Advanced Manufacturing for Secondary Schools
Through engaging with secondary school students and teachers, I-Form hope to inspire the next generation of manufacturing talent to join our evolving industry, and help address the growing skills shortage in advanced manufacturing and engineering.
I-Form is working with schools and teachers across Ireland to explore exciting ways to bring manufacturing learning to second-level students. See below to access resources and to learn more about current, past and future initiatives.
Transition Year (TY) Initiatives
I-Form team members based at several universities across Ireland are regularly involved in the STEPS Engineering Your Future (EYF) TY Programme. The EYF programme offers in-person experiences at third-level institutes and industry organisations nationwide. Click here to read more about the programme.
I-Form has also organised work experience placements, lab visits and other events for Transition Year students - please get in touch if you would like to explore opportunities for your students.
Worldskills Ireland
Worldskills Ireland is a partnership between enterprise, industry, education, training and government that raises the profile and recognition of skills and apprenticeships and prepares the talent of today for the careers of the future. In 2025, the event attracted more than 37,000 attendees, largely secondary school pupils. I-Form sponsored the Additive Manufacturing competition at the event, providing a platform to raise awareness of manufacturing careers and to engage with secondary school students about their interest in STEM fields.
3D Printing Video Resources
3D printing tutorial videos were developed by 3DWIT, in partnership with I-Form, under the 'Manufacturing in the Classroom' project in 2021/22, funded through the Research Ireland (formerly Science Foundation Ireland) Discover Programme. The project, a partnership with JCt4, aimed to upskill teachers in the use of 3D printing technology.
The videos provide useful tips for teachers who want to enhance their 3D printing skills. Topics include unboxing a printer, how to level a print bed, and how to maintain a printer. Visit the 3D printing videos section
Read about the project background and development.
Design Thinking
Want to learn more about how to bring Design Thinking into the classroom, in the context of 3D printing? Download the free resources below created under 'Discover Manufacturing', an EIT Manufacturing project that ran in 2021, with project partners Stryker and I-Form in Ireland and the UK; and FEUP (University of Porto) in Portugal.
- Design Thinking for 3D Printing (teacher guide)
- Design Thinking for 3D Printing PDF (student guide)
- 3D printing tips and tricks (PDF)
Shaping Your Future
Transition Year students, primary schools and teachers were engaged in a partner project between I-Form and Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR) in 2019 and 2020/2021. The project was funded through the Research Ireland (formerly Science Foundation Ireland) Discover Programme. Read about Shaping Your Future.