Agustin Cruz
@agustincf

My name is Agustin Cruz. I'm from Chile. I'm an electrical engineer with more than 10 years of experience building laser machines, CNC machines, robots, laboratory equipment among other things. My project consists of an Open source, low-cost 3D Metal Printer for developing and low income countries, using an electron beam to sinter the metal powder

The goal is to make 3D Metal Printing more affordable to the general public, hospitals, small institutions, organizations and companies around the world. Specifically for developing and low income countries. This project fills a gap that no open hardware successfully fills. 3D Metal Printing is an impactful tool. Making it more accessible will democratize science, engineering and empower people. This low-cost hardware will be able to accelerate innovations in and lower barriers to scientific research.

For hospitals located away from major cities, 3D Metal Printing will be practical when supplies run low. This is especially important in farming communities where patients from the nearby fields who come in with work-related injuries could be outfitted with custom splints that are 3D Metal Printed as needed.

We find that entrepreneurs will benefit from this project. Especially early stage entrepreneurs that are not yet financially secure enough to easily afford a 3D Metal Printer. Increasing access for these entrepreneurs ensures greater representation and impact, paving pathways to get these deep-tech innovations more efficiently into the market. Adopting open-source approaches play a key role in this process. The 3D Metal Printer design, plans, videos, schematics will be open and free for any person in the world.

This is what I do fulltime. And it's not cheap. Doing all this takes a lot of time and effort. Now the project is opening to the community inside a crowdfunding model. The design, tests, updates, will be shared so I can receive some support and continue working 100% in this project

You can support the 3D Metal Printer Project here