Tony Stark Delivers Real 3D-Printed Bionic Arm To 7-Year Old Iron Man Fan

MojoKid writes "Here's your feel-good story for Thursday afternoon. Albert Manero, who has a degree in Aerospace engineering from the University of Central Florida and is currently pursuing a doctorate in Mechanical Engineering, has made it a point to serve others. He helped found Limbitless Solutions, a volunteer foundation that uses 3D printer technology to build bionic arms for children that have either lost a limb, or were born with partially developed limbs. Seven-year-old Alex fits into the latter category and Manero, with the help of the Microsoft OneNote Collective Project, has been hard at work to develop a new 3D-printed bionic arm for him. And once the project was finished, Microsoft and Manero were able to find the most "qualified" person on the planet to deliver the arm to Alex: Tony Stark AKA Iron Man Robert Downey Jr. Awesomeness ensues, of course.

Comments

Far less of a jerk than Ironman

[jfdavis668]

Robert Downey Jr. is far less of a jerk than he plays on screen. Way to go, to make this kid's dream come true.

Re:Far less of a jerk than Ironman

[freeze128]

I just hope the kid tests the arm at 1% power before doing anything dangerous....

Re:Far less of a jerk than Ironman

[Rakarra]

Robert Downey Jr. has been through hell and back. He and Treat Williams were good actors who dropped off the scene in the 80s and 90s after falling prey to substance abuse. Downey cleaned up and managed to make his way back to the top. Williams was not so lucky. He had a good role in Everwood, but he didn't make it up to A-list status.

I always felt that Downey, with his past drug and alcohol addictions, was a great choice to play Tony Stark, the subject of "Demon in the Bottle" fame. They touched upon Stark's alcoholism in Iron Man 2, but didn't really give it the treatment it could have gotten.

Re:Far less of a jerk than Ironman

[Chas]

In a couple places I've seen people dismiss RDJ as "a druggie who got lucky".

Sorry, but cleaning up your own life is not LUCK. It's hard fucking work. As hard, or harder, than anything else he's ever done in his life.

But now, he's famous (possibly pigeon holed) for playing a character who makes technology COOL!
This opens up the opportunity, in this case, for an important medical technology to be presented in an attractive, funny, approachable way.
Incidentally it also gives this kid a thrill and makes his life better simultaneously.

And RDJ CHOOSES to participate in this sort of thing. Furthering the coolness of technology

That, right there, is "class act".

Re:Far less of a jerk than Ironman

[l0n3s0m3phr34k]

I do feel that RDJ's personal experiences really did help with Stark's PTSD issues in IM2. He tried to get them to go into the alcoholism more, but the studio said "no". But I could tell he was pulling on his real, addict-year experiences there in those scenes...and it came across as very authentic. And his "Did you just nod off?" comment to Mandarin in IR3 was VERY pointed for us who have been or are close to people who have fought with addiction. RDJ has fought a very difficult battle; no matter what others may think even with all his $$$ getting yourself clean is a hard fight with internal demons. If anything, having all that money and fame probably made it harder for him to go sober...

In a weird way, he personally is an example to others that addiction can be managed and "defeated" to the point of having a "real" life. The war is NEVER won completely, the cravings NEVER go away...seeing anyone climbing back up the ladder and taking the reins of "the wagon" like he has is inspirational.

Re: 3D printed arm?

[Anonymous Coward]

You are misusing the word "luddite". A luddite is extreme. A luddite doesn't use a typewriter, a luddite smashes your typewriter with a rock, then feels guilty for having used a rock as a tool.

What's the word I'm looking for?

[billybob2001]

Great story, great guys, but what about that glitch?

The super-hero's robotic arm was faulty.

That's... irony, I guess.

Re: 3D printed arm?

[Rakarra]

You are misusing the word "luddite". A luddite is extreme. A luddite doesn't use a typewriter, a luddite smashes your typewriter with a rock, then feels guilty for having used a rock as a tool.

The Luddites weren't Amish. Even that would be a caricature of Amish beliefs. What the Luddites were against were -new- technologies taking over jobs. They were fine with the technology they already had, not so fine with shifting tides making them obsolete.

Albert is doing amazing work

[laird]

Albert Manero at his team at UCF are doing a great job. One bit I want to add: the community that he's working in is e-NABLE ( http://www.enablingthefuture.o... ). The "one note" stuff is just a Microsoft sponsorship deal, done after-the-fact, and while their financial and marketing sponsorship of Albert's work is awesome (his work takes time and money, even if he gives the results away for free), it would be better to credit the actual community that contributed to the design, not the made up community that MS created for marketing spin. In particular, the hand used in the Limitless design is Flexy Hand (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:242639) by Gyrobot, who's a very cool guy who deserves some credit for his work.

Re: 3D printed arm?

[drinkypoo]

The Luddites weren't Amish. Even that would be a caricature of Amish beliefs. What the Luddites were against were -new- technologies taking over jobs. They were fine with the technology they already had, not so fine with shifting tides making them obsolete.

That's not so different from the Amish then, after all.

The smile on the kids face...

[Kaitiff]

Said it all. I"m 49 years old, and if RDJ had stopped by to reprise his role as Tony Stark to bring ME a prosthetic limb, I doubt I coulda stayed still. :) Giving a little kid with a birth defect a working arm like that... well you accumulate karma points pretty damn fast doing stuff like that.

Re:yep

[3.5 stripes]

Only Americans will become president of the united states.