SEATTLE, Wash. — Washington is one step closer to having a Columbian mammoth on permanent display at a Seattle museum.
University of Washington mechanical engineering majors are using cutting-edge technology to scan the skull of an ancient mammoth skull, unearthed in Nevada.
The scans will be used to build a 3-D model to help re-build Washington’s own mammoth, discovered in Ridgeland.
“It’s kinda like when you scan a PDF into your printer,” mechanical engineer major Tessa Gomes said.
Only about 20 percent of Washington’s Ridgeland mammoth was ever found, including a tusk.
Once scanned, the 3-D skull will be printed at UW.
Students are currently building the printer. It will be about the size of a walk-in closet.
Once complete, the Columbian mammoth will be displayed in the university’s new Burke museum, set to open in 2019.
The museum could also house a mammoth tusk discovered in South Lake Union two years ago.
Cox Media Group
