On the surface, a space station and a remote mountain village might not seem like they have much in common. But Samantha Snabes, a former Social Entrepreneur in Residence in NASA?s Open Innovation Program, sees connections where others might see only contrasts. In both cases, she says, ?you need technologies that require few user inputs, that are lightweight, that are affordable, that require little electricity, where you have to deal with access to clean water and clean air as well as living in hostile environments.? For Snabes, technology is something that can tackle problems on a global level ? and beyond.
Although bringing cutting-edge technology to developing areas might seem like an overly ambitious goal, Snabes?s earnest, infectious enthusiasm makes it easy to believe that anything is possible. Whether working with huge data sets from space satellites or designing a eco-friendly toilet, Snabes brings passion to the table ? and what?s more, a heartfelt belief that her work can help everyday people improve their own lives.
Now, Snabes forms part of the re:3D team working on Gigabot, one of the largest 3D printers available for home use, which is in the midst of an overwhelmingly successful Kickstarter campaign. Through re:3D and Startup Chile, Snabes is roaming northern Chile to learn ?how indigenous communities might dream big by using massive-scale 3D printing. We spoke with her and her re:3D co-founder, Matthew Fiedler, to learn more about how 3D printing and other mass-collaboration technologies could change the world.
The intersection of science and service
Snabe?s passion for tech stems from an early childhood dream. ?To be honest, my whole life, I wanted to be an astronaut,? Snabes told us. Unlike many would-be space adventurers, however, Snabes actually did something about it.
Snabes would go through the White Pages every year and look up astronauts that might be in the Detroit or Michigan area and then meet up with them and their families for dinner. ?I was like, ?Hey! I?m eight years old, I want to be an astronaut, how do I do it??? Snabes told us. ?They just always really encouraged me to pursue technology ? and I was really fortunate that what I enjoyed was technology.?
At the same time, Snabes remained equally passionate about outreach and community empowerment. As a teenager, she founded a small-animal science club through 4H; and as an undergrad working on stem cell research, she volunteered as a firefighter and EMT. Perhaps it?s no surprise then that she would draw connections between developing tech and the developing world ? an intersection that she calls ?social entrepreneurship.? Snabes believes social entrepreneurship involves creating sustainable, large-scale change.??I just see huge potential now with the advances we have in material science, open-source technology, and mass collaboration to allow other individuals to achieve their own dreams,? she said.
Big data meets big vision: the Pineapple Project
As part of her NASA work, Snabes proposed a project for the International Space Apps Challenge that brought together her interests in agriculture and global communication. In doing some travel with Engineers without Borders and Opportunity International?in Africa and Central America, she says, ?it seemed to me that sometimes farmers in the field, or NGOs, recognize opportunities to utilize unused land to grow crops, [but] sometimes the crop that was planted maybe wasn?t the correct species for the area.?
In response to the need for better tropical crop information through satellite data, Snabes helped organize a San Francisco-based hackathon, which, in other words, was an intense digital collaboration session. The Pineapple Project, as it was called, drew participants from far-flung locations such as the Dominican Republic, Chile, and Kenya. ?What we found out was that climate data really isn?t organized right now,? Snabes said. ?Some of it comes from space, some of it is taken at field sites, and sometimes the data sets are in binary.?
Naturally, the Pineapple Project rapidly expanded to other organizations and organizers in order to tackle this enormous challenge. But Snabes couldn?t be happier to sign over her control. ?It just goes to show, through mass collaboration, you can have an idea ? and people who are really experts can inform it and can guide it and take ownership of it,? she said.
Enter Gigabot: large-scale printing for global needs
Nowadays, Snabes forms part of what she affectionately calls a ?little group of cowboy scientists? wandering?northern Chile with Gigabot, a larger-than-life 3D printer. While brand new tech like this might not seem like the most natural fit for the needs of indigenous communities, Snabes emphasizes the possibilities of 3D printing in hard-to-reach places, especially when shipping is prohibitively expensive. ?I see 3D printing as providing a platform, especially now that it?s lower-cost, for people to make solutions and innovations that are relevant locally.??
A vast span of 3D possibilities
Snabe?s colleague, designer Matthew Fiedler, is quick to emphasize that Gigabot will become an open-source project as soon as possible. ?The actual machine itself will be open-source once our Kickstarter campaign is over,? Fieldler said. Eventually, the team hopes to launch an international forum full of collaborative 3D designs.
However, the team is wasting no time in soliciting printing ideas. Chilean museum curators, for instance, voiced interest in bringing the dead to life, so to speak.. ?They have these mummies in Chile that you can?t touch because they?re preserved,? Snabes said. ?But potentially, they could use a scanner to scan this mummy and then print some of the bones they can?t look at up close, and then make things for children to understand it.?
Additionally, in Atacama, Chile, an indigenous tribe requested a 3D flamingo, ?which represents water, and has a big spiritual component to them,? Snabes said. Other locals wanted to see reproductions of nearby landmarks such as geysers, mountains, and churches. ?We?re just the canvas ? and people are just painting on it,? Snabes said. ?It?s amazing to sit back and hear the dialogue.?
A multi-dimensional future
Will we soon see a time when 3D printing?becomes a part of day-to-day life? Fiedler?certainly believes so. ?It would be exciting to see them in libraries, in community centers, in every school, so that even if not everyone has one, everyone will have access to one,? Fiedler said.??If we can actually democratize manufacturing and bring it to the common person, we?re enabling people to have so much more power over their daily lives.?
Meanwhile, Snabes says that she?s most enthused about green 3D printing using recycled plastics. At the same time, she emphasizes that she doesn?t want to compete with other 3D manufacturers and designers, and would rather collaborate. ?We?re just a group of friends, makers, creatives, and academics, just trying to figure it out with everyone else,? Snabes said.?
In any case, the Gigabot team certainly seems on track to help make 3D printing a household reality. The Gigabot kickstarter campaign has already raised more than triple its goal. ?We have people from six continents already who have requested a Gigabot!? Snabes said. ?We want to do the best job that we can in sharing our vision and incorporating theirs.?
So far, Snabes?s ?cowboy scientist? approach has definitely helped others become as enthusiastic as she is about the future of 3D printing. Now, with Gigabot?s opportunities for mass online collaboration, the whole world has the potential to join in Snabes?s work ? which is, after all, just how she likes it.
[Image via?NASA]
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