3D printing has been around for a while, but the global development community is only recently exploring how it can be used for social change. From printing low-cost prosthetics to providing basic supplies after a disaster, 3D printing’s potential to benefit society is undeniable. These were the kind of topics we set out to explore with participants from 10 different countries in TechChange’s first 3D Printing for Social Good online course.

We started the course with a deep dive into 3D printing, examining how it works, how it can be used, and the tech ecosystem in which it exists. We enlisted the help of guest experts like Jeremy Simon of 3D Universe and Colin McCormick, who brought us a live 3D printing demo. Course participants also had the opportunity to learn more about free CAD tools and practice creating digital 3D models of objects, as well as find a makerspace or Fab Lab near them.

Then we examined how 3D printing is being used for social good through the work of e-NABLE, techfortrade, and Field Ready, and course participants had the opportunity to interact with key stakeholders in each organization. Based on the insights from our sessions with e-NABLE’s founder Jon Schull, Matthew Rogge of techfortrade, and co-founder of Field Ready, Dara Dotz, participants discussed the potential for adapting the models of these organizations to create change in their own contexts.

Finally, we focused on the challenges and opportunities in 3D printing for social good. In particular, we learned how 3D printing fits into the larger Maker Movement and explored how the methods, mindsets, and tools adopted by the Maker Movement could be leveraged for social good with the help of guest experts Robert Ryan-Silva of DAI Maker Lab and Kate Gage of USAID Global Development Lab.

Here’s a recap of our guest expert sessions:

  • Gabriel Krieshok of the US Peace Corps spoke from his experience implementing technology solutions and shared his excitement about the potential that 3D printing holds for underserved populations living in low-resource settings.
  • Jeremy Simon of 3D Universe shared his experience with a variety of 3D printing technologies and demonstrated the power of 3D printing on a personal level by discussing projects he has worked on with his family and the e-NABLE community.

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Sara and Colin, during the 3D printing demo

  • Colin McCormick brought us a live 3D printing demo, walking us through the process of finding, modifying and printing an object from a digital 3D model he found online. In addition, he described his experience building a 3D printer from a DIY kit.
  • Matthew Rogge of techfortrade explained the work that he’s doing in Latin America with ethical filament, and in East Africa with 3D printers made from e-waste. Through both of these projects, techfortrade is using locally-sourced materials that are available in abundance to improve livelihoods and increase access to 3D printing technology.
  • Jon Schull, founder of e-NABLE, provided insight into e-NABLE’s crowdsourced model for providing low-cost prosthetic devices to people in need, and the future of the e-NABLE Community Foundation.
  • Dara Dotz, co-founder of Field Ready spoke about her experience 3D printing in extreme environments, from implementing Field Ready’s pilot program to 3D printing medical supplies in Haiti, to designing a 3D printer used in the International Space Station with ‘Made in Space’. Dara demonstrated how 3D printing can disrupt the supply chain in both extremes by dramatically reducing costs and the time it takes to access or produce parts; recycling, reusing and reprinting parts; and prototyping and producing tools from waste.
  • Robert Ryan-Silva of DAI Maker Lab talked about how increasing access to maker tools, such as 3D printing, CNC tools, and electronic building blocks, can help people create, champion, and iterate upon solutions that meet their needs, in their own context.
  • Kate Gage of the USAID Global Development Lab provided examples of innovative solutions that have come out of the Maker Movement. She also stressed the need to create pathways that help makers apply their skills to some of the world’s greatest challenges and create viable, human-centered solutions.

While all the developments in the field of 3D printing are exciting, it is important to understand that implementing 3D printing technology in low-resource settings comes with a few challenges. Limitations like slow print speed, the resilience of 3D printed objects and 3D printers themselves, and access to resources like filament and a steady power supply to complete a 3D print job are important realities to consider when taking 3D printing to low-resource settings.

3D printing technology is advancing at a rapid pace to address some of these limitations. Far greater than the challenges inherent in 3D printing, conversations with guest experts and among course participants, as well as the projects highlighted in this course, have demonstrated the potential that 3D printing holds for social good- from improving healthcare delivery, to creating breakthroughs that can contribute to sustainable global development.

