Even with finals completed, the Architecture Library’s Makerspace is buzzing with activity in the week leading up to graduation. 

Established in 2013, the Architecture Library Makerspace provides resources to students, faculty, and staff interested in anything three-dimensional, including modeling and printing.

The steady hum of 3D printers fills the space, producing one last creation for graduating architecture students, but it’s not a model for class or a critique. The finished piece — called a GradCap — is personal and will become part of their wardrobe as they enter Notre Dame Stadium for commencement and leave as alumni.    

“A lot of what we print has some kind of value to the student,” Matthew Noffsinger, Architecture Library makerspace and graphics specialist, said. “It may be sentimental or something they’ve worked on throughout the semester. Some students will make prints related to their thesis or recreate a famous building in their hometowns. I think we even have a student doing a model of the Death Star this year.” 

The tradition of attaching 3D models to architecture graduates’ caps goes back more than a decade. Going back even further with hand-created models. Noffsinger has helped students 3D print their GradCaps since joining the Architecture Library in 2024. 

These final projects are a departure from the rigor and pressure of academic work. “It's a nice, fun thing we can do for them as they transition,” he said.

On the Monday before graduation weekend, the makerspace specialist already printed a dozen caps, had five additional requests in the queue, and expected more throughout the week.   

“There is a week until the ceremony, so we will have more come in,” he said. “We will probably be printing models and attaching them to caps an hour before the ceremony begins.”

Noffsinger already knows many of the students he is printing GradCaps for this spring. Most have taken the workshops he leads throughout the year. There, he introduces students to SketchUp, a 3D modeling software used for printing. While the workshops are open to anyone on campus, most fourth- and fifth-year architecture students sign up.

“A lot of them have no experience with 3D modeling,” he said. “I take pride in getting them from knowing nothing to being able to create something.”

Each GradCap takes approximately 24 hours to print, though the time can vary depending on the model’s size. As the printers hum inside the Makerspace, Noffsinger reflects on why he does this for the graduates.

“It makes me proud to make this accessible for them,” he said. “The GradCaps are something students are excited about, and they make them stand out. They’re using skills they’ve developed during their time here for fun, but it is also a skill set they’ll use in the future.”