Product of the Day
Wave of 3D-printing designs reaches SA shore
What do a dentist, an optometrist and SA’s national cricket team have in common? All have turned to Evanswerks for innovative solutions.
A fascinating range of 3D-printed products has emerged from EvansWerks, celebrating the first anniversary of its groundbreaking Cape Town Creative Lab. Described as a hub for tech-preneurs turning concepts into reality, it has enabled a wave of innovation from South Africans producing cutting-edge products.
Among the trailblazers emerging from the lab are:
- A Cape Town dentist unveiling a revolutionary dental system aimed at minimising nerve pain and streamlining orthodontic procedures.
- The head of security for the Proteas cricket team has introduced ZANS FS1, a laser-assisted training system for military and police forces, which snaps onto real handguns, eliminating the need for ammunition.
- A visually impaired woman from the Western Cape debuts an affordable, portable accessory transforming phones and tablets into vision assist devices for the poorly sighted.
- EvansWerks, the parent company of The Lab, collaborates with Mediclinic Constantiaberg and The Peninsula Hotel in Sea Point to test a groundbreaking water and air sterilisation system.
“Opening The Creative Lab was a leap of faith for my family,” says CEO and founder Justin Eugene Evans. “Today, we’re witnessing the dividends of that investment, proving the abundance of tech talent and entrepreneurs in South Africa. They simply lacked a facility designed to bring their ideas to life.”
Durban-born CTO Shuaib Badat says: “We’re not just pioneers in South Africa; we’re leading the charge continent-wide, fostering a team of engineers tackling some of the nation’s most thrilling engineering challenges.”
Equipped with state-of-the-art machinery, including CNC workstations, metal printers, and a 160-ton injection molding machine, the lab continues to expand its capabilities, fueling a mission to drive local manufacturing.
COO and in-house IP attorney Nicolé Maré says: “We offer a turnkey solution for entrepreneurs, providing a full spectrum of expertise from concept, product design and IP to engineering and marketing, all under one roof. And, all in a Cape Town facility that generates its own power and harvests its own water from the air.”
Evans stresses the economic significance of their endeavours: “A few successful tech ventures can redefine the Western Cape’s economic landscape. That’s the driving force behind our lab’s existence.”
