We recently took delivery of four pallets full of 3D printers, components, and materials here at the Ocean Builders factory. These 3D printers are capable of printing at extremely high resolutions which allows for a more smooth and more exact final product. In fact, these printers are so precise that they are capable of printing dental implants and other appliances like dentures or retainers using materials like resin.
These printers will allow us to refine our 3D printing process to help make the different components of the SeaPod. More importantly though, these printers were made possible with funds provided by SENACYT (The National Secretary Of Science, Technology, and Innovation) which is a group here in Panama that we have a partnership with. The goal of SENACYT is to develop an emergency response program in Panama to make sure that they are well equipped to handle emergencies.
For example, during the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic, there was a huge increase in demand for ventilators, face shields, and other medical supplies. Many of these things that were needed could have been 3D printed but the country was unprepared and struggled to meet the demand. SENACYT is helping provide funds to people like us who have uses for 3D printers with the agreement that in the future should another emergency situation arise and there is a need for 3D printed items, then there will be a network of people capable of shifting their production to whatever is needed since they will have the equipment that was provided by SENACYT.
The printers that we received were the FormLabs Form 3BL and the FormLabs Fuse 1. Having these printers on hand will allow us to increase the quality of our 3D printed products while also giving us the capacity to pitch in and help should another emergency situation arise in the future. We are very excited to begin this partnership and should the need arise, we will be ready to help as much as we can. We are building a new room here at the factory to house our 3D printers so stay tuned for more updates about that coming soon!
