3D Printing Can Lift People Out of Poverty

With a little help from 3D printing, Madhu Viswanathan, a professor at the University of Illinois in Champaign, is teaching a new kind of innovation that could help disadvantaged students unleash their creativity and succeed in launching a business.
How does he do it? By combining the technology with marketplace literacy (one’s understanding of their place in a commercial trading system), Viswanathan is helping students visualize a product and actually print a prototype that could provide real insight into commercial development.
Viswanathan, who has taught business to some of the world’s poorest communities in places like India and Tanzania, and his colleagues have imported their international strategy to help America’s poor with business basics.
Ron Duncan, a teacher involved in the extension program, says that 3D printing has unlocked a new door to business opportunity for disadvantaged students in this country.
“The fact that it was prototyped in India and Africa means there are more opportunities in those places. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t people here who are analogues,” Duncan tells Fast Company. “These crippling elements that stop people from unleashing their creativity are present here as they are in any third-world country.”
Duncan uses four phases in his class: He asks students about what they value (a computer, a necklace, etc.), what and where they buy things, if they can view those places from a retailer’s standpoint and finally, what product they would like to create. While these are fundamental questions in Business 101, Duncan says that it’s important to see commercial relationships from all angles before focusing on product prototyping.
His students have created everything from a personalized license plate holder to a seat-belt clip that lets you release yourself in an emergency. Duncan has taught about 250 students, but is aiming to expand the international-turned-local strategy.

“It’s a human nature kind of thing. When people have a lot of economic stress, their capacity to think is greatly hindered. That’s the same in a lot of places. This project addresses that,” Duncan adds.

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How 3D Printing Can Reduce Medical Expenses

Sometimes, it seems like medical expenses cost an arm and a leg (figuratively, of course). And that’s not just the case for patients, but doctors and researchers, too.
That’s all about to change though, thanks to a recent innovation involving 3D printing, syringes and the Michigan Technological University. The research team, led by Joshua Pearce, has created an online open-source syringe pump library — so now, instead of ordering equipment, doctors can download, customize and 3D print their own pump (which is used to give doses of medication or fluids to patients).
All of the designs are customizable and all a physician needs is a RepRap 3D printer, small electric stepper motor that drives liquids, simple hardware and a syringe.
“Not only have we designed a single syringe pump, we’ve designed all future syringe pumps,” Pearce tells Michigan Tech. “Scientists can customize the design of a pump for exactly what they are doing, just by changing a couple of numbers in the software.”
Not only is this more efficient for physicians, but the 3D printing will drastically cut the cost of the equipment as well. While most open-source syringes run about $250 to $2,500, a 3D printed one only costs about $50 (the cost of the materials).
According to the researchers at Michigan Tech, “the development of open-source hardware has the potential to radically reduce the cost of performing experimental science and put high-quality scientific tools in the hands of everyone from the most prestigious labs to rural clinics in the developing world.”
Michigan Tech biomedical engineer Megan Frost agrees. She’s been using the 3D pumps to inject agents into culture cells.
“What’s beautiful about what Joshua is doing is that it lets us run three or four experiments in parallel, because we can get the equipment for so much less,” she tells Michigan Tech. “We’d always wanted to run experiments concurrently, but we couldn’t because the syringe pumps cost so much. This has really opened doors for us.”
Presumably, with the advent of 3D-printed equipment, the financial savings will be passed along to patients. Meaning that going to the doctor’s will soon be a little less painful — on your wallet anyways.
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All That Was Needed to Make This Prosthetic Hand Was $20 and a 3D Printer

