When Guillermo Martínez finished his degree in Industrial Organization Engineering, he decided to volunteer internationally to learn about other realities. When she started organizing her trip to help a home for minors called the Bamba Project in Kenya, she realized that with her work she could help improve the quality of life for other people.
The young engineer began testing at home with a 3D printer that cost him less than 150 euros. This is how he came up with creating 3D prostheses for arms – he calls them trésdesis-, with different designs depending on whether they were aimed at people with or without an elbow or wrist. The idea is not new, but Guillermo knew that these prostheses have a very high cost that not everyone can afford.
Through the contact in Bamba Project, Guillermo located several people who needed a prosthesis and in this way he completed the first designs. In the summer of 2017, he traveled to Kenya with several disassembled prostheses in his suitcase, and that was the beginning of the Ayúdame3D project , with which Guillermo raises funds to continue manufacturing prostheses to send anywhere in the world. The only requirement to access their designs is not being able to afford a prosthesis.
Guillermo is dedicated to this activity in his spare time, since he is professionally dedicated to the design of toys, and has already managed to reach different parts of Spain, South America and Africa. The young man maintains contact with the beneficiaries, who send him videos and explain how the prosthesis has helped them greatly improve their quality of life, as it allows them to perform more tasks in the field, at home, and ultimately be much more autonomous and happy.
In this interview with Nobbot, Guillermo tells that he only needed a 3D printer and some templates to start his idea: “I started with the Enabling The Future prostheses to learn how to print and assemble them. Schematics are downloaded directly or designed using a computer program. Then they are transferred to another simulated printing program and, when the parameters of all the objects to be printed are obtained, the information is entered into the printer . That’s when you print each piece layer by layer. To have the 14 pieces of average that a trésdesis has ready, it takes about 20 hours. After printing, they are joined manually and the mechanism is made with threads and rubbers. Velcro is used to place them and adjust them to the stump ”.
The work of the young engineer was recognized last year, when Guillermo Martínez received the Honored Award for volunteering and development at the World Youth Forum held in Egypt. The award allowed him to give his projects and ideas much more visibility, as the Madrid native tries to spread his enthusiasm and above all his firm conviction of the social work of new technologies through numerous talks for all types of audiences.
On the project website you can make donations, sponsorships and all kinds of collaborations.
