San Diego Events · BELL × Dreaming3D
A Free Advanced Manufacturing Course — and Someone's Walking Home With a 3D Printer
BELL is running a free multi-week course on the technologies rebuilding modern industry, downtown at UC San Diego Park & Market. We're partnering on it — and throwing in a Creality 3D printer giveaway.
Every week someone tells us the same thing at our repair table: "I've always wanted to get into 3D printing, but I don't know where to start — and I don't want to drop hundreds of dollars on a machine I might not stick with."
Fair. So here's the rare answer that fixes both problems at once. BELL — Black Entrepreneurs Leaders & Learners — is running a free Advanced Manufacturing Course in downtown San Diego this summer, and Dreaming3D is partnering on it with a Creality 3D printer giveaway. Learn the skills for free, then maybe take home the machine to use them on. That's about as good an on-ramp as this hobby — or this career path — gets.
Event Ticket · Punch Your Own
| What | Advanced Manufacturing Course + 3D printer giveaway |
| When | July 27 – August 31, 2026 · Monday evenings, 6:00–8:00 PM |
| Where | UC San Diego Park & Market, 1100 Market St, Downtown San Diego |
| Cost | $0 — RSVP required, spots close late August |
| RSVP | bellgroupsd.com — Advanced Manufacturing Course |
What the Course Actually Covers
Advanced manufacturing is reshaping how products get designed, built, and shipped — and San Diego, with its aerospace, biotech, and defense base, is right in the middle of it. This course is a ground-floor introduction to the technologies driving that shift:
- Additive manufacturing (3D printing) — the core technologies, materials, and processes, and how the manufacturing ecosystem around them works
- Automation and robotics — how modern production lines actually run
- AI and smart factories — the "Industry 4.0" layer, explained without the buzzword soup
- Careers and business pathways — workforce trends, supplier opportunities, and how entrepreneurs plug into the advanced manufacturing economy
That last point is the part we'd underline. This isn't a "watch a printer go" demo. BELL's whole mission is building entrepreneurs, and the course connects the technology to real opportunity — a career pivot, a side business, or adding manufacturing capability to a company you already run.
The Giveaway
One attendee takes home a Creality 3D printer — a real, capable FDM machine, not a toy. We're opinionated about this brand for a reason: we run a Creality CR-10S on our own production floor, and we repair and tune Creality machines constantly across San Diego. They're workhorses, the community support is enormous, and upgrades are cheap — which makes them one of the best platforms to learn on.
Honest take: one course won't make you a manufacturing engineer, and one printer won't launch a business overnight. But every print farm, every product company, every maker started with someone learning the basics and getting their hands on a machine. This is that first step, handed to you for free.
Why We're Backing This
We started Dreaming3D because we believe 3D printing shouldn't be gatekept behind expensive hardware and intimidating jargon. BELL believes economic opportunity shouldn't be gatekept either. Putting a free course and a free printer in front of San Diegans who want to build something is an easy yes for us.
And if you win the printer and hit a wall three weeks in — a clogged nozzle, a bed that won't level, firmware weirdness — you already know where to find us. Our mobile repair service comes to you anywhere in San Diego County. If you catch the bug and want to go deeper, our guide to choosing the right filament is the natural next read, and if the course gets you curious about how scanning and printing bring dead parts back to life, we wrote about reverse engineering in San Diego too.
Quick Answers
How much does the Advanced Manufacturing Course cost?
Nothing. RSVP is free through BELL's event page — you just need to reserve a spot before RSVPs close in late August.
How do I enter the 3D printer giveaway?
Entry details are shared through BELL and at the event itself. Attending the course is the surest way not to miss the entry window.
Do I need any manufacturing or 3D printing experience?
No. It's an introduction — foundations of 3D printing technologies, materials, and processes, plus automation, robotics, AI, and smart manufacturing, and how careers and businesses connect to all of it.
What if I win the printer and get stuck setting it up?
That's literally our job. Dreaming3D offers mobile 3D printer setup and repair across San Diego County — call or text 858-342-6984, or submit a request at dreaming3d.net/pages/repair-request.
Grab your seat before RSVPs close.
Free course. Free printer for one of you. Downtown, evenings, no excuses.
DREAMING3D · 858-342-6984 · dreaming3dprinting@gmail.com · @dreaming3dprinting · dreaming3d.net
Already printing? What do you wish someone had taught you before your first print? Drop it in the comments — we might cover it at the event.
Event details (dates, times, RSVP windows) are set by BELL and may change — confirm current details on BELL's event page before attending. Giveaway terms are administered through the event; Dreaming3D does not handle entries directly.