The first couple months of a startup are crucial to whether or not it will be a success. Havenlabs, a young non-profit that seeks to use 3D printing to help veterans, has been making great progress since its launch in January.
Co-founder, River Castelonia, recently gave an inspiring talk at TEDx Manhattan College. He began by contextualizing his background in academia. A lot of people would expect the founder of a tech startup to be a straight ‘A’ student, but this is hardly the case.
Prior to coming to Manhattan College, River had to retake Calculus 3 not once, not twice, but three times! However, he didn’t let this deter him. Inspiration came from thinking back to his grandfather’s stories about the horrors of war, and how he was able to overcome it. River overcame his past shortcomings, and was able to thrive as an engineering student at Manhattan College.
He explains that being exposed to the college’s 3D printing and scanning technology got him thinking about its application to the medical industry, and from there Havenlabs was born. River closes the talk by posing a question to the audience, “The next time that you fail, will you let that make you a failure?”
The Havenlabs team has been constantly working to grow and improve their young organization. Since launching a GoFundMe campaign in January, they’ve used the funds raised to purchase a Formlabs Form 2 printer. The printer’s high resolution will enable the team to create higher quality prosthetics. A couple weeks ago, River also guest-starred on the 3D Masterminds Podcast where he provided insight into 3D printing and engineering related issues. To top it all off, the team has received a scholarship from Google that provides free office space in New York City for summer 2016.
To keep up to date on Havenlabs progress, be sure to check out their Facebook page and join their LinkedIn group.
