3D-Printed Ice Cream Keeps MIT Students Cool

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Happy National Ice Cream day! July 19th, this Sunday, is National Ice Cream day in the United States. It’s time to stop by your favorite local ice cream stand or track down the ice cream truck circling your neighborhood. With the hot July weather driving people into their air-conditioned houses, public pools, and sprinklers, this wacky holiday is the perfect way to cool off.

Not only is Sunday National Ice Cream day, but July is National Ice Cream month. According to the International Dairy Foods Association, President Ronald Reagan began this national ice cream movement in 1984.

During last year’s National Ice Cream month, students at MIT discovered what just might be the future of the delicious dairy product..and no, it’s not Dippin’ Dots…it’s 3D-printed ice cream. Three students, Kyle Hounsell, Kristine Bunker and David Donghyn Kim, combined a Cuisinart ice cream machine with a 3D printer to create an ice cream printer. The printer is kept in a small freezer and blasts soft-serve ice cream with liquid nitrogen to solidify it.

What inspired these bright students to print this cold treat that President Reagan hailed as a “perfect desert”? They cite a desire to get younger students excited about the possibilities of technology.

“We were inspired to design this printer because we wanted to make something fun…in a way that we could grab the attention of kids,” Bunker told 3ders.org. “We felt that it was just as important to come up with a new technology as it was to interest the younger generation in pursuing science.”

While the printer isn’t available for commercial sale just yet, you never know what future may hold. As you wait to own your personal ice cream printer, you can always try printing your own ice cream scoop designed in SolidWorks. It may not be edible, but it’s still pretty creative.

At Dassault Systèmes, we’re always excited to see what the innovators of the future are up to, especially when it’s as delicious as ice cream!

*Cover image credit: “I Scream, You Scream — This Ice Cream’s A Real Dream” by peddhapati is licensed under CC BY 2.0

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Molly Gately

Molly Gately is a passionate writer, who is excited to be a part of Dassault Systemes' North American Public Relations team. Molly has covered a variety different industries in her career, including automotive and tech. She has been published both on the web and in print. Most recently, she wrote for the Milford Daily Newspaper.