If you pay attention to any tech news whatsoever, you’re aware that 3D printing is the latest fad spreading through the industry with labs across the country attempting to outdo each other with their printing projects.
However, SUNY New Paltz (State University of New York at New Paltz) has taken 3D printing to the next level, making it not just a science experiment — but a life-changing program. Last month, the school’s printing lab created a plastic hand for a six-year-old boy with no fingers, giving him a mobile hand for the first time in his life.
Joseph Gilbert was born with a congenital condition known as symbrachydactyly, which left him with a left hand devoid of fingers and one very foreshortened thumb. Although Joseph is a three-sport athlete — playing baseball, basketball and soccer — life with only one hand is no easy task.
So when Scott Paige, a friend of Joseph’s mother’s and a former worker in the prosthetics field, heard about a West Coast engineer who had uploaded a 3D printable model of prosthetic hand, he rushed to SUNY New Paltz.
After hearing from Paige, the school’s Hudson Valley Advanced Manufacturing Center set to work. Assistant director Katherine Wilson worked alongside Spencer Mass, a biology professor; Caryn Byllot, who works in biology and fine arts; and electrical engineering student Adam Carlock to design and build the hand.
While most prosthetics cost about $20,000 or $30,000, the 3D printed hand was made out of only about $20 worth of materials.
When Joseph came in to try his hand for the first time, he was joined by his mother, sister and the members of the team. He tried on the glove and for the first time was able to move his fingers.
How does the robohand work? Well, when wearing the glove, Joseph only has to flex his wrist which then allows the fingers on the hand to grip objects. The Center is continuing to make adjustments to the hand to ensure it is a perfect fit and will be able to make new ones to adjust it as he grows.
Dan Freedman is the Dean of the School of Science and Engineering at New Paltz and used to serve as the Center’s director. For him, the robohand is the perfect use of the technology. “Creating functional prosthetics for children is one of the best examples of how 3D design and printing can be used to build remarkable objects at a small fraction of the cost of standard fabrication methods,” says Freedman.
The creation of the robohand just goes to show that nothing is out of arm’s reach. All it takes is just a little elbow grease, some technology and childlike wonder to grasp what only sounds unattainable.
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This Technology Will Let You Recycle Plastic Bottles to Make Anything

We’ve heard of plastic bottles being turned into beanies, jeans and even a house. Now, with this new 3D printer, you can make just about anything you want from the environmental menace.
The Ekocycle Cube 3D printer from 3D Systems uses filament made in part from recycled PET bottles. From it, the printer can make items such as bracelets, cellphone cases, shoes, and whatever these awesome-looking things are. So far, the filament comes in red, black, white and natural (with reports saying more colors will be coming in the future).
Musician and producer will.i.am, the chief creative officer at 3D Systems, teamed up with Coca-Cola to launch the printer, which will retail for $1,199 later this year.
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While price tag may be a bit much, the Black Eyed Peas band member says this is just the beginning of eco-friendly printing technology.
“We will make it cool to recycle, and we will make it cool to make products using recycled materials,” he said. “This is the beginning of a more sustainable 3D-printed lifestyle. Waste is only waste if we waste it.”
He clearly has a point. The plastic bottle is so ubiquitous that the average American home probably has a few lying around the house right now. According to CleanAir.org, 2.4 million tons of PET plastic is discarded a year, with 75 percent going to the landfills.
So whether you’re turning your bottles into bracelets or tossing them in a bin to be reused in some other fashion, please find a way to recycle every single one.
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This Startup is Producing Beef and Leather Without Harming a Single Cow

It’s a problem any socially conscious meat-lover has — that delicious slab of beef we sometimes call dinner was once a living, breathing, mooing animal. Not only that, but the meat industry is also incredibly harmful to the environment.
We previously reported that America’s love affair with meat is responsible for 14.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions — more than all forms of transportation combined. But what if a flavorful serving of protein were guilt-free?
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As the Wall Street Journal reports, Brooklyn, New York-based startup Modern Meadow Inc. can grow meat and leather in their lab — all without killing a single animal. The company uses 3-D printers (check out the process in the video below) and a process called “biofabrication” to produce meat and leather in the lab with cells taken from animals via a noninvasive biopsy.
And while large-scale production of meat is a ways off, printing leather is already a reality. According to 3Dprint.com, it takes Modern Meadow about 45 days to create one square foot of leather, versus the two-to-three years it takes to raise, feed and shelter an animal.
Sounds like a noble mission to us. After all, the $91.2 billion global leather industry doesn’t just mean a lot of dead animals; its chemical-based dyes, acids, and treatments can be a health hazard and an environmental nightmare, too.
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Modern Meadow CEO and founder Andras told the WSJ that his company is trying to make its leather as affordable as what’s already available on the market, but at even higher quality (no nicks and scars). He’s also finding ways to process the man-made leather without using water and chemicals.
“With the livestock industry being the largest user of land and water and the leading driver of climate change, now is the time to pursue better alternatives,” Forgacs said in a press release. “Our goal is to develop new cultured leather materials with advantages in design, performance, sustainability, and animal welfare. In the longer term, we are also developing meat products that are healthier, safer, and don’t require harming animals or the environment.”
This all sounds pretty sci-fi, huh? While we probably won’t see lab-grown meat sold alongside flank steak at the local butcher anytime soon, it appears the company’s vision is getting closer to reality. Modern Meadow recently received a huge $10 million investment from Hong Kong billionaire investor Li Ka-shing that will help accelerate research and development and expand its facilities.
Would you buy lab-grown meat or leather?
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How 3-D Printing Helps This Girl Move Like Never Before

