FREEDOM OF DESIGN
ONE UK-FOUNDED ORGANISATION IS HELPING DISADVANTAGED WOMEN IN INDIA TO GAIN HIGH-VALUE DIGITAL CAREERS IN THE JEWELLERY INDUSTRY. DEPUTY GROUP EDITOR, LAURA GRIFFITHS, SPEAKS TO THE FOUNDERS ABOUT HOW THEY’RE USING 3D PRINTING TO BREAK THE CYCLE.
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ccording to the latest statistics from the International Labour Organization (ILO), for every 1,000 people in the world, there are 5.4 victims of modern slavery. Over 70% of those people are women. But “knowledge is power” and London-based organisation, Free-D wants to use 3D technologies to empower women from at-risk backgrounds by giving them the opportunity to gain soughtafter skills which lead to secure, high-value employment. The aptly named, Free-D was founded by Katherine Prescott and Siavash Mahdavi who first met at software start-up, Within, later acquired by Autodesk. With over two decades of experience in the 3D printing industry working across medical, aerospace, automotive and footwear, they started thinking more about the technology; how it’s taught, how oftentimes it’s the people who have eschewed traditional training routes that just click with 3D, and how it has the potential to be used for good. Following conversations with NGOs (NonGovernmental Organisation) working within social violence, they had a theory – to create
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a STEM-focused academy that could help women at-risk to learn valuable skills and open them up to entirely new careers and opportunities. Could 3D printing be the key to breaking the cycle? “One of the biggest challenges is, once women are rescued from an exploitative or dangerous situation, such as trafficking, they are not given many opportunities to rebuild their lives in a way that would lead to high-value employment and financial independence. Quite often their only opportunities are to learn skills in industries open to exploitation, low salaries and job instability, such as the garment industry or the service industry,” Sia told TCT. “Yet many of these women haven’t had the opportunity to flex their brain or be creative, it is assumed they aren’t capable to learn more advanced skills.” Katherine added: “3D printing expertise, especially in countries like India, is soughtafter. One of the problems I’ve heard from different employers is that they cannot easily find people with the skills needed to make the most of the technology. This
skills gap means employers can spend up to two years training staff for them to get headhunted by other firms. If we can provide consultants who already have the experience and skills needed, they could be highly in-demand. Free-D is focused on making sure that the skills taught are highend, with a comprehensive understanding from end-to-end of the design and manufacturing process.” To pilot the project they travelled to India, a country with an estimated total of 14 million women living in slavery and equally alarming rehabilitation rates. With laptops and a desktop 3D printer donated by early supporter PrintLab in tow, they set out to Mumbai in January 2017 where the team met with several NGOs to find out if their theory would actually work. An initial 12-month pilot programme was set up with a group of 11 women, working with local partners including Kshamata, an organisation which supports women rescued from exploitation, local jewellery school IIGJ, and 3D printer distributor, printOmake, to create a bespoke curriculum focused on the jewellery industry. The gems and jewellery market is already one of India’s fastest growing sectors and expected to be worth 100 billion USD by 2025. The jewellery industry itself is also one of the largest adopters of 3D technologies, from lost wax casting applications to precious metals, and the demand for skilled employees is high. Mumbai, specifically, is also home to one of India’s largest 3D printing service providers, Imaginarium, who partnered with Free-D to provide manufacturing and training support for the programme. With India’s heritage in jewellery manufacturing and increasing technological advancements, Kamlesh Parekh, Director at Imaginarium, says jewellery was the, “natural choice for a programme that aims at providing long-term employment.” Katherine continued: “Early on during training, we found that exercises based around jewellery was something the women could relate to and get creative
