, what
starts as a sketch in a student’s notebook
can quickly become a precise, functional
prototype. That’s the mission of Terrapin
Works, one of the country’s largest university-based makerspaces, where students
are turning designs into real-world solutions using professional-grade machinery.
For Emily Mark, a senior mechanical
engineering student with a minor in robotics, working at Terrapin Works has been
a defining part of the college experience.
“The hands-on experience is incredibly
valuable,” Mark says. “It complements all
the theoretical coursework we do – equations, problem sets, classroom lectures.
This job gave me the opportunity to actually build the things I design.”
One of Mark’s recent projects involved
fabricating small, high-tolerance brass
plates for use with an electron beam The Terrapin Works makerspace is largely run by student staff. Photo by Maximilian Franz for Maryland Engineering
microscope. The order came with tight
specifications that required the use of a
the space. Whether it’s a first-year engi- just about machines or materials. It’s
precision three-axis CNC milling machine.
neering major looking to 3D print a cus- about confidence. It’s about learning to
To ensure accuracy, Mark used Fusion
tom bracket or a grad student designing solve problems under real constraints. It’s
360 to adjust CAM settings, reran the
a test fixture for a research project, the about preparing for a future in engineering
parts multiple times, and measured everymakerspace encourages a do-it-yourself by doing the work now, not later.
thing with a micrometer – sometimes
“I know this has made me a stronger
approach, supported by staff like Mark
down to the micron.
who help guide users through the pro- candidate for jobs,” Mark says. “But more
Terrapin Works operates as a profesthan that, it’s made me feel more precess.
sional environment within an academic
“There’s a real community here,” Mark pared. I’ve worked with machines, with
setting. The space handles hundreds of
says. “People come in with ideas, and we clients, with deadlines. That’s something
projects each semester from within the
no textbook can teach.”
help figure out how to make them work.”
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From The Princeton Review. Used with
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