Hugging, throwing, eating food. Many kids don’t think too much about these simple tasks, but for one little girl named Hannah Mohn, all of these actions were nearly impossible to do on her own.
Born with Arthrogryposis, the rare neuromuscular disease made Hannah’s muscles very weak and severely limited her ability to move. But thanks to innovations in 3-D printing, Hannah can now move, Truth Atlas reports. She’s fitted with a nifty exoskeletal arm called the Wilmington Robotic Exoskeleton (WREX). You can check out how the innovation works wonderfully on Hannah, who is now four years old, in the video above.
There are several benefits to printing prosthetics in plastic. It’s lightweight, which is good for small children, and it’s customizable, which is better than other materials as kids grow bigger. Finally, plastics are much more affordable over metal braces — making it music to any struggling family’s ears.
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Hannah’s mom, Jennifer, was initially told by doctors when she was pregnant that Hannah might not even survive birth. Now, as she told CNN, the world is at her daughter’s fingertips.
“My hope is that she grows up to be as independent as she can,” she said. “I’d love to see her go to college. As sassy as she is and as much as she likes to be in charge, she might run for president someday — who knows?”
She adds, “Up to this point there hasn’t been much that she has let stop her. Whatever it is, she’s going to achieve it.”

Kate’s Hand: Using a 3-D Printer to Build a Toddler’s New Hand

In Huntsville, Ala., there is a sticker-obsessed little girl named Kate Berkholtz, age 2. She is pint-sized inspiration for all wannabe go-getters — a strong-willed toddler who “doesn’t take crap from anybody,” according to her mother, Jessica Berkholtz.
Kate always knows what she wants to do, and she almost always manages to do it. Right now her favorite pastimes include romping around on jungle gyms and skidding down slides headfirst. But as she gets older, some seemingly basic kid activities — like swinging from monkey bars or riding a bicycle — may not come so easily. This is because Kate was born with a congenital abnormality that left only a thumb on her left hand; four fingers are missing.
Prosthetic limbs are an option for children as young as Kate, but they run anywhere from about $10,000 to $50,000, and insurance companies typically don’t cover the cost because young patients will outgrow the devices so quickly. Kate’s family’s insurance would have paid the bulk of the fee, her mother says, leaving the family to come up with the remainder — $3,000 to $5,000 — but the “expense was still a little ridiculous,” Berkholtz says.
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Enter Zero Point Frontiers, a space engineering company in Huntsville that heard about baby Kate’s predicament and volunteered to help. Jason Hundley, the company’s president and CEO, was introduced to Kate’s family through his wife, who runs a local children’s gym that the family attends. Serendipitously, Zero Point Frontiers had recently acquired a 3-D printer, which the company’s engineers quickly set about using to devise and build a low-cost, kid-size prosthetic hand. The engineers uploaded the hand design into the printer via a memory card, which the jet printer then used as a blueprint to guide its spray, back and forth, layer by layer, depositing tiny particles of plastic gradually to produce the 3-D object.
Made out of a biodegradable polymer, the hard contraption fits onto Kate’s forearm with Velcro straps and is powered by her wrist movements. When Kate bends her wrist, the wires that act as tendons tighten, curling the little plastic fingers and allowing her to grip and pick things up.
It’s no small triumph, though the toddler is perhaps more interested in the fact that the prototype she’s testing comes in ocean blue, with neon green digits. Kate initially said she wanted a pink Dora the Explorer hand, says Hundley, but the 3-D printer has only 12 colors, and pink is not one of them. It doesn’t matter — Kate likes anything bright.
Hundley plans to make a variety of attachments for Kate’s hand — a separate one for bike riding, for swimming, for holding the bow of a violin. While adult prosthetics are designed to accomplish a broad range of functions and to last for many years (and to be flesh-toned, of course), Hundley says that the low cost of producing each of the 3-D-printed devices — about $5 for the hand, mostly to cover the cost of the straps and wires, and $1 for each attachment — means that you can make as many as you want and keep swapping them out as the child grows. “This technology brings something that was the price of a car down to the price of a latte,” Hundley recently told the magazine Orthopedic Design & Technology.
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The technology has actually been around for decades. Charles Hull, an engineer, invented 3-D printing in 1984 as a way for companies to model prototypes before firing up their factories and producing a design en masse. But in the last 10 years or so, as prices for the technology have come down, it’s been adapted for other uses, especially in the biomedical field. At Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C., for example, researchers led by Dr. Anthony Atala are using 3-D printers to shape human tissue cells into replacement organs. Atala wowed the world in 2011 when during a TED talk in California he unveiled the world’s first printed kidney. The organs aren’t quite ready for use in patients yet, but ultimately, the goal  is to produce organs, valves and other patient-specific tissues for people in need of transplants.
“This is only the beginning,” says Hundley. “For the first time, they’ve created printers that are less than $5,000. … In the coming years, you’re going to see much, much more of these types of applications.”
Going forward, Hundley hopes to make Kate’s printed hand modular, scalable and open source. That way, anyone can modify it to fit their particular needs, print the hand’s plastic structure and assemble it from anywhere in the world.
For now, he’s made a remarkable difference in the life of one towheaded toddler. Kate is “wanting to do things that her big brother is doing, like ride a bike or ride a trike, hold onto monkey bars, that kind of thing,” says her mom. “And this technology is going to let us do that like any other kid, for, like, five or ten bucks.”
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What If You Could Make Custom Clothes With the Click of a Button?

