River Castelonia is the Co-Founder and Executive Director at HavenLabs, a non-profit being assembled by engineers, programmers, and thinkers. The mission of HavenLabs is to design custom 3D printed prosthetics for American Veterans. HavenLabs hopes to be role models for others in the community and push the boundaries of 3D printing applications.

HavenLabs TEDxTalk @ ManhattanCollege

With the use of 3D scanning technology, HavenLabs will be able to create an exact fit that is contoured to the shape of the amputee’s limb, therefore offering a true extension of the individual. Using this innovative process takes mere minutes, whereas traditional prosthetic molds take hours.

By using 3D printing the team is able to create prosthetics that are not only customized, but also made with unique materials. The 3D design process saves time from having to experiment with expensive molds and allows for flexibility and creativity. Last but not least, 3D printing dramatically reduces the cost of prototyping prosthetics enabling access to millions of people worldwide.

River’s passion for designing, creating and introducing prosthetics for people in need shines through in his vision and in his work. If you know someone who may be in need of a prosthetic arm, whether they are a veteran, pet or just a friend, be sure to consider the possibility of a customizable 3D printed prosthetic.

You can also find HavenLabs on Facebook and LinkedIn. Connect with River on LinkedIn.

Links:

• HavenLabs Website

• HavenLabs Gofundme Campaign

• 3D Printing Industry Article: Havenlabs Launches Campaign to Provide 3D Printed Prosthetics to Veterans

• 3Printr Article: HAVENLABS Provides 3D Printed Prosthetics for Disabled Veterans

• 3D Printing From Scratch Article: Havenlabs Campaign to Give Veterans 3D Printed Prosthetics

Mentioned In This Episode:

• TEDx Article
• TEDxManhattanCollege

You Will Learn:

• How River started with designing for technical and graphical communications and slowly transitioned into 3D printing applications for other people. Eventually this became his vehicle for designing prosthetics.
• LEGO’s and how that has inspired us to become creators today.
• The challenges behind designing prosthetics for amputee’s using the right materials and dimensions.
• The beauty behind interchangeable sockets within prosthetic equipment which allows people to enjoy various hand attachments at will.
• 3D scanning and the ability to take a scan of a person’s limb allows one to do things that were unimaginable before. The massive amount of time saved is another factor that is extremely exciting and cool.
• The creation of the utility gauntlet with attachments (shown above).
• How HavenLabs is more than just 3D printing and is a safe haven for people to get to know each and create an extension of one another.
• The ultimate vision of creating fully functioning lower limb prosthetics for Veterans and amputees and the future possibilities for bio-printing.
• The introduction of Carbon Fiber, Kevlar and new hybrid materials that will be important for the development of prosthetics.
• The future possibility of sending physical objects through a digital medium and the ability to send digital objects to be printed into physical form.
• Why failure is the fastest path to success.
• Challenges behind creating a vision using 3D software and turning that into a tangible, physical result.
• Engineering principles behind product design i.e point of failure, material properties.
• Making the world a better place by being a maverick and an innovator.
• Elon Musk, Bill Gates and other pioneers that have influenced River and his work.
• The philosophies obtained from working at Tesla that translated to HavenLabs.
• River’s top tips for starting a business today.
  • #1 Welcome failure
  • #2 You can’t do it all
  • #3 Culture yourself
  • #4 Passion and loving what you do
• Asking yourself who you want to be, not necessarily what.
• River’s mission of creating value for Veterans within hospitals, communities and underprivileged communities.Enjoy the episode!

You can also find The 3D Masterminds Podcast via other Podcast channels.

Thanks and make sure to share this episode with all the young and inspired makers in your life!

QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What kind of customizable prosthetics would you like to see created that benefit other people and possibly even pets? Please let us know in the comments.

The post The 3D Masterminds Podcast 015: River Castelonia, Co-Founder of HavenLabs appeared first on 3D Masterminds.