Mar 29, 2016 | By Alec
Educators right here in the West are increasingly becoming aware what 3D printing can achieve in classrooms to inspire the next generation of scientists, but one British researcher has found that the technology’s educational power transcends simply getting kids into STEM specialisms. Travelling to mountainous Peru, Dr Timothy Whitehead from De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) has found that custom 3D prints are actually perfect for educating lawmakers and the wider population about the acute dangers of natural disasters such as flash floods, landslides and mudslides.
3D printing expert Whitehead recently teamed up with UK-based NGO Practical Action, which uses the latest technologies to challenge poverty and abysmal living conditions in Latin America, Africa and India. “We find out what people are doing and help them to do it better. Through technology we enable poor communities to build on their skills and knowledge to produce sustainable and practical solutions- transforming their lives forever and protecting the world around them,” the NGO explains, principles that have already resulted in projects on sustainable energy, efficient agricultural solutions, urban water and waste management, and disaster risk reduction.
In particular, Whitehead sought to add 3D printing technology to the specialisms of Practical Action, and travelled to the poor regions of Peru for a test study. He did so especially because he felt that the technology’s potential for improving quality of life was underappreciated. “For me, the possibilities are really amazing. The way objects are created through 3D printing means we can create more complex parts and components, we can create geometrically intricate constructions,” he explained on his university’s website. “We can, in short, think completely differently about how to solve existing problems in our world.”
But when travelling to Lima, Peru, he actually found that local natural disasters were just as dangerous as the extreme poverty, crime and unsanitary living conditions that the Peruvian people were subjected too. “I was expecting to print engineering components, but one of the first things Practical Action wanted me to help with was to print a 3D topographical map of the areas of poverty in Lima. This showed, in clear detail, how landslides were a real danger and what would happen in their inevitable event,” he explained.
This is actually a subject more relevant than ever right now. The 2016 El Niño is already strongly affecting Latin American economies, with unusual droughts destroying harvests and flash floods and landslides making the mountainous regions very dangerous indeed – precisely the regions where people are travelling to in search for economic possibilities. With the help of these 3D printed topographical maps, Whitehead and the educators from Practical Action where able to reach across language barriers and explain to locals and lawmakers how realistic and predicable threats are. “We were then able to use this to explain to people living there why we needed to make changes, to have safety measures put in place,” the researcher explained.
What’s more, Whitehead felt that this is an educational breakthrough enabled only by 3D printing. “Traditional manufacturing is quite limited: you need clear designs and production lines. With 3D printing we can be more creative; there's no way traditional manufacturing could so easily have produced that map,” he argued.
Acting as a kind of proof-of-concept in Peru, 3D printing is now also used to manufacture other helpful tools, including parts for water purification systems and weather sensing equipment, which can also be used to improve survival rates and quality of life. “The aim for me is to establish a regular collaboration and really explore the potential of 3D printing. If we can create a working model of helpful measures, we could look at whether this could be exported to Africa, Asia and so on,” Whitehead said.
Initially, this research collaboration is expected to last until June 2016, but Practical Action is already looking at how 3D printing can be applied in their other target countries as well. “We're really excited to be collaborating with De Montfort University. 3D printing could be a disruptive technology, leap-frogging traditional design and manufacturing processes,” said Paul Smith Lomas, the NGO’s Chief Executive. “It could mean that people in developing countries are able to access new products faster and cheaper than they would in the past, making their lives better. You could call it a sort of democratization of technology. At Practical Action we call it 'Technology Justice' and it is something we want to encourage more of.”
Posted in 3D Printing Application
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