For fashionistas, on-demand apparel sounds too good to be true. But a new startup called Electroloom is developing a 3D printer that would be able to create basic clothes, like t-shirts and sweaters, with a push of a button. The product, created by entrepreneur Aaron Rowley, is not fully developed yet, but it recently won a grant from Alternative Apparel, an Atlanta-based apparel company that is dedicated to social responsibility and eco-conscious design, due to the product’s focus on sustainability. “Something we are compelled by is embodied energy [which is] essentially the amount of energy that was used to take a raw material to a finished good,” Rowley told Fast Company. “So a goal of this project is to reduce the amount of embodied energy in an article of clothing.”
So far, the Electroloom has managed to print sheets and tubes of polymer fabrics. With support from the Alternative Grant, the team will try more complicated patterns and fibers that more closely resemble cotton. (Natural fibers like cotton are easily destroyed during printing.) Eventually, Rowley envisions the Electroloom brand as an open-source concept, including an online database of workable designs crowdsourced by users. The Electroloom should be ready for an end-of-2014 launch, just in time for the stylish set to print some clothes for fashion week.
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These Scientists Are Helping Blind People Experience the Majesty of Space

The spectacular imagery of distant galaxies captured by the Hubble telescope can make you rethink the nature of the universe. So why shouldn’t blind people be able to experience them too? That’s what motivated two scientists, Carol Christian and Antonella Nota, to create 3D models of Hubble’s stellar data. Their first draft is a series of square panels with what look like topographical renderings of mountain ranges. In fact, the panels are richly textured physical descriptions of faraway star clusters. Dots and ridges indicate different substances, like filaments and dust, while the surface’s varying height is meant to indicate distance. “They would be able to spatially understand where important features are relative to everything else and what the structure is,” Christian and Nota told Gizmodo. They plan to make the CAD files, or 3D blueprints, available to the general public soon.
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These College Students Couldn’t Afford a 3D Printer. So They Built One.

For SUNY Purchase student Shai Schecter, the 3D printer on campus wasn’t a viable option due to its high cost and lack of usability. So Schecter enlisted the help of three friends to build a low-cost 3D printer that uses plastic. The Deltaprintr is a streamlined product that creates prints that are comparable to the high-end printers on the market, but at a fraction of the cost. What started as a project that would make affordable 3D printing available as a learning tool for educational institutions has been met and surpassed, as the Deltaprintr nearly sold out of preorders on Kickstarter in one week alone — an incredible feat for a team of twenty-somethings hoping to close the gap between professional and educational tech.
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