Whether penned on the back of a scraggly bar napkin, mended together on your basement floor, or designed using the latest 3D modeling software, every product starts with an idea. But bringing that idea to a fully functioning, marketable prototype takes time, money, and more often than not, a few expert opinions.
Luckily, there’s been a recent emergence of tools, resources, and groups to help do-it-yourself innovators bring their sketches to life. “We are living in a fantastic renaissance of innovation right now,” says Bre Pettis, co-founder of MakerBot Industries and the NYC Resistor, a hacker collective. Groups like NYC Resistor bring together like-minded hobbyists to collaborate and build ideas with laser cutters, rapid prototyping machines, and electronic-building software. The group has even given rise to products, including Pettis’ very own MakerBot, a 3D printer available for under $1,000 (3D printers, typically costing several thousands of dollars, create objects by stacking plastic or metal layers on top of one another).
Evan Klonsky 