3D Printing

Watch Susan Hinton’s Great TEDx Talk About 3D Printing & the Next Generation

Her TEDx talk was called “3D Printing: Empowering a Younger Generation of Makers” and was released on YouTube this past week. In the talk, Hinton speaks about her own childhood as a burgeoning maker, and how 3D printing is giving a whole new generation of kids growing up a chance to make their wildest dreams a reality.

Susan Hinton Ted Talk 3D Printing Industry

TEDx talks are self-organized events inspired by the core TED talks, but not directly endorsed or moderated by them. While the TEDx events are occasionally of dubious and uneven quality due to the nature of their being independently organized, that isn’t universal. You may have to be a little more discriminating, but you’re still going to find a lot of people participating in them.

Hinton’s talk is a lovely reflection on growing up in a world that tells a lot of people what they can’t do, and of her desire to make a world where we tell little kids like her that they can do anything. She is also a board member of SYN Shop, a hackerspace in Las Vegas and is in charge of the rapid prototyping station. You can see the full talk here:

“Our children know how to play, they know what magic is. They don’t know what failure is. You can’t tell them they can’t do something if they know that they can do it. They’re going to go do it. They haven’t lost that magic.” Said Hinton in her talk. “They’re not like us, they’re not looking for the man behind the curtain. Because we’re so scared in believing in magic that we’d rather just find out then take a risk of being hurt or fooled. And I think that we have a lot to learn from children in that respect. And I think that we should actually let them take advantage of this technology in order for us to be able to learn from them”

Hinton’s day job is as a web developer, but she’s also a rather dedicated maker and 3D printing enthusiast. Her current 3D printer is a PrintrBot Junior that she has modified, upgraded and converted until it’s almost unrecognizable.

gear ring 3d printing industryShe also launched a fantastic 3D printed jewelry line on her Owl Posse website in 2011 and her designs are really cool. Including this amazing gear ring that is 3D printed from stainless steel. She designed the ring for nervous people who fidget, so they can turn the free spinning gear as much as they want.