What does a 3D printer do?
 
Imagine if you could take a picture that you had drawn – maybe of a plane or a boat or a car – and make it into real life. That’s what a 3D printer does. As the 3D printer prints, it uses plastic to build the layers of the picture one at a time, like stacking Lego blocks. When it finishes printing, you do not just have a picture of a car, you have a real car.

 
Why do we use it?

Even though printing out a car or a plane can take days or even weeks, it takes less time and costs less money than building one. Soon we will even be able to print out buildings! Can you imagine how many sheets it would take to print out Burj Khalifa!?
 

How it can help us…

3D printing is very helpful for when people get sick. Doctors can use 3D printing to help give people new bones or print off equipment to help them see or hear better.

 
Dubai first

Dubai’s Health Authority is spending lots of time working on 3D printing because it gets how important it will be help people get well in the future. The government of the UAE is also working hard to make the UAE the number one place in the world for 3D printing. The more things we can print out, like medicine, schools or homes for people to live in, the happier we will be.