Tag: democratization

This week’s class is full of talks and activities. I personally learned a lot form the second and the third talks.

The second speech is on how 3D printing influences the healthcare industry for people with special needs. Previously, I knew 3D printing was starting to play a huge role in the industry, but I didn’t realize it has already revolutionized people’s lifes to this extent. The speaker, John Hornick, shared some key elements on the influence: innovation, democratization, customization, any part/anywhere/any time, bio-printed replacements, and biomechanical products. Among them, democratization is something that I didn’t expect. I have learned how 3D printed products can be customized to each individual and can be produced anywhere. This makes the production of personalized products on various scales possible. What I didn’t consider is that due to this feature, the technology enables everyone to access and create objects. I regard this as a crucial factor because this allows more people to design and make what they have in minds into reality. By making more people access to innovation, we can see more creativity emerge in different industries that meet more personalized wants and needs. In the future, it may be possible that everyone can bring their ideas into reality, and everyone can benefit from creativity easily because the products can be carried out in all area of the world.

This echoes with the third speech we have from Jeff Ginger of the CU Community Fab Lab. During the talk, we learned what Fab Lab offers to the public. The speech reminds me of the WeWork that I have been to in Shanghai, China and Israel, and I believe this kind of business model can significantly change how people work and enable more people to realize their ideas. In the WeWork in Israel, it has an innovation lab. People at WeWork can get access to all those expensive machines by paying a fee. This encourages entrepreneurship and makes startups to be able to survive at the initial stage since they can scale according to the demand instead of buying all the equipment they need. This is what Fab Lab offers as well. People just need to pay a material fee, and they can access all those expensive equipment. More importantly, the lab is open to anyone in the community. According to Jeff, the Fab Lab is accessible to anyone who has the interest; even homeless people can come to the lab, which is not very common in other labs. Equal accessibility and affordability enable the community around the Fab Lab to learn and express their creativity. As Fab Lab expands its footprint on a global scale, it brings democratization and customization to all over the world.