A 3D printed Hand Brings The Crowd To Their Feet

Earlier this year, I shared my story about open source designs and my 3D printed prosthetic hand to a room of 4,600+ at Intel’s Annual International Sales Conference in Las Vegas. I joined Jon Schull on stage, the founder of e-NABLE, an online group dedicated to open source 3D printable assistive devices.

The reaction we got from our talk was unexpected—and it was one of the most awkward and exhilarating experiences of my life.

Jon thought I would be a good candidate for the Intel talk because I'm an active member of the e-NABLE community. I am involved in Research & Design, making these 3D printed prosthetic hands, and I actually use one myself. My hand was made from open source design files that are being shared all of the world at this very moment, and the hardware was made from a 3D printer and other materials you can get at a hardware store.