Interview with Health 3D
Health 3D is a student-run social venture that uses 3D printing to make model medical devices for the purpose of educating the pediatric patient population. TCO had the opportunity to sit down with Yunonne, Kirby, and Simon to understand the journey of Health 3D and their learnings and plans for the future.
What inspired Health 3D, what keeps you motivated?
Before coming to Hopkins, our founders had prior 3D printing experience. We sought advice from professors in BME initially, then talked to child life specialists at the Kennedy Krieger Institute and Bloomberg Institute.
Medical devices can be very intimidating for children. We wanted children to be able to better understand their procedure and treatment, therefore reducing stress and anxiety at a terrifying point in their life. We felt the use of 3D printed medical devices could achieve this. Additionally, the product presents an affordable and validated solution to child life specialists, who are often limited in their spending.
What challenges did you face?
In starting a venture, especially as a student, there is a large learning curve. When scaling up, it took some time to figure out what direction we envisioned for Health 3D. We considered making a club or student group, but felt that making a start-up would have the largest social impact. In increasing our production, we also ran into issues with inventory and equipment and had to re-evaluate how to reliably produce quality 3D models while meeting consumer demand.
What are your goals for the future?
Currently, we are filing for non-profit status. We all want to see the start-up continue past our undergraduate careers, and ideally our founding members could form an advisory board that helps guide the project as Health 3D grows. We want to make sure Health 3D is sustainable before we leave, so we are focusing on streamlining production, getting our priorities straight, and bringing in new members to the team.
What have you learned?
Yunonne: As an undergrad student, it is common to dismiss your ability to create change and impact. In reality, it only takes passion, hard work and failures to achieve what you want, and to create real impact along the way.
Kirby: I’ve learned a lot about creating social impact. Often, a disconnect exists between engineering and helping patients. However, Hopkins provides a special environment where students can learn to merge engineering with social impact.
Simon: You don’t need specialized knowledge and years of industry experience to make an impact. Many people have amazing ideas for startups, but they fear they lack the expertise and knowledge to pursue their passion. If you have a burning desire to bring your startup to life, you will find ways to achieve those goals.
What’s your advice for students interested in starting a start-up?
Make sure you flesh out your idea. Try talking to people with expertise in the area, making prototypes, and analyzing feedback. Don’t be afraid to go all in, and even if feedback is negative, don’t give up. Pivot if you need to, and try to find what your idea offers and what makes it unique. Focus on what works well, and continue improving on it.
For more information, check out Health 3D here: https://h3dprint.org/
