Meet Luke and his 3D printed e-NABLE hand
We love nothing more than to shine the spotlight on those who are using Ultimakers to make a real difference to people’s lives. One such story is that of e-NABLE. Made up of a global network of over 5,000 volunteers, e-NABLE designs, prints and donates “helper hands” free of charge to children and adults using Ultimaker 3D printers. They work closely with people to find a 3D printer near them to print and assemble the pieces, or the hand files can be downloaded and printed at home. Pretty cool huh?
This is empowering thousands of people like Luke Dennison, or as he’s known by his friends, Little Cool Hand Luke. Eight-year-old Luke was born without the use of his left hand, so his father Gregg took it upon himself to find a solution to help his son. Gregg connected with e-NABLE, and now uses an Ultimaker 2 3D printer to create a number of different functional hands for Luke so he can hold and pick up objects. Watch the inspirational film of their story above.
I feel a strong sense of pride as a father that my wife and I are able to provide my son with a new hand. Through e-NABLE and our Ultimaker 2 3D printer, we are able to come up with a new hand whenever he needs one. Luke loves being able to pick the colors of his hand and show new designs off to his friends at school. e-NABLE and Ultimaker have made it easy for me to give my son the life he deserves.
- Gregg Dennison
Luke is able to play outside using his e-NABLE hand
The global e-NABLE movement
e-NABLE has started a worldwide movement of people who want to make a difference through 3D printing. The incredible assistive hand designs provide people with moving fingers if they are able to bend their wrist.
As Aaron Brown, e-NABLE volunteer explains: “Being able to provide someone with a new assistive hand not only changes their life but also mine and everyone working with e-NABLE. Our volunteers come together to create, innovate, re-design and give a ‘helping hand’ to those who need it – whether it’s helping to print parts, creating a completed device or simply helping to guide others as they build one themselves.”
Community member Aaron uses his Ultimaker 3D printers for e-NABLE hands
Everyone at Ultimaker takes their hat off to e-NABLE’s commitment to help those in need through 3D printing. As our CEO Siert Wijna said: “Ultimaker is honored to be a part of this ground breaking movement in medical technology. Our desktop 3D printers are the perfect tool for anyone to be able to print assistive hands at home with the help of e-NABLE. Ultimaker is also excited to see where the organization takes the possibilities of 3D printed assistive devices in the future.”
Luke proudly shows off the first e-NABLE hand that his father Gregg made
This is just the beginning and we’re extremely excited to see what the future holds for 3D printing and the positive effect it will have on people’s lives.
If you haven’t already, watch the story of Luke and e-NABLE here. You can check out Luke’s Facebook page here. And also make sure to visit e-NABLE and either donate or start 3D printing e-NABLE hands!
To learn more about the Ultimaker 2 3D printer that both Gregg and Aaron use to 3D print e-NABLE hands, click on the button below.
Disclaimer: Ultimaker 3D printers are designed and built for Fused Filament Fabrication with Ultimaker engineering thermoplastics within a commercial/business environment. The mixture of precision and speed makes the Ultimaker 3D printers the perfect machine for concept models, functional prototypes and the production of small series. Although we achieved a very high standard in the reproduction of 3D models with the usage of Ultimaker Cura, the user remains responsible to qualify and validate the application of the printed object for its intended use, especially critical for applications in strictly regulated areas like medical devices and aeronautics.