We're REALLY excited to officially welcome Natalia to the team as our new Community Manager!

Natalia has been an active community member for some time now, is an awesome 3D designer, rides her bike everywhere, and is the latest addition to both the Aussie and Brooklyn contingencies in the NY office. She has experience as a jewelry designer, entrepreneur, 3D modeller, and marketeer, and we know will be a great force within the Shapeways community.

And the questions...

What is you favorite 3D Printed object? Besides my own loop earrings? haha Probably the impossibly beautiful mathematical sculptures like Gyroid by Bathsheba and the amazing skill of the coding that went into the Hyphae Lamp by Nervous Systems

What does the future look like in 5 years? Pretty awesome. We all have multipurpose glass displays like in Ironman instead of iPhones that can do everything, and instead of mass production of consumer objects, there is on-demand customized 3D printing. There isn't a printer on every desk, but there is a 3D printed item in every home...

What's the most interesting project you've worked on? A collaboration with a choreographer to make giant, flexible jewelry for her dancers to interact with. I used polypropylene strips that folded into each other to make a modular set of necklaces. The piece was called "Chameleon" and was about the experience of living between cultures.

If you could host a meetup anywhere in the world, where would you choose? Hong Kong, its my favourite city in the world, and, much like New York, a melting pot of cultures, currents and ideas. But the East/West clash is more pronounced in HK and makes for a fantastic experience. Also, the noodles are better and I love noodles.

What drew you to Shapeways? What are you looking forward to the most? Finding my people! That is, designers and techies who are creating the future. I'm excited to spread the word and show people that 3D printing is not the realm of technowizards, but is accessible to anyone who has a creative idea. I'm really excited to be working with the community and look forward to meeting more people and hearing their ideas!

If you could be a superhero, who would it be? Bananaman. When Eric eats a banana, he gains superhuman strength and can fly. I feel similarly when I eat a banana when riding my bike. NEEEEEOOOOOOW. (that is the sound effect of rapid acceleration)