Who are the other players using 3D printing for social good? Or if you own a 3D printer, what are you using it for? Comment below or tweet at us @TechChange

About author

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Sara Pitcairn is Co-Director of Instructional Design at TechChange, where she works with clients to develop and design custom online learningexperiences , ranging from webinar series to facilitated and on-demand courses. She is also the facilitator for TechChange’s 3D Printing for Social Good course. Prior to TechChange, Sara taught middle and high school STEM courses at the Barrie School, where she also led an Engineering Product Design program for high school students. Sara graduated from Yale University with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, which sparked her passion for design thinking and human-centered design. In her spare time, Sara enjoys reading, traveling, and perfecting her guacamole recipe.

By Samita Thapa and Sara Pitcairn

The possibilities for 3D printing are endless. While this may scare some of us, the potential for innovation is exactly what excites us here at TechChange! Imagine being able to quickly manufacture reconstruction materials for disaster response, 3D print homes in refugee camps, or 3D print a human heart to save a life.

But this cutting-edge innovation can also seem difficult to wrap your head around. How does it work? How do you begin? Here is an example of how an idea can become a product through 3D printing:

Dr. Boris Paskhover at the Yale School of Medicine saw a need for a portable transnasal laryngoscope with image and video capture capabilities. A transnasal laryngoscope is a handheld medical device that allows Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) physicians to examine a patient’s voice box and diagnose and treat ENT disorders (such as cancer of the throat or thyroid). But the equipment that captures images and videos from a laryngoscope, an endoscopic tower, is expensive and difficult to transport, making it infeasible for use outside of a hospital setting.

Laryngoscope and Endoscopic Tower

Imagine
Dr. Paskhover imagined an easier way to visualize the results of a laryngoscope examination. By using his Phone camera and an app called Luma to produce higher quality video and pictures, he could see the results anywhere. To start with, he created a makeshift attachment to secure a laryngoscope to his iPhone case. But ideally, he imagined a more robust solution for his work in rural settings outside the U.S.

Dr. Paskhover's make-shift  attachment for his iPhone 4 case

Dr. Paskhover’s make-shift attachment for his iPhone 4 case

Design
He worked with Sara Pitcairn, TechChange’s Co-Director of Instructional Design, during her senior year at Yale University to bring his idea to life. Through an iterative, human-centered design process, Sara modeled, prototyped and 3D printed an iPhone case with an interface aligning the eyepiece of a laryngoscope with an iPhone camera. The iphone case allowed Dr. Paskhover to capture high-quality photos and videos of his exams with patients without the need for an endoscopic tower.

Designing and testing the 3D printed iPhone case

3D Print

See the 3D printed iPhone case in action:

This is one of many examples of how 3D printing is helping fill gaps that exist in healthcare. There are countless applications in other fields, and especially in disaster response and international development.

Do you have other examples of how 3D printing is being used in your communities? Share them with us in the comments section or tweet at us @TechChange

If you are are interested in learning more about the potential 3D printing offers in your field, join Sara in our upcoming course on 3D Printing for Social Good. We will look at applications of 3D printing in a variety of contexts, along with the challenges and opportunities as the field continues to advance. After the four weeks of the course, you will have a solid understanding of 3D printing so that you can see its potential for your field of practice. We will look at case studies and examples of where 3D printing is being used today and will help you find a maker community, as well as connect you with experts using 3D printing for social good.

The course begins on May 4, we hope you can join us!

As a Star Trek fan, I found the most amazing technology on the TV show to be not the ship cruising faster than the speed of light or even the life-saving tricorder: it was the replicator…or actually the “Holodeck”. These machines allowed the futuristic Starfleet crew to conjure up a real item, on command, be it Earl Grey tea or a prototype warp engine. They were able to go from idea to physical object in mere moments, with only their imaginations as the limiting factor.

