EMSB Teachers About to Embark Upon High-Tech Humanitarian Mission to Nepal

They are volunteering to spend four weeks in Nepal and will bring with them thousands of dollars worth of high-tech equipment to create 3D hands and arms made from plastic which will be provided to people with a disability, free of charge.

It's all part of a program called e-NABLE in Nepal. e-NABLE Canada is part of the e-NABLE community, a network of volunteers who use 3D printing to create the limbs for people in need.

Byron founded e-NABLE Canada. He and Shrestha will leave for Nepal on July 2 and head back on July 28. Their goal is to bring inexpensive, highly customizable, 3D printed hand and arm devices to people in Nepal. Only one in 10 people in need has access to prosthetic or orthotic devices. Access is more acute in low- and middle-income countries.

The Rosemount Technology Centre teachers are bringing with them equipment that will lead to the creation of a permanent 3D printing lab dedicated to the building of e-NABLE devices to be provided to the population of Nepal at no cost.

"We'll be setting up the lab, we'll be starting with the simple cases," Byron said, "just to get the work-flow going. As we continue, raise the complexity, deal with the more and more complex cases, we're also going to have a team in the U.S. that we'll be sending measurements to. So they can spend time on actual design customization so we're not wasting too much time on that in the field. In the field, we can focus on capturing the data, and then printing the devices and then delivering the devices."

Byron and Shrestha will share their experience and knowledge about 3D printing, 3D printing material options, printer maintenance and device customization.

The devices are also inexpensive to create, costing about $50.00 each in materials. The 3D hands and arms are not medical devices. But they can perform tasks such as holding a water bottle or hairbrush.

For Byron, it's about "the satisfaction of helping people." You can help Byron and Shrestha who are raising funds to finance their trip. Donations can be made at fundrazr.com/enableinnepal.