Social Lights

In this fifth episode of the Social Lights Podcast, podcast host and Social Mediology founder Kate vanderVoort has a conversation with Mat Bowtell from Free 3D Hands.

ABOUT MAT and FREE 3D HANDS

A senior engineer at Toyota, Mat Bowtell has spent more than a decade figuring out ways to improve processes, make things more efficient, and reduce waste.

When Mat’s former employer announced their closure, it became a time of real reflection for him. He asked himself a simple question:

"If money did not exist—and if we completely eliminated money from the equation—what would I do with my life?" (6:51)

When Toyota closed in 2017, he put his passion for bionics to good use. Through his registered charity, Free 3D Hands, Mat and his team now utilize 3D printing technology to make free assistive devices for individuals who need them.

BIG IDEA 1

“Is there a way that I can use my engineering skills during this time to do something positive and give back to society?” (8:16)

Tapping back into his love for bionics, Mat’s vision was a simple one: To make one hand for one kid. After testing out a million-dollar bionic hand during a scholarship at Japan’s Chiba University, his eyes lit up by what it could do. This technology could read the signals in your hand, as well as open and close. At the same time, he was really saddened as he realized that “this million-dollar arm probably won’t ever filter down to the people who really need it most.” (8:00)

In 2014, Mat volunteered for a small group in the US called Enabled. Initially, the hands he made were open source designs. After collaborating with designers from all over the world, he found that some of their designs could be improved significantly. His background in engineering made him ask questions like, “How do we make things stronger? How do we make them more aesthetic? How do we reduce the noise? How do we make them more adaptable?” He started to design things that weren’t yet being made, and began to share those ideas with the group so that the community could accelerate and improve this technology to make them more accessible.

BIG IDEA 2

“The ultimate goal for me is for every child, every person in this world, to have access to devices that are going to improve their quality of life.” (14:47)

Mat’s vision for Free 3D Hands is not to disrupt and dominate. He’s not after the whole pie, and has no intentions of manufacturing for the whole world. Instead, he wants to encourage other bionic developers and prosthetists around the world to find smarter ways to do things. As he shares, “I want the world to start focusing on those that don’t have access to assisted technology.” (15:32)

For Mat, the beautiful thing about 3D printing and making designs open source is that he’s able to encourage others to innovate. He’s able to enable and empower communities—from prosthetic clinics to individual makers with no access to skilled workforce—to make and access this sort of technology. It’s also a very low-waste process. With less waste, there’s a real opportunity to make it at a lower cost and make it more accessible.

BIG IDEA 3

“They are not prosthetics—they are tools.”  (22:24).

The term ‘disability’ has a negative connotation to it. To Mat, it’s about our mindset. “It’s not about fixing somebody.” (21:14) If a person has a condition, questions that should be asked are 'How can we enhance your ability?' and 'How can we give you new opportunities?' “We’re all beautifully...

In this fourth episode of the Social Lights Podcast, podcast host and Social Mediology founder Kate vanderVoort chats with Angie Abdilla, founder and CEO of Old Ways, New.

ABOUT ANGIE and OLD WAYS, NEW

As a writer, director, and producer in the film industry for 15 years, Angie Abdilla saw a significant shift in the way that storytelling was changing. She became fascinated with how technology could be so powerful—so powerful that various industries and sectors were cropping up because of it.  

Pattern thinking, from an indigenous perspective, is a way of understanding the interrelationship and interconnection of things in the world. Angie, together with a roboticist, wrote a research paper that explored the concept of pattern thinking and pattern recognition in the context of robotics and new emerging technologies, particularly AI. This research paper was presented to the UN, and Old Ways, New came from that point—sitting with indigenous elders and leaders taking about how pattern thinking can form technology to be more socially and environmentally sustainable.

BIG IDEA 1

It has always been about exploring and implementing ways for us to use our indigenous knowledges and knowledge systems to inform new emerging technologies. (11:40)

There’s an inherent belief that the indigenous community has this knowledge that is embedded within them, and that they have the capacity to lead the technology revolution and to have indigenous autonomy. It’s about creating spaces and opportunities for leadership—for their old ways to be respected and regarded, and for these old ways to form better solutions, better strategic designs, and technology solutions and outcomes.

BIG IDEA 2

We are not interested in growth like other companies are. We are interested in sustainability. (19:18)

The mandate of Old Ways, New is clear. The company is not interested in sustainability in the Western sense, but from a very different perspective. From an indigenous perspective, it is the inherent interconnection of both social and environmental sustainability. This belief extends into how the company runs, in every decision made. If the relationships aren’t there, or aren’t strong in the first place, then nothing moves. Ultimately, it always comes back to relationships.

BIG IDEA 3

We can’t fit neatly in a box. (20:25)

Angie and the team at Old Ways, New like to communicate that straight up front: “We don't fit in boxes.” (20:25) The company has a very different way of working. What they do is work with you, they bring you along the process to enable a really great outcome.

To them, it’s a matter of bringing in different people they often engage in with leadership—otherwise, it doesn’t permeate. Typically, they only engage in a context when there’s multiple people in the room so that they can see where there are opportunities for cross-collaboration. They try to keep things simple, and believe that their ways create a whole range of insights and inputs that one would never get from a typical service provider with a formulaic process. That’s why Old Ways, New has some really strong...

In this third episode of the Social Lights Podcast, podcast host and Social Mediology founder Kate vanderVoort has a conversation with Mandy Richards, Founder and CEO of Global Sisters, who has created an amazing organisation that makes business a genuine alternative for any woman.

ABOUT GLOBAL SISTERS

Mandy Richards has always been naturally entrepreneurial, and felt that she was ready for another project. She is passionate about human rights, loves anything to do with businesses, and knew that she wanted to work with women. The result? Global Sisters—a long-term program that aims to “support women who are unable to access meaningful, mainstream employment.”

BIG IDEA 1

“An avenue to connect women to the markets they didn’t have access to”—and more. (4:32)

Initially, Global Sisters aimed to be a platform where women could sell their products, providing support in developing products that people would actually want to buy. Working with several women with refugee backgrounds, however, opened up a can of worms. Though they started out as a business coach, Mandy and her team quickly realized that they needed education, as well. As Mandy shared, “We worked our way backwards and backwards and backwards, then started working our way forwards again.” Today, the program now comprises of a half-day workshop, a business program with a sister school made up of nine modules, access to facilitated group coaching sessions, one-on-one coaching sessions, valuable resources, and a lot more.

BIG IDEA 2

“Making business possible for all women.” (5:16)

There’s often no consideration of what barriers to employment women might be facing. These barriers could be far and wide—living in an area with really high unemployment, being a single mom to small children and having no access to childcare, suffering from mental illness, living with a disability, or being retrenched at the age of 50. Global Sisters strives to create a genuine alternative means for Australian women to create an income for themselves.

BIG IDEA 3

Seeing so many people who are prepared to believe in them and support them—that has a massive impact. (13:07)

In Sister Pitch, a recent event held in Melbourne, 11 women presented their businesses to a live audience and pitched for access to networks, business opportunities, and pro-bono services. There was incredible support from different companies. Apart from networks, women are also given also access to expertise, tangible services to accelerate their business to the next level, and to a sister tribe which opens a whole lot of support in itself. As of date, Global Sisters has, in some way, supported 1200 to 1300 women.

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