|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Troy Leishman became a student leader at Western University through moxie, resilience and a quest that led to a timely coincidence. The chain of events opened more doors for the entire campus community to bring ideas to life with specialized tools and technology in the makerspaces in the Ronald D. Schmeichel Building for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
Before arriving at Western, Leishman had already co-founded a 3D printing and prototyping company, grown it to a team of six, operated a retail storefront and taken on contracts with companies like Nestlé and Ford. He later wound down the company and enrolled in mechatronic systems engineering at Western. The reputation of the faculty drew him in, though his interest in the discipline stems from its applications beyond engineering.
Troy Leishman, Western engineering student and president of 3D Western (Colleen MacDonald/Western News)
“I’ve always wanted to be an entrepreneur, not necessarily an engineer,” Leishman said. “But being able to understand all the mechanical, electrical and software aspects of a technical business is invaluable when you’re leading a team.”
By his second year, Leishman stepped into leadership as president of 3D Western, a club for enthusiasts of 3D printing, the technology that creates three-dimensional physical objects from digital files. While eager to design and build, members were often frustrated by limited access to printers and disappointing results from home machines. That set Leishman on a mission.
“I wanted to make 3D printing free and available to all students, not just engineering, to benefit Western as a whole,” he said.
How a 3D printing project grew into student-led innovation
Leishman’s instinct for social impact goes back to his high school days during the pandemic. He used his home 3D printer to produce face shields for 10 health-care organizations, financing the donation with his own fundraising. His efforts – recognized by MP Peter Fragiskatos in the London North Centre Honour Roll – laid the groundwork for more service-oriented enterprise.
Leishman’s ambition to source industrial printers that all Western students could access led him to K3D Technology in Montreal. The company was upgrading its equipment and willing to donate 24 industrial 3D printers. The catch was that he had nowhere to house them.
The search for a space brought him to the Schmeichel Building, an innovation hub for students and founders to explore entrepreneurial thinking, build prototypes and start new ventures. There, leaders from Morrissette Institute for Entrepreneurship were undertaking their own ambitious plans.
“We’d set up two makerspaces intending for them to eventually be student-run creativity incubators for all Western students,” said Eric Morse, executive director of Morrissette Entrepreneurship. “We were ready to think through how to get the right students leading them, and then Troy came to us. The timing was amazing.”
Leishman’s self-starting initiative was in motion. He drove a rented truck to Montreal and brought the printers back to London, Ont. He had more conversations at Morrissette about the possibilities and mobilized a team of students from 3D Western. The momentum didn’t stop with the 3D printers.
The students set up operating procedures for running each makerspace as an open-access workshop. They handled day-to-day operations, with Morrissette coordinating supporting projects such as the installation of the ventilation needed to safely run 24 additional 3D printers.
What are Western’s makerspaces?
- Hands-on work spaces where students, faculty, staff and alumni of Western University can build, test and refine product ideas
- Sabourin Family Foundation Makerspace offers tools for working with wood and metal, including stationary power saws, hand tools and a CNC machine
- Digital Makerspace offers fabrication technology including 3D printers, laser cutters, water cutters and sewing machines
- Students have free access to equipment, materials and technical guidance
- Volunteer makerspace supervisors welcome users and help them safely operate the tools and technology
Students build community and AI-powered future for makerspaces at Western
By the end of Leishman’s third year, the team had grown to about 50 students working to get both makerspaces fully operational by the start of the Fall 2026 term. The team also built and tested a new 3D Western website, a gateway to the makerspaces where students can submit 3D printing requests, book equipment and discover training, mentorship and events.
Kendra Green, an entrepreneur-in-residence at Morrissette, supported the team while giving Leishman room to grow as a leader.
“I wanted to make sure he had the runway to accomplish what he wanted to,” Green said.
With that backing, plans reached the leading edge. Now the team is developing a fully automated, AI-enabled 3D print farm. The system is designed to review submitted designs, provide instant design feedback to help students learn, optimize files and then route jobs to available printers. The process would dramatically expand access to 3D printing while reducing material waste and wait time.
Leishman recognized that high-tech alone wouldn’t draw students in – it would take a welcoming culture to make them feel comfortable using the makerspaces. His team focused on supporting students from all faculties, regardless of prior building experience. Last year, the club ran twice-weekly workshops that helped students earn certification on certain machines or simply discover what’s available.
The club also led trial open-hours days, when the makerspaces were open to walk-in traffic. Twenty students signed up to be makerspace supervisors who helped users safely explore the tools. Some came back to develop projects they’d started.
“We saw students light up with even more ideas once they got involved. The biggest potential of the makerspaces isn’t just the tools and materials, it’s the culture where everyone can feel inspired and lead their own ideas with the support of the community that forms in them.” –Troy Leishman, Western engineering student and president of 3D Western
From student club to campus-wide makerspace leadership
The mission Leishman set for 3D Western, to make 3D printing free and accessible to all students, expanded with its evolution from a hobbyist club to a partner of Morrissette Entrepreneurship. The student organization now leads both the Sabourin Family Foundation Makerspace and the digital makerspace in the Schmeichel Building.
“The students continually amaze me,” Green said. “They’re working diligently in all areas including marketing, development and onboarding the next group of makerspace supervisors.”
Students can apply to be a makerspace supervisor, a volunteer role where they help users work with tools and technology, share their existing skills and learn from other makers. As they assume a key role in operating and growing the makerspaces, they’ll build technical, teaching and leadership skills.
Surrounded by tools in the Sabourin Family Foundation Makerspace, engineering student Troy Leishman has helped build a culture of creativity, collaboration and innovation that welcomes students from every faculty to Western’s makerspaces. (Colleen MacDonald/Western News)
“It’s an incredible opportunity for students to take ownership of the spaces,” Leishman said. “In leading a small team, I’ve been learning life lessons about how culture works, navigating systems and showing appreciation for the people around you.”
Morse credits Leishman’s success as a student leader to his technical aptitude and teaching skill, combined with an ability to motivate and rally others behind shared purpose.
“Troy really cares about two things – student learning and community building – and it shows,” Morse said. “He’s already put together a succession plan for the next 3D Western president to ensure a seamless transition and long-term success,” he said.
Morse hopes the makerspaces will become an essential part of the student experience at Western, not just an extracurricular option, where cross-disciplinary innovation thrives.
“We’d like students from every faculty to build prototypes for a business, but if we are able to spark creativity in students who wouldn’t otherwise have had the opportunity, that’s a win for us.”
Learn more about how Western is preparing future leaders and global citizens.
