Innovate. Create. Iterate. Replicate.

Our Mission
Our Mission
Our mission is to empower the members of the community to reach their highest creative and technical potential by connecting them with cutting edge fabrication equipment, safe spaces, and knowledgeable personnel.
Our Vision
Our Vision
Our vision is to accelerate the adoption of advanced manufacturing methods, engineering design processes, and experiential learning by the campus community.

Our Values

Safety
Safety
We strive to cultivate spaces/culture where students and staff have the training, equipment, and authority to ensure the safety of themselves, their workspace, and their peers regardless of background or prior experiences.
Ethical Behavior
Ethical Behavior
We strive to do the right thing holding paramount these values and the welfare of the public.
Growth
Growth
We strive to provide skills, space, and support for Terps to bravely exercise their potential to innovate through practical, collaborative experiences.
Organizational sustainability and continuous improvement
Organizational sustainability and continuous improvement
We develop robust systems and personnel to preserve institutional knowledge.
Meeting/exceeding customer expectations
Meeting/exceeding customer expectations
We will delight the customer by collaborating with them and providing our advanced manufacturing expertise to achieve success.
Respect/Inclusivity
Respect/Inclusivity
Everyone, regardless of background and experience shall have an equal opportunity to feel welcome and accepted. We as an organization will actively identify and work towards addressing barriers and biases.
Environmental and social good
Environmental and social good
We value social good, weigh the environmental impact of our decisions and take action to positively impact our world.
Lifelong connection to Terrapin Works
Lifelong connection to Terrapin Works
Cultivate a network of professionals to enhance personal connections and professional opportunities.

The Makerspace Initiative

The Makerspace Initiative (MSI), initially funded by a generous donation to Terrapin Works by Professor Emeritus Bill Pugh, was created to build a support network for all of the makerspaces on campus. The MSI helps new spaces startup and succeed by providing access to administrivia such as regulatory body approved safety plans for equipment and spaces, as well as access to the collective technological expertise from each of the members. The MSI helps students by working with campus makerspaces to agree on training and safety standards such that students can easily travel from one makerspace to another.

To learn more about the Makerspace Initiative, take a look a the 2021 Impact Report or visit the website

 

Tours

We would love to host your group for a tour of our labs. Individuals on campus can drop in to our lab spaces during regular hours. If you have a large group or are coming from off campus, please complete this form.

 

Policies

Digital Fabrication Equipment
Terms of Use

All digital fabrication equipment and products are provided by The University of Maryland on an "as is" basis without warranties or representations of any sort, expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, warranties of merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose.

The University of Maryland cannot guarantee confidentiality of designs or specific delivery times.

Digital fabrication equipment can be used only for lawful purposes. No one will be permitted to use digital fabrication equipment to create material that is: 

  • Prohibited by local, state or federal law. 
  • Unsafe, harmful, dangerous or poses an immediate threat to the well-being of others. (Such use may violate the terms of use of the manufacturer.) 
  • In violation of another's intellectual property rights.  For example, using equipment to replicate someone else’s designs or articles of manufacture may infringe the copyright or patent in those materials.

The University reserves the right to refuse any requests to use its digital fabrication equipment.  Users agree to abide by policies and procedures established by University units that provide access to digital fabrication equipment.

Adapted from the 3d printing guidelines of Michigan State University Libraries and Oregon State University Libraries.

Safety

Terrapin Works strives to cultivate a safe environment for employees and customers alike. As additive manufacturing is a relatively new space, our safety protocols may change suddenly or without notice. You will always find the most up to date safety information posted on the wall in our locations.

Some examples of safety practices we employ

  • All of our locations have a higher ACPH (air changes per hour) rate than other rooms in the building they reside in.
    • We do this as a preventative measure to lessen the impact of fumes generated by equipment.
  • In locations where power tools are available, eye protection is mandatory & provided.
    • We do this to ensure the safety of everyone in the location.
  • All of our locations have emergency eye wash stations.
    • We do this to ensure proper reactive measures are in place for chemical spills and to ensure the safety of everyone in the location.
  • All of our locations have MSDS (Materials Safety Data Sheet) binders.
    • We do this to ensure proper proactive and reactive meaures are in place for material handling and to ensure the safety of everyone in the location.
  • All of our locations employ access control via the campus swipe card system.
    • We do this to ensure customers and other members of our community cannot accidentally injure themselves on equipment or chemicals in our locations.

Terrapin Works has a distinct brand that is meant to promote cross-departmental collaboration and to provide the campus community with a dynamic and unique identity for an unconventional university unit.

Name

Terrapin Works is two words. Never combine Terrapin Works into one word.

 

TerrapinWorks   ❌

 

Terrapin Works  ✅

 

Font

The Terrapin Works font is DIN Condensed. All headings and other primary content should use this font. DIN Condensed is paired with other official university fonts when used on the web and in print.

Logo

The Terrapin Works logo is an entirely custom designed word mark that incorporates the most common shell pattern of a Diamondback Terrapin into the "o" in works. It is distinct & unique from the campus shell identity. When incorporating the Terrapin Works brand into material, every attempt should be made to include the entire word mark, including the stylized "o" in works. In lieu of using the entire word mark, the stylized "o" may occasionally be used on its own, where approval is given by Terrapin Works. The word mark should always include the stylized "o" in works.

Questions & Brand File Requests

Please direct all questions and requests for files regarding the Terrapin Works brand to terrapinworks@umd.edu. Due to the way the "works" text is stylized, we're not able to make files available for download on our website as there are scaling issues that may present when the logo is resized for different mediums. We are happy to provide you the correct size of the logo for use on your materials.

Job Completion Policy for Terrapin Works Customers

This policy explains what customers should expect from Terrapin Works in our ability to ensure the successful completion of prints and jobs.

Lead Times

Products on PaperCut include lead times for orders. These have been set and may be modified over time to give a best estimate of the longest it will take to complete a job. Oftentimes, jobs can be completed in a relatively short amount of time but in cases where machines break, queues are long or staffing is not 100% jobs may take longer to finish.

Should a lead time not be met due to setbacks, a staff member will let the customer know when to expect a job to be complete. 

Expected Pickup Window

Customers are expected to pick up their parts within a month of them being marked as ready for pickup. If parts remain after this period a reminder message will be sent through the PaperCut comments section. The customer will then have 1 week to respond or pick up their parts before they are scrapped and the order is moved to Technician Canceled.

Communication Over PaperCut

The comments section on a PaperCut order will be the main form of communication throughout the lifetime of an order. Orders are unmonitored after they have been marked as either Picked Up or Technician Canceled at which point customers should email us at terrapinworks@umd.edu with any questions or concerns.

                     


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