Lions honour Mat’s groundbreaking work

Mat Bowtell has been presented with the highest award in Lions by the Lions Club of Wonthaggi.

At a special dinner, where Mat gave a presentation about his work with Free 3D Hands, he was presented with the Melvin Jones Fellow Award.

Mat shared how significantly the Lions Club had shaped his life, after he went on a Lions Club sponsored exchange to Japan at the age of 16.

The self-described school misfit said the six-week trip, staying with a Japanese family, transformed his life.

At the end of Year 11, he was given the opportunity to return to Japan as an Exchange Student for 12 months with the same host family, sponsored by the Mitsukaido Lions Club.

Mat said the year in Japan taught him about discipline, kindness, generosity and unconditional love. He returned to Australia to complete Year 12 at Wonthaggi Secondary College, graduating as Dux of the School, and one of the top students of Japanese language in Australia.

Mat’s path from studying engineering and working at Toyota, to setting up his award-winning charity is well documented.

In 2018, with the demise of the local car industry, Mat decided to use his redundancy payout from Toyota to continue working as a fulltime volunteer creating free 3D printed hands for children.

From humble beginnings in his back shed, Free 3D Hands first moved to a factory in Cowes, before settling into its design centre in Newhaven in March this year.

Although the team still manufactures the hands on the 3D printers, with biodegradable plastic, Mat said their focus had now shifted more to research and development and global collaboration.

At the end of 2020 the team released a 100-page manual that explains the materials, printers, settings and how to replicate everything they do.

Mat said 4500 individuals and organisations had now downloaded their designs and work with Mat’s team to create their own devices in their own country.

The Lions Club of Wonthaggi said the dinner and award was in recognition of this “remarkable man and his groundbreaking invention”.