Volunteers Prototype Assistive Devices for People with Disabilities September 11-13 at TechShop San Francisco, Thingiverse Community to Further Develop Makeathon Designs

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — September 2, 2015 — MakerBot, a global leader in the desktop 3D printing industry, today announced a partnership with TOM (Tikkun Olam Makers) to support the Bay Area Makeathon focused on assistive technology, sponsored by Google.org. Engineers, developers, designers, and hobbyists will come together to develop hardware and software prototypes designed to meet the needs of people with disabilities. Participants will have access to advanced manufacturing technologies, such as MakerBot 3D printers, to develop solutions that address the challenges of disabled individuals who cant find off-the-shelf products. MakerBot Learning 3D printing experts will also provide on-site support to assist participants in their projects.

Area Makeathon takes place September 11-13 at the San Francisco branch of TechShop, a national chain of member-based workshops. The event is organized by TOM and UCP of the North Bay. MakerBot is the official desktop 3D printing partner. The Bay Area Makeathon is open to the media on September 11 - 13, 2015. Please RSVP to leron@siliconvpr.com.

"Desktop 3D printing democratizes medical innovation and opens up a whole new world of possibilities for disabled people around the world. Low-cost prosthetics, such as the Robohand, have already made a significant impact and improved the lives of many," said Yuri Salnikoff, CMO of MakerBot. "We are excited to partner with TOM to showcase the power of 3D printing and push the boundaries of assistive technology. We cant wait to see what the participants create."

"Our aim is to gather the best minds in technology and design to address the needs of people with disabilities," said Sefi Attias, CTO at TOM. "We gather to solve problems together and hope to change the world in 72 hours, or at least make it a slightly more livable place."

Part of the Google Impact Challenge: Disabilities, the Bay Area Makeathon brings together people with disabilities and makers from various backgrounds to build new connections, share experiences, and develop prototypes. For 72 hours at TechShop, they will work with modern fabrication tools, such as MakerBot Replicator Desktop 3D Printers, CNC mills, laser cutters, and sandblasters. The teams will present their projects to a panel of judges on the last day of the event (September 13) for a chance to win prizes. The judges include:

* Anupam Pathak, senior engineer at Google Life and founder of Liftware
* Dale Dougherty, CEO of Maker Media
* Jonathan Jaglom, CEO of MakerBot
* Tom Chi, former head of product experience at Google X

Following the three-day event, the assistive technology designs will be posted on MakerBot Thingiverse, the largest 3D design community in the world. The Thingiverse community will be able to participate in a challenge that aims to further develop and enhance the designs that come out of the Bay Area Makeathon. Thingiverse already hosts a large amount of assistive technology designs, such as the Robohand project, which started on Thingiverse and has been further developed and remixed by the community.

TOM is a non-profit group specializing in running makeathons for assistive technology around the world, and MakerBot provides 3D printers for TOM events. Desktop 3D printing has introduced a new model for innovation to the medical field, in which anyone can turn ideas into physical objects and develop new products. Innovations from past TOM events include walking devices, connected crutches, a book-reading device, and more. MakerBot Replicators have also been used by researchers to develop 3D models that help surgeons prepare for surgery, grow cartilage to repair tracheal damage, fabricate customized dosages from pharmaceutical filament, and make low-cost prosthetic hands.

MakerBot Replicator 3D Printers are used by educators, engineers and designers to enhance education and transform the design process through Real-Time Prototyping. MakerBot provides the most comprehensive 3D ecosystem in the desktop 3D printing industry to make 3D printing more accessible. The MakerBot 3D Ecosystem includes MakerBot Desktop software for preparing prints, the MakerBot Mobile app with cloud platform to initiate and monitor prints remotely, and MakerBot Thingiverse, the worlds largest 3D design community. The MakerBot Replicator Smart Extruder is a groundbreaking innovation that minimizes printing downtime by enabling users to swap a worn extruder in minutes. The Smart Extruder also allows users to adapt quickly to new innovations in the evolving world of 3D printing. When MakerBot introduces new materials like MakerBot Composite PLA , customers will be able to purchase a Smart Extruder made to handle the new filament, instead of having to buy an entirely new printer.

About MakerBot
MakerBot, a subsidiary of Stratasys Ltd. (Nasdaq: SSYS), is leading the next industrial revolution by setting the standards in reliable and affordable desktop 3D printing. Founded in 2009, MakerBot sells desktop 3D printers to innovative and industry-leading customers worldwide, including engineers, architects, designers, educators and consumers. The company has one of the largest installed bases and market shares of the desktop 3D printing industry, with more than 90,000 MakerBot desktop 3D printers. The robust MakerBot 3D ecosystem makes 3D printing easy and accessible for everyone. To learn more about MakerBot, visit: www.makerbot.com.

About TOM (Tikkun Olam Makers)
TOM is a global community of makers, technology developers, engineers, designers, innovators and need-knowers, who seek to solve unmet societal needs. As the name suggests, in the spirit of the traditional Jewish value of Tikkun Olam - repairing the world. The unique magic of TOM inspires the most brilliant ideas and it happens by bringing together, into one makerspace and for 72 hours of intensive work, the "Need-Knowers" - people who understand the needs, and the "Technologists" - engineers, designers, developers and makers.

About Google.org
Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google, seeks out and supports innovative approaches to tackling the worlds biggest challenges. We develop and invest in people and ideas that can help bring shared knowledge to local, regional and global issues around poverty alleviation, public health, access to education and more. For more information, visit www.google.org.