Passion Project: Must Love Dogs (and 3D Printing)

Must love dogs. Take a look inside a passion project that is improving the lives of pets while proving the capabilities of additive manufacturing. From prototyping to prosthetics. Follow additive manufacturing firm 3DPets’ journey to get pets moving again. Their love for dogs took them from the basement to a billboard in Times Square. Follow the journey of a manufacturing passion project to help pets regain mobility.
If you print it, they will run. Meet the minds behind 3DPets, a company leveraging additive manufacturing to create custom pet prosthetics.
It started in a basement. It ended in Times Square, and it was all driven by a passion for pets and an obsession with technology. 3DPets leverages additive manufacturing (AM) to create custom prosthetics and mobility devices for pets. 3DPets is one of the brands that make up DIVE, an industrial design firm that is transforming industries with additive manufacturing (AM) solutions. DIVE was founded by Alex Tholl and Adam Hecht, industrial designers who started as group project partners in college and discovered a mutual passion for the untapped potential of 3D printing.
Engineering for Pets
After an attempt to enter the human prosthetics space stalled due to regulatory barriers, the team at DIVE turned their attention to animal prosthetics. They found an enormous opportunity to improve the lives of pets while proving the capabilities of 3D printing to make custom products that are repeatable. After establishing a worldwide network of clinics, DIVE launched 3DPets. Customers brought in their pets or sent in a cast, and the 3DPets team then created a digital scan using the iPhone’s LIDAR camera. 3DPets has improved the lives of pigs, goats, tortoises, alpacas, llamas, and even elephants. The brand was so hot that Apple partnered with 3DPets and made a commercial campaign showing off both technologies working together to improve the lives of pets.
When passion meets technology, anything is possible. The pets, who are walking, running, and rolling thanks to new mobility devices, would certainly agree.