This School Was Built Overnight!

    Imagine waking up one day and—poof! There’s a new school right across the street. It seems to have appeared overnight. 

    This may sound like magic. But it happened in the African country of Malawi. A small village there is now home to the world’s first 3-D printed school. Its concrete walls were built in just 15 hours. 

    The new school opened in June 2021. Before that, kids in the area had to walk miles to class. That’s a common problem in Malawi, where there aren’t enough classrooms for students.  

    And it’s just one of many problems that experts say 3-D printing can help solve.  

    Picture this: One day, there’s a new school on your street. It seems to have appeared overnight.

    This may sound like magic. But it happened in the African country of Malawi. A village there has the world’s first 3-D printed school. Its concrete walls were built in just 15 hours.

    The new school opened in 2021. Before that, kids in the area had to walk miles to class. That’s a common problem in Malawi. There aren’t enough classrooms for students there.  

    It’s one of many problems that 3-D printing could help solve.  

    Imagine waking up one day and seeing a new school right across the street. It seems to have appeared overnight.

    This might sound like magic, but it happened in the African country of Malawi. A small village there is now home to the world’s first 3-D printed school. Its concrete walls were built in only 15 hours.

    Before the new school opened in June 2021, kids in the area had to walk miles to class. That’s a common problem in Malawi, where there aren’t enough classrooms for students.  

    And it’s just one of many problems that, according to experts, 3-D printing can help solve.   

    You’ve probably used a traditional printer. They use ink to create words and pictures on paper. But 3-D printers work differently. They use materials such as plastic, metal, or concrete to create solid objects. 

    Let’s say you want to 3-D print a plastic phone case. First, a computer sends an image of the design to the printer. Next, melted plastic is pushed through a nozzle to create the first layer of the case. More layers are added on top until the case is complete.

    There are many benefits to using 3-D printers. For one, they’re less wasteful than the usual way of building things. They use just enough material to make an object. Plus 3-D printers can create complex shapes that many machines can’t. 

    This has been very helpful in medicine. Now people can have artificial limbs that are custom-made for their bodies. Doctors even hope to one day be able to 3-D print human organs.

    Traditional printers use ink to put words and pictures on paper. 3-D printers are different. How? They use materials like plastic, metal, or concrete to make solid objects.

    Let’s say you want to 3-D print a plastic phone case. First, a computer sends an image of the design to the printer. Next, melted plastic is pushed through a nozzle to make the first layer of the case. More layers are added until the case is complete.

    3-D printers make less waste than the usual way of building things. How? They use just enough material to make an object. And they can create complex shapes that many machines can’t.

    This is helpful in medicine. Now people can have artificial limbs that are custom-made for their bodies. One day, doctors might be able to 3-D print human organs.

    You’ve probably used traditional printers, which use ink to transfer words and pictures to paper. But 3-D printers work differently. They use materials such as plastic, metal, or concrete to create solid objects.

    Let’s say you want to 3-D print a plastic phone case. First, a computer sends an image of the design to the printer. Next, melted plastic is pushed through a nozzle to create the first layer of the case. More layers are added on top until the case is complete.

    There are many benefits to using 3-D printers. For one, they’re less wasteful than the usual way of building things because they use just enough material to make an object. Also, 3-D printers can create complex shapes that many machines can’t.

    This has been tremendously helpful in medicine. Now people can have artificial limbs that are custom-made for their bodies. Doctors even hope to one day be able to 3-D print human organs.

    So why don’t we just 3-D print everything? For now, it’s still easier to make most items in a factory. 3-D printing can also be expensive. Some machines cost as much as $500,000.

    Even so, 3-D printing is changing the game, piece by piece. At the school in Malawi, for example, the walls were 3-D printed. The doors, windows, and roof were all built the usual way. 

    Experts say that Malawi needs about 36,000 more classrooms. Building that many classrooms would normally take about 70 years. But with 3-D printers, the job could be done in less than a decade.

    Just think about how many students’ lives that could change! 

    So why don’t we 3-D print everything? For now, it’s still easier to make most things in a factory. And 3-D printing can cost a lot. Some machines cost as much as $500,000.

    Still, 3-D printing is changing things, piece by piece. At the school in Malawi, the walls were 3-D printed. The doors, windows, and roof were built the usual way.

    Experts say that Malawi needs about 36,000 more classrooms. Normally, it would take about 70 years to build them all. But with 3-D printers, it could take less than 10.

    That could help a lot of students! 

    So why don’t we just 3-D print everything? For now, it’s still easier to make most items in a factory. 3-D printing can also be expensive, with some machines costing as much as $500,000.

    Even so, 3-D printing is changing the game, piece by piece. At the school in Malawi, for example, the walls were 3-D printed. The doors, windows, and roof were all built the usual way.

    Experts say that Malawi needs about 36,000 more classrooms. Ordinarily, building that many classrooms would take about 70 years—but with 3-D printers, the job could be completed in less than a decade.

    Just think about how many students’ lives that could change!