In the first semester of 2023, Pelotão Esperança, an initiative of the 26th GAC together with the Secretariat of Assistance and Social Development and other partners, which serves boys aged 11 to 14, in situations of social vulnerability and provides educational activities after school, entered into a partnership with the Innovation Center at Cilla Tech Park to offer 3D printing journeys.
From the first meetings, the partnership was a success. Students were introduced to 3D, they learned how it works from modeling to printing the object. They understood how they can generate profit with 3D products and participated in meetings with CTP partners, such as Sicredi, where they learned about financial education.
According to Celeiro’s Maker Analyst, Jhonnathan Ferreira, who teaches the journeys, the focus of these activities is to stimulate the entrepreneurial ideal of children and adolescents, showing how technology can assist in the creation of new products. “One of the main aspects of the tool, both the 3D printer and 3D modeling, is precisely that you turn what is only in the world of ideas into something real. You concretize your thoughts, you can create a new thing and develop something that can help the other “, he explains.
The journeys not only motivated the participants, but also the military personnel who followed the entire process. “The experience was so good that we are extending this journey to the rest of the students and to the Pelotão’s military monitors,” says 26th GAC Sub-Lieutenant Anderson Annies.
According to the Sub-Lieutenant, inspired by the possibilities offered by the 3D printer, in addition to extending the journeys, the 26th acquired, with the help of supporters, a printer for the Pelotão. “We are also studying the possibility of getting new printers to set up a small production area and generate profit for the Pelotão itself, with the main objective of acquiring other professional technical courses in the area of technology. As I often say, the partnership with the Center has changed the face of the Pelotão,” he says.
Cilla Tech Park believes that innovation must be worked on from the base, so that it is possible to provide the whole society with better futures and this partnership between Pelotão Esperança and Innovation Center is a great example of how this is done in practice.
