There’s something bigger and more important than 3D printers at the heart of MakerBot’s 100K milestone. It’s the thousands upon thousands of milestones others have achieved by aspiring to make things better through 3D printing. Amazingly better.
Take the story of Daniel Omar from Sudan. Four years ago, in the midst of the country’s civil war, Omar was tending his family’s cows when a Sudanese government plane dropped a bomb. He shielded himself behind a tree and survived but lost both his arms. Thanks to Not Impossible Labs, a California organization devoted to “technology for the sake of humanity”, he received two prosthetic arms 3D printed from a MakerBot.
For Omar, a milestone is about getting back to what once was and should have always been. It’s about a renewed life with limbs. For Not Impossible Labs, a milestone is about coming to the aid of what might seem like an entire country in need.
It’s easy to think these milestones belong to isolated, one-off stories, but they don’t. They belong to the larger story of how 3D printing is changing lives. For example, the design for Omar’s arms was an iteration based off the robohand design, yet another amazing, inspiring story of one person helping another across the world with 3D printing. And there are so many more stories of 3D-printed prosthetics alone.
Take Dave Drummond, a New Zealand inventor, who wants to give away bionic prosthetic arms for free. Take Half Hollow Hills Community Library who made a prosthetic hand for a child on a MakerBot Replicator. Take the story of Dr. Matt Ratto and his team in Uganda, or the story of Shea Stollenwerk.
Through 3D printing, the innovations that each of us create or iterate upon can empower milestones that change lives. And these milestones have the potential to inspire or empower others to do the same – even from thousands of miles away. At MakerBot, we’re celebrating our customers, our community, and anyone that aspires to innovate because we believe there’s an innovator in everyone. Join us.