Machinist School - Temple Grandin, Designer/Engineer

How to build and design things ... how to deal with panic attacks .... why people eat jello and yogurt .... what do cows think about .... surviving social problems .... getting through school ...
This is a documentary/biography/success-story about Dr. Temple Grandin, autistic/aspberger individual. Lots of strategies for success. G-rated video .... Blockbuster is one source.

Machinist School - Makerbot, Thing-O-Matic, Sketchup

Machinist School now has its very own Thing-O-Matic ..... it arrived in less then the six weeks lead time expected. It is a kit that involves soldering and using shrinkwrap tubing. The really cool thing is that it apparently interfaces with SolidWorks (a 3D CAD program).
When you draw something using SolidWorks, one option is File/Print. Under the Print menu, one selection is "3D PRINT". Selecting 3D PRINT eliminates the need to save the file as .STL (a stereolithography file).
The next question is regarding Google's Sketchup. The FREE DOWNLOAD of SKETCHUP has similarities to SolidWorks but is very limited in its file-sharing formats. Maybe the pay-for-it version of Sketchup has 3D PRINT?