After going through the process of finding a meaningful use for 3D printers, I am quite hopeful that 3D printing can create atoms that benefit us all as opposed to heightening our materialism. As impressive as some of the designs were, especially the mathematical artworks, I cannot be moved to buy those products. Rather, I am a bigger supporter of products that have civic purposes, like learning or even games that train the mind. However, the “learning” products are nowhere near as flashy as the fashion and art accessories.

Perhaps I am overly harsh on the utility of the products. I am concerned with printing products that justify the potential pollution it could cost. Although video and photo pollutions already exist, they can simply be fixed by having digital files turned into thin air. Atoms like plastic, however, linger in the world. Three-D printing might as well do some good.

We already see 3D printing serving social purposes, like producing prosthetic body parts. Like big data, however, printing complex things like organs seems to be a mystery. Students like us only read about these amazing applications of 3D printing on the Internet. Even when we visited NRI where there were some beautiful 3D printed products, we did not see anything that came close to body parts or food. Bioprinting and big data are exclusively reserved for the professionals while students like us are teased with examples of how “sexy” they could be.

Printing for good does not only include bioprinting. It could be things as simple as games that teachers can create to aid their teaching. In the future, 3D printing could solve food shortages, repair scars, provide living necessities for crisis areas, and so on. At this point, printing for good is not yet as mainstream as are other commercial prints. I hope that in the future design thinking firms like Ideo.org will incorporate 3D printing into their humane projects. There’s nothing stopping us from putting 3D printing to good use.