By: Madison Schnurpel
Imagine: a futuristic world where anything could be printed with the press of a button. Because of entrepreneurs such as junior Jacob Lovrinic, the world is one step closer to that future.
“I personally print mechanical parts… any part that would just be too difficult to manufacture by hand,” Lovrinic said when asked what he uses his personal 3D printer for.
Lovrinic has owned his printer since the summer after his freshman year but has decided to not just keep this technology to himself.
“[My customers are] like, ‘I want you to print this file,’ that they designed in this CAD software themselves,” he said.
Lovrinic created his account, LabyrinthTechnolgy, on 3Dhubs.com almost two years ago. By using the technology he has at hand, Lovrinic is able to print and ship the files to customers. He has printed anything from miniature violins to a gyroscope using his device.
“[I print] whatever people want me to print. It’s open ended and you can just send me whatever you want and I’ll print it,” Lovrinic said.
The website is structured so that users can contact one another to send message about the products. Lovrinic, though, has something about him that makes him stand out to other users.
“I’ll print it for way less than anyone else will,” he said.
He does not set his prices high. In fact, comparatively, Lovrinic has extremely low prices for his printed materials and products; but why?
“I don’t really make money but I want people to have access to 3D printing without spending tons of cash,” Lovrinic said about his true motives for using the website.
It is not the money that he is in for, but the overall knowing that he was able to share the technology with more people. Still, there is some physical profit made, which Lovrinic uses for his other hobbies.
“I get a little bit of money and I spend that mostly on electronics,” Lovrinic said.
The profit he gains is often used to buy items that can help him with other things he does, such as building a blimp to mount a camera to. Lovrinic is one of the many people pushing the 3D printing industry forward.
“3D printing is something that’s now readily available to anyone who wants it, not just big companies and schools,” Lovrinic said.
While working on a 3D printer in Project Lead the Way teacher Brent Schulz’s room, Lovrinic shared how far 3D printing has come.
“Anyone who wants to start a webstore for anything… can just print on the spot,” Lovrinic said about the new ease in production provided by 3D printing.
With the new improvements in 3D printing, people like Lovrinic are able to make some money, or, in his case, spread the technology, with ease.
“I think it is going to replace a lot of traditional manufacturing,” Lovrinic said.
All that is known for certain is that Jacob Lovrinic is just one of the many working to guide people through the labyrinth of technology, and into the future.