PrintLab & Free_D travel to India to deliver hands-on 3D printing workshops to help educate disadvantaged women. 

In order to further cultivate 3D printing technology in the future, it’s important that there’s proper education for both students and adults. These initiatives are even more critical when these lessons are being taught to underserved communities.

The UK-based social enterprise Free_D and the global 3D technology provider PrintLab recently brought 3D printing education to women in India. Using 3D printing equipment and curriculum, the partnership delivered 3D printing courses to shelters for disadvantaged women.

Free_D & PrintLab Help Rehabilitate Disadvantaged Women in India

The workshops, which took place in February, included various 3D printing demonstrations and hands-on CAD training. The group of Indian women were shown how to use popular software programs such as Autodesk’s 123D, Tinkercad, and Meshmixer. They were also introduced to 3D printing technology via Ultimaker.

PrintLab provided educational materials like the Makerversity DIY’s “Make Your Own Cookie Cutter” workshop. This specific lesson provides an introduction to the free entry level 3D modeling software Tinkercad.

Prior to the workshop, some of these women never even touched a computer before. However, they quickly became familiar with both CAD software and 3D printing technology. According to Free_D, the group of women were extremely inquisitive about the lesson plan, despite lacking experience at first.

Katherine Prescott, the CEO of Free_D, says:

“The women we worked with at Kshamata were initially fearful of engaging with computers: mostly they were computer illiterate and very scared of breaking the hardware or getting things wrong. By the end of the first afternoon, they were laughing and comfortable creating and sharing their own designs.”

The series of workshops are just the start for Free_D and PrintLab educational endeavors. Later on this year, the UK social organization plans to introduce a pilot program in partnership with Kshamata.

Together, they will train 10 women to become jewelry makers. This group will receive training in CAD, 3D printing, lost wax casting, and finishing techniques as well. A 3D printing bureau facility will start taking orders in the beginning of 2018, and the group underprivileged female apprentices will earn a fair trade wage for the time spent learning and making.

Source: PrintLab