Junior Alina Rohulia, a Ukrainian native, creates 3D printed jewelry to raise money and awareness for the ongoing war in Ukraine. Rohulia is a member of the Show Me Ukraine Society which provides aid to Ukraine through donations.
This photo story follows junior Alina Rohulia through her process of designing, printing and displaying her 3D prints. Rohulia moved from Ukraine in 2022. She is a founding member of the Show Me Ukraine Society, collecting donations and sending aid to Ukraine.
Junior Alina Rohulia works on a 3D printing design for her friend on Sunday, Sept. 17, at Lafferre Hall in Columbia, Mo. According to Rohulia, design ideas come from a variety of places, “either you think of it, or your friends recommend something, or you just go to the website and look for 3D models.”Alina Rohulia works on a 3D printing design. The design is a mix of the Ukrainian Trident and the Star of David. “[My friend is] Jewish-Ukrainian and she wanted to have something to celebrate both of her cultures, religions,” Rohulia said. An array of student 3D printing projects are displayed in the 3D printing lab. Rohulia spends time in the lab even if she isn’t working on a design. “It’s very productive here,” Rohulia said. “If I do homework at home, I’m not as productive as when I do it here. It’s a nice study place.”Alina Rohulia displays a set of 3D printed earrings she made in the Ukrainian colors, blue and yellow. Rohulia has made an array of different designs that people can pick up when donating to Show Me Ukraine. “Most of the designs were taken from online websites and we had different sunflowers,” Rohulia said. “We had lots of cats, we had some tridents for keychains.”Alina Rohulia keeps an eye on the 3D printer as it prints a design for her friend. Rohulia started getting into 3D printing because of her boyfriend — who is also a student from Ukraine. “He was involved in the club even before I came [to MU],” Rohulia said. “It’s not only a nice place to do something with your hands … but also the community here is nice. It is just a safe space for everyone to just come here and chill and not even do anything 3D printer related.”A 3D printer prints Alina Rohulia’s design in the lab of Lafferre Hall.Alina Rohulia watches as the finished product of her design is printed. Rohulia and others from Show Me Ukraine raise donations in Speakers Circle every Wednesday and Friday from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Her designs are displayed and available to anyone who makes a donation. “Basically, people are making donations and it’s also just complementary gifts,” Rohulia said. “I feel like people wouldn’t donate if they didn’t have anything to get.”Alina Rohulia quickly torches the finished design with a heater to get rid of any impurities from the printing process. “You can use the heater to get rid of the small threads,” Rohulia said. “Sometimes when you use a heater, the small things, they bend. When I bend them, I bend them into different shapes.”Alina Rohulia uses 3D printing to raise awareness and donations for aid to Ukraine through Show Me Ukraine Society. “We want to make a small Ukrainian community on campus here because we understand that it is very important to connect with people of the same nationality or the same views or the same ideas,” Rohuila said.
Edited by Michael Baniewicz | mbaniewicz@themaneater.com
