On Saturday, I went to the GIST Hub’s RepRap 3D printer event… it was really interesting to meet people who build and develop their own 3D printers. I learned a lot, and it was pretty refreshing that an enthusiast’s group welcomed noobs to come and see what is entailed in designing and building a 3D printer.

My interest in 3D printing is less about the machines, and more about what these machines allow a person to do- but the current state-of-the-art of 3D printing requires that I engage with the community… as soon as my MakerBot arrives (the purchase order went through today!) then I’ll be putting back- I already have a list of stuff to print & upload to thingiverse.com.

Of course, for my PhD one of the main questions to answer is how can a person be empowered to design stuff themselves… for instance, if I gave someone who has a chronic condition the means to design their own medical products, what would the results be? I’m currently planning my first case study (which will be 2 design projects happening simultaneously), ready for the spring. I’ll be inviting people to take part via tumblr, twitter and via volunteer patient lists & stuff like that.

You can see more of Andy’s ‘Stretched Huxley’ RepRap at his blog- AKA47