One hand for one child changed the direction of Mat Bowtell’s life.

In this episode of The Greaterverse, Anne-Marie Kruk is joined by Mat Bowtell, engineer and founder of Free 3D Hands, which creates 3D-printed hands and arms for people around the world completely free of charge.

Mat’s journey began while he was working as a senior engineer at Toyota Australia. After making an Iron Man-style hand for four-year-old Eli, the reaction he received made him realise he had found something he wanted to dedicate his life to.

Today, Free 3D Hands is about much more than the devices Mat and his team make themselves. Their designs are open source, with more than 10,000 people and organisations around the world now making them too. Mat talks about the personal choices behind that journey, why access matters more to him than ownership, and his mission to do something wonderfully simple: manufacture joy.

In this conversation, you’ll hear:

• How one little boy’s smile changed Mat’s life forever
• Why Mat and his wife put buying their first home on hold to pursue Free 3D Hands
• How Mat is radically reducing that cost of assisted devices so that more people can access what they need
• How open-source designs have helped Free 3D Hands reach far beyond what Mat could achieve alone
• Why Mat believes life shouldn’t be about winning and losing, but finding ways for everyone to win

New Episodes Every Tuesday

pisode Resources: The Greaterverse

Instagram → @thegreaterverseTikTok → ⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@thegreaterverse⁠YouTube → ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@thegreaterverse⁠Amazon Music → ⁠https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/d352edc3-c3c1-4680-af9d-787a5c9b7b16/the-greaterverse⁠

Episode Resources: Free 3D Hands

Instagram → @free3dhands

Website → www.free3dhands.org