“Father of the Maker Movement” Visits Turkey Innovation Week, Gets a 3D Printed Selfie

If you’ve never heard of Dale Dougherty, you’re almost certainly familiar with his work. Dougherty is the founder and chairman of Maker Media, the corporation behind Make: Magazine and Maker Faire. He could be considered the father of the maker movement, so he’s automatically a guest of honor at any maker convention or tech conference. Recently, he attended Turkey Innovation Week, which took place in Istanbul from December 3-5.

Turkey Innovation Week was developed by the Turkish Exporters Assembly as part of an effort to do what most countries are trying to do right now, which is to increase the development of advanced technologies and stay abreast of other nations in terms of innovation and design. Turkey has set a goal of exporting $500 billion in goods by 2023, an ambitious goal that the nation hopes will be given a boost through events like Innovation Week, which support companies who are working to develop new business models and new technology. Like many other countries, Turkey is seeing a shift favoring small companies and individual entrepreneurs, who are beginning to have more influence in the economy.

It was those startups and entrepreneurs that Dougherty addressed in his speech at Turkey Innovation Week, as he briefed attendees on the current status and future of the maker movement. The movement has really caught on in Turkey over the past year, with the founding of organizations like Makers Türkiye and the development of several new maker spaces. Turkey Innovation Week focused heavily on the makers driving the spread of the movement in the country, with a Maker Demonstration taking place among the other exhibitions.

One of the businesses participating in the exhibitions was 3Durak, an online retailer for numerous 3D printing and scanning companies in Turkey. The company also develops their own technology, which includes some accessories for the Structure Sensor 3D scanner. 3Durak displayed their mobile revolving platform and and hand-held lighting system, which essentially work as a portable Shapify booth, at the exhibition. When Dougherty stopped by 3Durak’s booth, he took advantage of the company’s invention to have his own 3D printed figurine created. After a quick scan, 3Durak printed the figure using a Projet 660 PRO printer from 3D Systems.

3Durak’s mobile platform can be purchased from their website for $490, along with the Structure Sensor scanner for $340, if you’d like to have your own personal Shapify booth in your own home. For the founder of the maker movement, being immortalized in 3D by a small startup company was a fitting tribute to his influence over the 3D printing industry, among so many other creative and technology sectors. Let’s hear your thoughts on this story in the 3D Printed Dale Dougherty forum on 3DPB.com.  You can see the full color scan below: