Recently, 3D printing has received increasing attention due to its boundless potentials. Because 3D printing starts from 3D geometry information, computer-aided design (CAD) is an essential technology to build 3D geometry data. These days, education of 3D CAD for engineering students has been changed from the theoretical lecture to practical design training using commercial CAD software. As a result, open-ended design projects have replaced the traditional theoretical examinations to evaluate students’ outcomes. However, such design projects are not enough to evaluate students’ outcomes because their results are expressed in two-dimensional ways. In this paper, applications of 3D printing in engineering design education are discussed by describing the procedure and outcomes of design projects. It was found that the use of 3D printing could improve students’ outcomes by fabricating real physical models out of their designs.
