Contests

Dare to Repair! 3D Printed Repair Parts Contest

Imagine a World with On-Demand Repair Parts

The 3D printing revolution is upon us, but printing repair parts hasn’t taken off just yet. Let’s make it happen! Together, we can demonstrate the viability of 3D printing consumer parts—and it’s not that hard! Ben Gottemoller created one of the most popular guides on iFixit featuring a 3D-modeled replacement impeller for his Breville coffee grinder. All it takes is one person to create the part model, and then anyone can print it themselves or order it online.

We’re calling all tinkerers, makers, and fixers, because today, we’re excited to launch Dare to Repair—a 3D-printed repair parts contest. Participants will compete to develop, model, and create a 3D-printed spare part for a common consumer product. As part of the process, contestants will document their repair and upload a 3D model using iFixit. The 3D printing team from HP will validate your model—and then you’ll be entered to win one of our cash prizes.

  1. Best Overall: $5,000 Visa Gift Card, sponsored by HP Inc.
  2. Most Useful: $2,500 Visa Gift Card, sponsored by iFixit
  3. 15 Honorable Mentions: $500 Visa Gift Card, sponsored by HP, iFixit, Philips, and IKEA

Create, Share, Print, and Repair.

The competition is open to anyone. We’ve created instructions to get you started with scanning and modeling, so anyone—from novices to experts—can participate. You don’t even need to have a 3D printer!

The Dare to Repair contest is an exercise in cutting-edge innovation, but your participation will also help real people fix real problems in their real lives. Real-ly. All it takes is one person to create the 3D model, and then anyone will be able to use your 3D model to print out a replacement part and fix a broken product. It’s easy: Create, Share, Print, and Repair. Here’s how to enter:

  1. Check out our Getting Started Wiki—it walks you through the complete process of creating a 3D model for an original part, as well as printing solutions for producing a substitute part.  
  2. Create a repair guide on iFixit for your replacement part following these instructions
  3. Upload your 3D model to your guide so people can order it.  

We’ll be accepting submissions through Monday, May 14th, and we’ll announce the winner on our blog on Friday, June 1st. We’ll be sharing projects on our social media channels using the hashtag #DareToRepair. So feel free to tag us while you work on your project—we’d love that! 🙂

What We’re Looking For

Broad appeal. Usefulness. Aesthetics. Stellar documentation. We want your repair imagination to run wild! Here are a few things to consider before you pick your part: 

  • Part Design: Does the availability of this new part increase the product’s longevity?
  • Product Reach and Ubiquity: How large is the need that you’re solving?
  • Story Behind the Design: What problem are you solving? What personal experience led to this solution?
  • Documentation: Include usable, high-quality installation and repair instructions on iFixit.
  • Bonus Points: Does the design make any improvements to the original part?

If you need some inspiration, here’s a fantastic example from one of our community members: Coffee Grinder Impeller Replacement / Upgrade

3D printing for the Dare to Repair Contest

Meet Our Judges

Per Stoltz, IKEA
Per Stoltz is the resource and waste manager for IKEA. He is focused on using the circular economy as a tool to make us more resource effective.

Sam Lionheart, iFixit
As the lead teardown engineer and head of the technical writing department at iFixit, Sam has helped millions repair their devices. She and her team provide in-depth, prompt teardowns of the newest devices in order to discuss design trends and repairability. She also really likes cats.

John Ortiz, HP
John Ortiz leads the global product stewardship organization for HP Inc. Ortiz’s organization drives the environmental design of printing hardware products, ink and toner supplies, and paper products to minimize the impact of HP products throughout the product lifecycle. Ortiz is championing circular economy thinking and action across HP’s Print, PC, and 3D printing businesses.  

Joe Iles, Ellen MacArthur Foundation
As Editor in Chief of Circulate, Joe’s role is to help deliver leading commentary, news, and case studies on the circular economy.

Markus Laubscher, Philips
Markus Laubscher is part of the circular economy center of excellence at Philips, based in the Netherlands. He oversees pilot projects on circular economy implementation within the different Philips businesses, tracks progress, drives learning and capacity building and is the operational contact for partnerships and communication on the topic.

His main area of expertise is sustainable business and innovation strategy, built up over 13 years in corporate research, venturing and consultancy with Philips. Markus earned a PhD in biomedical optics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne and holds a master in physics from the University of Karlsruhe and the Polytechnic Institute of Grenoble.

A Few Housekeeping Items

Entrants will upload the files to iFixit, releasing their work under the Creative Commons license.

iFixit’s license states:

Materials you submit to iFixit must be from one of three sources:

  • Content that you own the copyright to because you produced it yourself
  • Content that is in the public domain
  • Content that is licensed under a compatible license

For additional rules, terms, and conditions visit our contest overview page.

Happy (3D) fixing!