3-D Printer Helps Blind UC Davis Graduate Student Grasp Chemistry

DAVIS (CBS13) Hes a fourth-year chemistry graduate student at UC Davis, but hes never seen a chemical reaction take place.

Thats because Hoby Wedler was born blind. But thats not stopping him from wanting to guide future college students through some of the most difficult scientific courses.

With every tap of his walking stick, Wedler uses sound to navigate his way to his chemistry lab at UC Davis.

I dont have to see things to really put them in my minds eye, he said. In fact ive never seen things in my eyes. I always visualize things.

And with the help of a 3-D printer, he can use his sense of touch to teach himself about molecules.

Your fingertips I dont think are any more sensitive than mine, just like your hearing isnt more sensitive than mine, he said. Ive just been trained to use it more than you have, because you rely on your vision for, studies say about 85 percent to 90 percent of your information input.

His peers usually can view the diagrams off a computer screen, but Wedler can turn the complicated molecular structures into something he can really get his hands on.

Its very exciting for me to be able to hold these structures and to be able to feel the differences in atom types and molecules and really ponder chemistry at my fingertips, he said.

He says hes not much different than his labmates, it just takes him a little longer to learn.

Just the same way you might think its amazing that I can read braille, he said. I think its pretty cool you guys can read print.

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3-D Printer Helps Blind UC Davis Graduate Student Grasp Chemistry