SEATTLE — 3D printing, or additive manufacturing, has taken the 21st-century world by storm because of its almost unbelievable capabilities. From simple figurines to guns, 3D printers are a revolutionary step in the manufacturing sector.

The process includes drawing a design on a computer, which is then transferred to a machine that places layers of thin plastic on top of each other to create the object. Weeks and months have been taken off the usual design process, and now companies all over the world are using it to create more complex objects. Here are some ways products made via 3D printing can stop poverty:

1. Weather Stations

The main reason 3D printing shaves time off production lines is because it makes the parts needed for products extremely fast. Instead of the usual $10,000 price tag of weather stations, a community could get a station for as low as $200 with 3D printers.

Weather stations are important because, in so many developing countries around the world, there is no way in knowing when natural disasters are coming or how to calculate the impact of the disaster. Most countries suffer immensely from costs of trying to build up a country after a natural disaster occurs.

2. Clean Drinking Water

Access to clean water reduces mortality rates, as “over 3.4 million people die every year from water-and-sanitation relate issues, 99.9 percent of those being in the developing world”.

A company called Liquidity Nanotech has created “the Naked filter” which is placed in an innovative water bottle that makes it easier and more effective for a filter to remove impurities from the water. The filter is made via electrospinning 3D printing and is able to not only remove impurities but also block popular microbes that infect water in developing countries

3. Prosthetic Limbs

Only 2 percent of those in the world who need a form of a prosthetic limb have access to one. Not having a prosthetic limb when one needs one not only inhibits their employment opportunities but also their quality of life.

Prosthetics are especially expensive, yet 3D printing can lower these costs-immensely. Organizations like the Victoria Hand Project utilize 3D printers to create upper-limb prosthetics and works with healthcare providers to make the prosthetics available in developing countries.

4. Homes

Although less seen around the world at this point, there is the potential to build homes through 3D printers. A Chinese company called WinSun Decoration Design Engineering produced 10 single-story homes in 24 hours. The houses only cost $5,000 to build and were equipped with plumbing, electrical wiring and insulation.

This innovation could, in the future, either decrease or eliminate the presence of slums in many urban areas of the developing world. Many communities around the world have traditional ways of creating homes that are unsanitary and unsafe structurally.

5. Transportation

From cars to trucks, bikes to minibusses, 3D printing is altering the transportation industry immensely. The possibility of bringing transportation to poverty-stricken areas would affect all parts of life for the people within these communities.

Whether it is transporting water from a well that is fairly far away to being able to go to school, transportation in rural areas would truly benefit. The first 3D printed mountain bike was made in 2014 in the United Kingdom. The bike mimicked another model from the company, Empire, and remained as strong and rideable as the original bike with a frame that was 700 grams lighter.

Although many of these innovations are not yet readily available to the general public, with the fast-paced, technological world we live in, there is no doubt that many of these products will be on the market soon. Many companies, charities and organizations have already taken charge of providing these products to individuals all over the world.

According to Harvard Business Review, “within five years, one can expect to see fully automated, large-quantity manufacturing systems that are extremely economical.” Over time, the 3D printing process will become even faster, allowing companies to push out these low-cost, strong and lightweight products to help the world’s poor.

– Ashley Morefield

Photo: Flickr