Abitamim Bharmal gives a presentation on 3D printing to students at Felix G. Botello Elementary. Photo courtesy of Dallas ISD
Abitamim Bharmal spent his summer working as a welder for VIVA Railings, and he used $1,600 of the money he earned to give Dallas ISD students something he wishes he’d had.
The 17-year-old senior at Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center bought 3D printers for eight DISD elementary schools, including Felix G. Botello, James Bowie, Cedar Crest, William Brown Miller and John F. Peeler, which are all in in Oak Cliff.
Bharmal also volunteered to train teachers and students at each school how to use the printers.
He says he picked up using 3D printers as a hobby after his mom started taking him to a maker space (that’s also how he learned to weld), and he wants to become a mechanical engineer.
3D printers have become more affordable since Bharmal was in elementary school, and he says he wishes he’d had access to one when he was that age. He now has three of them at home.
“When I saw my money, I realized that I didn’t need anything,” Bharmal told DISD’s The Hub. “So I decided, ‘Why not give other kids this opportunity that I wish I had?’”
