Meet the Makers: Bre Pettis of MakerBot

"The opportunity for creative explorers has never been better," Bre Pettis likes to say. He is no doubt speaking from personal experience. The former Seattle art teacher emerged from a subculture of makers who began painstakingly building their own 3D printers in the early 2000s. He has since made the technology more accessible by creating a ready-to-use printer for everyone. The CEO unveiled the first MakerBot at the South by Southwest festival in 2009, using it to print plastic shot glasses for attendees. Today his printers are sophisticated enough to help NASA engineers build early-stage models, and simple enough to find a home in elementary schools.

Video by Jane Nisselson / Virtual Beauty