Holodeck in Star Trek

Holodeck in Star Trek

Photo credit: Memory Alpha

3D printing is the closest invention to the Holodeck that we have today. The 3D printing industry has become a bit of a darling to futurologists, venture capitalists, and magic-bullet seekers aplenty—and for good reason. According to a report by the research company, Canalys, the industry is going to grow by 500% over the next five years, becoming a $16.2 billion industry by 2018. Given this estimate, it’s no wonder that 3D printing is being seen as disrupting the manufacturing industry and heralding a new industrial revolution.

A 3D printer at the TechChange Office

And despite the hype, they might be right. There are several ways that 3D printing can change and improve lives. Here’s why 3D printing will change the world as we know it:

1. 3D printing is advancing STEM education.

I put this one first because I believe it really is the biggest and cannot be overemphasized. Education, and specifically STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), will be the single greatest beneficiary of 3D printing technologies and investment. These low-cost, simple, and fast 3D printers offer something that remarkably few technologies do: integration and application of school subjects in an engaging way. Students, in an effort to simply make things, are teaching themselves design, programming, prototyping, iteration, and production—all without realizing it. A school in Pasadena recently acquired a 3D printer and has already experienced the collaborative and creative problem-solving it allows among teachers and students. Teachers will tell you that getting students to solve challenges and learn the skills along the way is infinitely more effective than simply working through textbook chapters in a detached and uninspired routine.

Pasadena school students 3D printing in their classrooms

Pasadena school students 3D printing in their classrooms

Photo credit: Southern California Public Radio

2. 3D printing adds an entirely new dimension to repairs and customization.

Repairing items with 3D printing isn’t simply about cheaply replacing a broken wall hook (though it can do that too). For much of the world, a hardware store within 200 miles is a luxury. I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Madagascar, and the repair and tinkering abilities of my Malagasy friends was jaw-dropping. They would build lanterns out of tomato paste cans, and once use a cigarette filter on the gas line of his car to get us home. 3D printers can level-up the capacity of these folks the world over, and in ways that we can barely anticipate.

A time lapse video of a 3D printer at TechChange’s office

3. Healthcare and prosthetics got a new sub-field.
The most obvious application in 3D printing has so far been in the field of medicine, biomedical devices, and specifically prosthetics. In the world of artificial limbs for example, 3D printers are absolutely fantastic not because they completely upend traditional prosthetics, but because they benefit from it and supplement it in really powerful ways. Whole hands, arms, casts, and splints can be customized to fit individuals and their unique conditions. This area addresses probably more than any other sector, the “why” of 3D printing.

3D printing prosthetics

3D printed prosthetics for children during e-NABLE’s visit to TechChange

4. 3D printing is making the manufacturing industry more competitive than ever.

With the help of 3D printing, small-scale, adaptable, and distributed manufacturing will be competitive. Really competitive. It’s not going to happen tomorrow, but it’s moving in that direction. When you start adding up the landscape infrastructure where there is greater build quality, flexibility with a greater number of materials and sizes (Shanghai WinSun Decoration Design Engineering Co, is already 3D printing houses), and all at lower costs—a model emerges that competes directly with current industries at current wages for a large number of applications. It’s altogether possible that the phone you buy in the future will come built custom for you from a machine down the block; and probably also delivered via drone (which in turn would probably also be 3D printed).

Although we are still in the early days of 3D printing, there is still so much to learn, and new printers, materials, and ideas are coming into focus everyday. This is why the timing is so critical and the opportunity so golden to be a visionary and imagine all that we can accomplish through 3D printing.

What would you request in your own Holodeck/3D printer that could solve the world’s challenges? Let us know in the comments and/or tweet us @TechChange.

Interested in learning how 3D printing can promote social good? Enroll now in this online course.

With the emergence of the 3D printing industry, how can 3D printing help kids who need upper limbs and fingers?

Join us in a free webinar discussion with e-NABLE, a global online community of humanitarian volunteers designing, building and disseminating inexpensive, functional 3D-printed prosthetics for children.

3D Printing Prosthetics:

A conversation with Jon Schull & Jeremy Simon of e-NABLE
January 22, 2015 at 10:00-11:00 am ET
Register here.

Please register in advance to participate in this free live event. If you cannot attend the event live, the session will be recorded and archived so anyone will still be able to sign up to see it after January 22.