Zero to Maker

Chapter 6. Digital Fabrication

Bilal Ghalib doesn’t do handshakes, just hugs. The first time I met Bilal, at the first Maker Startup Weekend (a weekend-long making event at TechShop in San Francisco), he came up and gave me a big squeeze.

We had traded a few emails and a brief phone call in the days prior, but had never met in person. I was organizing the event and was introduced to Bilal as someone who might be a good candidate to teach the 3D printing class we were offering to participants. He seemed like a nice, gregarious guy, but I was still a little shocked when he showed up with a bright purple blazer and rainbow-dyed hair. As it turned out, Bilal’s outgoing and inimitable style made him the perfect person to teach 3D printing—instantly ...