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A new project in Madagascar is rethinking the foundation of education-using 3D printing to create new schools.
The non-profit organization Thinking Huts collaborated with architectural design agency Studio Mortazavi to create the world’s first 3D printing school on a university campus in Fianarantsoa, Madagascar. It aims to solve the problem of insufficient educational infrastructure, which in many countries has resulted in fewer children getting a good education.
The school will be built using technology developed by the Finnish company Hyperion Robotics using 3D printed walls and locally sourced door, roof and window materials. Then, members of the local community will be taught how to replicate this process to build the school of the future.
In this way, a new school can be built within a week, and its environmental costs are lower compared to traditional concrete buildings. Think Huts claims that compared to other methods, 3D printed buildings use less concrete, and 3D cement mixtures emit less carbon dioxide.
The design allows individual pods to be connected together in a honeycomb-like structure, which means the school can be easily expanded. The Madagascan pilot project also has vertical farms and solar panels on the walls.
In many countries, especially in areas lacking skilled workers and construction resources, the lack of buildings to provide education is a major obstacle. By using this technology to build schools, Thinking Huts is seeking to expand educational opportunities, which will become particularly important after the pandemic.
As part of its work to identify promising technology use cases to combat COVID, the Boston Consulting Group recently used contextual AI to analyze more than 150 million English-language media articles published from December 2019 to May 2020 from 30 countries.
The result is a summary of hundreds of technical use cases. It has increased the number of solutions more than threefold, resulting in a better understanding of the multiple uses of COVID-19 response technology.
UNICEF and other organizations warned that this virus has exacerbated the learning crisis, and that 1.6 billion children around the world are at risk of falling behind due to the closure of schools designed to contain the spread of COVID-19.
Therefore, returning children to the classroom as quickly as possible and safely is essential for continuing education, especially for those who do not have access to the Internet and personal learning equipment.
The 3D printing process (also known as additive manufacturing) uses digital files to build solid objects layer by layer, which means less waste than traditional methods that usually use molds or hollow out materials.
3D printing has completely changed the manufacturing process, achieved mass customization, created novel visual forms that were impossible before, and created new opportunities for increasing product circulation.
These machines are increasingly used to produce a variety of products, from consumer products such as sunglasses to industrial products such as car parts. In education, 3D modeling can be used to bring educational concepts to life and help build practical skills, such as coding.
In Mexico, it has been used to build 46 square meters of houses in Tabasco. These houses, including kitchens, living rooms, bathrooms and two bedrooms, will be provided to some of the poorest families in the state, many of whom earn only $3 a day.
Facts have proved that this technology is relatively easy to carry and low cost, which is essential for disaster relief. According to the “Guardian”, when Nepal was hit by an earthquake in 2015, the 3D printer perched on the Land Rover was used to help repair the flying water pipes.
3D printing has also been successfully used in the medical field. In Italy, when a hospital in the hard-hit Lombardy region was out of stock, Issinova’s 3D printed ventilation valve was used for COVID-19 patients. More broadly, 3D printing may prove invaluable in making personalized implants and devices for patients.
Articles from the World Economic Forum may be republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International Public License and our terms of use.
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Post time: Feb-24-2021