UB student brings 3D-printing expertise to Buffalo’s Tool Library

A list of dorm must-haves for incoming college students rarely includes a 3D printer — but for Jason Jiang, it was a necessity. 

Jiang, a Western New York Prosperity Fellow and senior computer science student, began 3D printing in high school, making enclosures for electronic devices he developed. When he started college, Jiang says, it “quickly became a spare parts machine,” as he printed the parts he needed to make repairs in his surroundings — ultimately including his job at The Tool Library, a volunteer-led nonprofit that lends tools to community members, similar to a library lending books. 

“Computer science has always been about finding a tool that allows me to incorporate our modern digital solutions to many of the problems that exist now,” Jiang says. 

But it wasn’t just about finding a tool to solve problems: It was about translating those solutions in his community. In his freshman year, Jiang got involved with UB’s Startup and Innovation Collaborative (CoLab), connecting with startups and other students who are entrepreneurially inclined, including those in the WNY Prosperity Fellowship program. 

Now a fellow himself, Jiang has had opportunities to get involved. One of the most attractive was an internship with The Tool Library, where he could combine digital solutions with sustainable reuse principles to better the community. 

Fixing his 3D printer gave him a hobby, as well as practice for a career in computer science, since older machines require constant software updates and “hacking” to keep them up to par with newer technology. Jiang’s “stubbornness” in maintaining his old 3D printer led him to explore new applications for the printer, among them repairing broken tools at The Tool Library.  

Jiang first got involved with The Tool Library after touring its new building at 2626 Main St. in Buffalo with the WNY Prosperity Fellows. He has interned there as part of his fellowship program since September 2023, taking shifts in the shop, helping with manual inventory and taking part in “dare to repair” competitions — which are similar to the “hack-a-thons” and coding projects he took part in during high school.

Darren Cotton, founder and executive director of The Tool Library, encouraged Jiang to take a crack at repairing tools with his 3D printer. “Darren noticed that we had many of the same issues with the triggers on Mantis cultivators, which have a complex shape, a horrible design and were breaking constantly. They were also old enough to not be sold as a replacement part anymore, so the need was clear,” Jiang says. 

“A week later I had my first prototype, and two iterations later, I found a design (for a new trigger) that now has lasted over a month in our inventory. We are constantly using this design with the cultivators that break now. We also published our designs online to help those who may have the same problem.”

During his time with The Tool Library, Jiang also has helped to expand funding opportunities by calculating the “carbon emissions saved” for more than 1,200 tools.

He hopes to continue using 3D printing to help Buffalo residents, and that his work will help grow the reuse community. “The Tool Library is already a place for people to repair their communities using our tools; I can only imagine how 3D printing can fit into that lofty goal for our community,” he says. 

“I know that 3D printing, combined with continuous belief in a better world, can create solutions that outlive what our current lives tell us is possible,” he says.

Jiang is now in his final semester at UB and on track to obtain his bachelor’s degree more than a year early. “Fiercely loyal to Buffalo,” he hopes to continue developing digital tools to help the community.

“This is the region that I hope I can belong to and participate in reimagining,” he says.