A pair of Edmonton high school students are making toys using a 3D printer.
Saras Agrawal and Rateb Ajamieh founded Prints4Play, which provides 3D printed toys to organizations across the city for free.
“The goal was to actually connect the idea of 3D printing with the ability to donate toys, but there was this gap of sustainability,” Agrawal said.
The teens recycle all of the University of Alberta’s 3D printed waste into usable 3D filament.
“We built our own machine basically over a couple of months that melts that material down then re-extrudes it — makes it into a nice thin line of material that can be fed back into a printer,” Agrawal explained.
The students have made about 1,000 toys so far and will likely double that by the end of the year. They have even had international orders.
“We want to really be beacons of innovation. We want to show others this is something we can do as students,” Ajamieh said.
They hope to keep expanding Prints4Play’s reach.
“Wanting to help the community in a bunch of different ways, not just socially, but also environmentally as well,” Agrawal said.
Watch the video at the top of this story to see a toy being printed.