Penguicon Helps Enable 3DPrinted Arms for Charity CONTACT:
[email protected] | (248) 7977581 Scott Kennedy, Asst. Chair Penguicon Press Kit
What is Penguicon? (video) Penguicon is a notforprofit, volunteerrun convention for around 1,400 people that takes place April 24 26, 2015 . It is a combination tech conference and science fiction convention with almost 500 hours of programming planned this year with over 100 hours being tech events. Held at the Westin Southfield Hotel , we host events like “The Future of Bionics”, “Building a Career in IT”, “Cheese, Glorious Cheese”, “The Augmented Gamer”, “Silicone Casting for Cheap Bastards”, “Rad Women in Music”, and “Advanced Python” .
What is Enabling the Future ? Guests of Honor and official charity selection at Penguicon for 2015, Enable is known for connecting people who have 3D printers with those in need of prosthetic limbs around the world. These polymer, wire, and screw limbs cost from $30 to $300, come in appealing shapes and colors for children, and allow for basic movement like picking up a bottle. You may have seen the v iral video of Engineer Albert Manero and Robert Downey Jr fitting an “Iron Man” style arm for Alex Pring, a Central Florida child in need of a limb. Albert will be with us, along with Jen and Ivan Owen from Enabling the Future .
How is Penguicon helping? Enable relies on open source software and hardware to print assisting limbs, and our attendees are passionate about teaching and helping others. We are getting the word out amongst our community of makers to help print arms for Enable , both in advance of the convention and during the weekend. Organizations like Frog Force 503 , Miracle Software Systems , All Hands Active , First Robotics , and many local high school robotics teams intend to contribute arms they’ve printed, with the ambitious goal of supplying over 100 limbs for those who can’t afford a traditional expensive prosthetic. Additionally, Penguicon will be collecting money throughout the weekend via a raffle , charity costume contest , and direct contributions available throughout the weekend. Attendees will even take time out of their packed weekend to help assemble arms for the people Enable helps. For more information about Penguicon as an event, please see our press kit . If you have any questions, please c ontact us . If you’d like photographs from the event or want to interview Jen, Ivan, or Albert during Penguicon, please let us know and we’ll connect you.
