We recount an August 2019 fire in a laser cutter in a university makerspace, resulting from an attempt to cut closely-spaced lines in foam-core board. Student emergency response to this incident was suboptimal, and the resulting investigation revealed at least one other similar fire that went unreported. Lessons learned from the incident relate to establishment of technical design standards that respect the limits of safe machine operation, recognition that students using makerspaces are generally novices on the use of equipment, and changes to training to incorporate adherence to technical standards and improvements in emergency response & reporting training.

Don't cut that! Lessons learned from a laser cutter fire

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.