Acknowledgments

The creation of this book has been such a long journey for me. It would not have been possible without the love and support of so many people.

First and foremost, thank you to my partner Jonathan Mulvaney for always putting up with the hours and hours I spend in front of my computer. You are always there to listen and support me. I couldn’t have done this without your enthusiasm, patience, and love.

Thank you, as always, to my mom Rose C. McMills, who is my guiding light, my role model, and my inspiration. A big thank you to all my family and friends. And to Sienna who may be the most passionate 3D printing enthusiast I know. Endless love to our new arrival, Toffee, and to the ones we lost along the way – Cosette and Sneakers. It’s hard to think about Cosette being here through so much of this book and not being here now. I miss you every day. You are my heart. Forever.

A huge thank you to friend and colleague John M. Kennedy for pushing to get our first MakerBot at Cal State L.A. Without you and your support this book would not exist.

Thank you to my editor Stacey Walker at Focal Press (as I will consider it always). You are always so wonderful and supportive. I appreciate your patience and guidance as a partner in crime and friend. And thank you to Routledge for inviting us into the family.

I am overwhelmingly grateful to all the artists, practitioners, pioneers, and tinkerers that not only brought this technology to the masses, but also shared their thoughts and images with me for this book. You have blazoned a great path, and I am honored to share your passions in this text.

There are so many contributors to this book I cannot even begin to list you all by name. Please know that I am beyond humbled by the access you gave me into your worlds and the fantastic images you gave permissions to use. A significant shout-out to Alex Tollington from AVID Labs^® who let me borrow the groundbreaking, first-ever commercially 3D printed lighting fixture to share with my students.

A special thanks to Kacie Hultgren, my technical editor and vast contributor. Without you I may never have discovered this fabulous art form. And to Owen M. Collins who is an inspiration and a great collaborator; thank you for the amazing tutorials.

To John Lee Beatty – it means a lot that you agreed to write the foreword for this book. Your insight is invaluable to its contextualization. What an honor to have you be a part!

I am forever grateful to my test readers – Conor Mulligan, Caroline JL Andrew, Tim McCalister, and Owen M. Collins. Thank you for helping me out of the kindness of your hearts. You helped make this book what it is today.

And, finally, thank you to all of my extremely patient students at both Cal State L.A. and San Diego State University who have learned along the way with me. It is for you that I learned this artform-technology, and it is for you that I write this book.