* Original post from late 2013 *

Caitlin Maudlin is a freshman at West Albany High School where she is an active member of the school’s robotics team and Future Business Leaders of America.

Imagine being able to create anything that comes to mind. Imagine making things big as cars or small as human veins. 3D printing brings this day dream to life. 3D printing is fast growing as both a hobby and a career. Not only because it’s still interesting and new, but because there’s so many possibilities. It opens doors we didn’t even know existed, as all true advances in technology do. There are opportunities to use 3D printing in everything from the medical field to engineering. Now go and introduce this to the creative youth.

You get thousands of teenagers wanting a shot just to see this thing in action. As someone who is on a robotics team personally I love the idea of having access to a 3D printer for prototyping. At competition this year we saw a several teams with them. Each one spoke very highly of using them and recommends them to anyone. The vice president of team S.W.A.R.M. gave his opinion on this technology as “3D printing is useful for prototyping quickly, creating models/trinkets/art pieces, and overall having fun being able to see your creation take shape.”

Now robotics teams aren’t the only groups of kids who are using this. Makerspaces all over the country are taking advantage of this new way to provide hands on education. A Makerspace at the University of Mary Washington called ThinkLab uses a 3D printer for prototyping, designing, and creating solution to business problems.

It doesn’t even stop there just yesterday I went to the Maker Faire only to see a group of teenagers showing off their printer and what they make with it. Maker Faires are great places to go see what people are doing with new technology and to show off their homemade crafts. People are using printers not only for stuff now, but for things that can help us in the future. The possibilities are truly endless. Ten years from now what could we be making? What kid is going to figure out how to use a printer like the Gigabot to make new arms or legs for amputees?

So why not strive to put a bot into every high school? Help the future by introducing the youth to printers today. George Benard Shaw said “Youth is wasted on the young.” I believe in firmly proving him wrong. Teens love tinkering with all the new “toys” the world provides. Not all of them have had the wonderful experience I’ve had being able to learn to use a 3D printer.

Which is why 3D printers should be as common as regular printers are. Robotic teams, some schools, Makerspaces, clubs, artists, and more are all getting into 3D printing. These kids are the ones who are imagining what they can do with this product. They daydream about the things they can accomplish and build in the short time it takes to print out the tools they need. The youth is the future, and as an overused phrase says so in 3D printing.