Pursuing graduation in 7 different fields from 7 different colleges, 7 entrepreneurs joined hands and designed a 3D printing curriculum for the schools in sync with the CBSE, IB and ICSE board, imparting 3D Printing and Designing skills with proper classroom integration of the various subjects being taught to the students .
Raghav Sareen: Computer Science- Northern Indian Engineering College
Smarth Vasdev: EEE-Maharaja Agarsen Engineering College
Shantanu: IT -Maharaja Agarsen Engineering College
Nikunj– B.com h – Rajdhani College,Delhi University
Naman: BBE- Khalsa College, Delhi University
Parth Batra: Computer Science- IIIT Delhi
Raunak Singhi: B Com h-Rajdhani College,Delhi University.
They did the first testing of their product in Maxfort school Dwarka, in December 2015, while they were still in college.
There are more than 70 designs created per week in schools which are pure student creations and all custom made designs. Currently 3Dexter is associated with 20+ schools across India. They have conducted workshops on 3D printing in 80+ schools with a student base of 13000. Their aim is to take this technology across all the schools in India and make it easier for the students to learn.
”Yes, all of us were studying when the idea hit us and All this happened during our college days” , says the proud team.
Q. What led to the start of 3Dexter?
As 7 friends, we were very much inclined towards benefitting the education sector together in some way. We researched on a couple of ideas and did ample analysis after which we found out that 3D Printing had enormous potential in the education sector if put in right use. After we shortlisted 3D Printing as our apex tool to inculcate experiential learning into the classrooms, we did a 6 months research and created a comprehensive curriculum where in we integrated 3D Printing technology with the school subjects.
Q. What is the ideology behind this startup? The larger vision of this startup?
3D printing makes learning immersive through sight and touch, which in turn helps the students to understand and recognise their concepts better. Our education methods need upgradation. Currently, students are busy cramming concepts just to score marks rather than understanding them and putting them into good use. Students need to face the real life situations in order to win the highly competitive race of becoming the best. 3D printing gives us a chance to transform our imaginations into reality and the best place to utilise such power is to implement it at the grass root levels. Sooner or later, 3D printing will take over every other industry by its massive usage and unrestricted applications.Vision is to bring innovation at its core and start mini factories in schools where students Visualize-Design-Create.
Q. How 3Dexter is revolutionizing the educational sector? How does it address the needs of students at its best to make them skillful, creative and innovative?
3D printing holds immense use in the educational sector. It is in fact, the most favourable choice for smart curriculum in educational spheres. Scientifically proven to enhance creativity and original development skills, 3D printing is a venture that not only interests students but also educates them. 3Dexter is a venture that aims at revolutionizing the Indian Education system through modern teaching methods aided by 3D printing. 3Dexter has been conducting it’s annual curriculum in various schools producing some extraordinary results. 3Dexter aims at promoting pragmatic learning with the help of 3D Printing in order to ignite innovation in schools and other
educational spaces. A Student’s mind is programmed to follow set patterns and traditional ways of studying, rather at this age it should be focusing on innovating and experimenting. 3Dexter envisions to create such mini factories that ignite innovation through 3D Printing technology.
Q. How is it being reached by the students? What expectations does the team have with 3Dexter?
3Dexter provides a complete plethora of this futuristic technology. Computer labs are upgraded into high tech design thinking labs which aim at igniting innovation in the young minds. Apart from setting up of these labs, 3Dexter also provides teacher assistance model which helps the school teachers by providing them subject related 3D printed models like an anatomical heart or a 3D printed catapult that helps in explaining projectile motion. The team believes that with 3D printing, students can enhance their creativity and spatial intelligence. 3Dexter provides students an extra dimension to learn and foster- The Third Dimension.
Q. How did 3Dexter come up as a team? How difficult was it to find the right people, experienced in different segments to form the complete team?
We have often encountered people saying that “ It’s not possible to run a company with 7 founders”. But honestly, having 7 founders who are all working with the same intention and force has been our biggest advantage. Every founder has a distinct quality which makes him special and the most crucial in his vertical. Other than us, the most imperative part is played by our trainers who run our curriculum in schools. They are in constant touch with the students and give us the most requisite feedback. Our family started with 7 and now after one year of our operations, it has grown into a strong team of 29 educationists.
Q. Familiarize us with the team of 3Dexter and the distribution of work.
Raghav Sareen: Handles the research and development vertical of 3Dexter. Raghav has devoted his past one year into researching about 3D Printing and it’s applications.
Smarth Vasdev: He looks after product development. From “what” is to be delivered to “how” is it to be delivered, everything is scanned and approved by his brain.
Shantanu Kwatra: His vision is to close 100 Schools by the end of this year and has created all sort of tactics and strategies to achieve his goal. He looks after business development.
Parth Batra: With Shantanu, Parth plays a pivotal role in reaching out to schools across India. He has made sure 3Dexter is available in as many cities as possible. He also looks after business development.
Nikunj Singhal: He looks after the operations vertical of 3Dexter. From human resource to School logistics everything is single handedly managed by him.
Naman Singhal: Maintaining financial stability and sorting of all legal activities is taken care of by him. He handles the finance of the company with utmost sincerity.
Raunak Singhi: Raunak looks after marketing and branding of the company. His vision is to place 3Dexter as the apex company in the field of 3D Printing and education.
Q. How challenging was it for the team to get the idea approved by the college/school managements? What were the other challenges faced?
3D Printing technology has its own pros and cons. While it offers us the first mover advantage because of lack of competition in the education sector, it’s also one technology that is not known to many school leaders in India. Initially people lacked awareness about 3D Printing technology, but with help of our workshops and 3D Printing being constantly in the news , with time, it got easier for us to explain the need of 3D Printing in schools. Now people are much more informed about the technology and receptive about integrating it with their school curriculum too.
Q. Tell us about the future goals and collaborations? The biggest motivation that keeps the team going at times of difficulties?
3Dexter is expecting to close around 50 schools by the end of this academic year. 3Dexter has expanded it’s wings across cities like Ahemdabad, Rajkot, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and several other potential cities. Our biggest motivation has been our vision and our dream to revolutionise the Indian classrooms. Indian classrooms have been following the same old methods of teaching and they desperately require a makeover. Classrooms should focus more on tactile learning rather than learning definitions. We believe that 3D Printing is one technology that can actually help igniting innovation in our classrooms. Rather than cramming their school subjects students should be focusing more on enhancing creativity and building spatial intelligence.
Q. We wish 3Dexter, a great success ahead! What would be your message to the aspiring young Entrepreneurs?
To the young entrepreneurs our message would be:
You are meant to face challenges, people are meant to shoot you down. But if you have faith in your team and belief in your idea, nobody can drag you down.It’s very easy to start an idea and even easier to scrap it, but real entrepreneurs stick with their Idea at all times and nurture them. Startups are not about working all day long, manage time efficiently and you will have enough time for everything else.
Also read “How Young Entrepreneurs are simplifying Coaching Admissions in Indore with their startup ; Eduwamp”
3Dexter Official Website