World's First 3D Printer Built From E-Waste And Scraps

This story speaks to the determination and imagination some people have when it comes to creating greatness. If you want a 3D printer, and the only way you could get one was to make it yourself, would you be able to do it? How about if the only supplies you had to make it were the pieces of scrap and e-waste found in a pile of trash? That was the situation that Afate Gnikou, an innovator in Africa, found himself in.

The result was one that most people couldn’t even imagine. Afate took that pile of e-waste and created a 3D printer from it. There were a few small parts he was forced to purchase in order to make it work, but at the end of the day, he did it all for about $100.

Afate isn’t stopping here either. He believes his e-waste 3D printer is just one small aspect of a much bigger picture. His ultimate goal is to find a way to take e-waste to Mars to create houses for people to live in. What a fantastic idea and intriguing goal. According to 3ders, he said:

“My dream is to give young people hope and to show that Africa, too, has its place on the global market when it comes to technology. We are able to create things. Why is Africa always lagging behind when it comes to technology?”

According to YouTube, this 3D printer was made from rails and belts from old scanners, the case of a discarded desktop computer and even bits of a diskette drive. It took him several months to put this together. In the video below you can see it in action. I never realized that something so new and useful could be created from nasty old e-waste. This is nothing short of brilliant!