Issue 03/2016

Cover story
on which all the fingers were missing. “Of course” Ivan
agreed and, together with Richard the carpenter, created
a prototype hand for Liam. It worked, but it was “metal,
clunky and ugly”, as Jen described it. They nicknamed it
the “Frankenhand”. Yet soon, a far more serious realization
dawned: children grow, and therefore Liam would quickly
outgrow the hand. How to solve this problem?
To make a much longer story short, they decided to try
3D-printing. With the help of two 3D-printers donated by
MakerBot, Ivan taught himself how to code and design.
They created the first PLA plastic hand, which Richard the
carpenter then 3D-printed for Liam. And soon they
realized, that if there was one child like Liam –
there must be thousands in the world… .
Now, instead of patenting the
design – he felt it was too big
to keep for himself – Ivan put
the files online, open source,
in the public domain, so
that anyone, anywhere could
print a hand for somebody
who needed one. And from
there, the project just took off.
A Google+ group and an online
map was created on which people
willing to volunteer the use of their printer
could show their location, so that people who
needed hands would know who they could turn
to. Thus the enable-the-future community was
born.
The group of volunteers quickly grew to
more than 8,000 worldwide today and more
than 2,000 hands have since been printed and
distributed to children around the globe. The
hands, made from PLA, can be scaled to fit any
child’s size. The parts snap together easily. If a
finger breaks, a new one can be printed to fit
the hand.
Then, in the course of the project, “they started
getting creative”, said Jen. “There are LED light
fingertips, there are laser pointers to terrify the cat,
superhero hands, Star Wars hands – you name it,
it’s out there,” said Jen. “The superhero hands are
probably the most popular.”
“These designs are basic hands. They have just a basic
grasping motion. They’re nowhere near as robust as
a traditional prosthetic, but for children who were born
with no fingers and a palm, there was nothing available
for them in the general prosthetic world. And these can
be made for USD 30 to 50, versus USD 3,000 to 5,000
traditional prosthetics would cost their families.” Plus,
they would need a new size every 6 to 12 months.
As time has gone by, families have learned to make (and
repair) hands for their own kids. Children have started to
make hands for other children. Schools, boy scout and girl
scout troops have launched projects to make hands and
ship them to clinics along the Syrian border and to Africa.
Corporal Coles’ whalebone
hand (Photo courtesy Royal
Adelaide Hospital)
“The most beautiful thing about this project is ….
that people are coming together from all over the
world, putting their political, religious, personal,
cultural differences aside, to create a positive
change in the world.”
“Imagine a world where instead
of using new technology destroying
each other people took up the idea of
the enable-community and started
using this technology to give each
other a helping hand. That’s who
we are, and we are enabling the
future.”
After the well-earned standing
ovation from the audience,
NatureWorks’ CEO Marc
Verbruggen announced that
the company would donate
10,000 lbs. of Ingeo filament
to the cause. “It’s a global
initiative, so we have to figure
out how we’re going to get the
filament to the right people,”
he said.
“I can only applaud what you
have done,” he added.
And, speaking from the heart, I can
only say: as can we all. Well done, Jen!
http://enablingthefuture.org
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bioplastics MAGAZINE [03/16] Vol. 11 15