Nashua High students use 3-D printing to tackle my hiking pole problem

If you want something done, ask a teenager to do it. I admit this isn’t common advice, unless the task involves wearing earbuds and ignoring adults. But today’s column proves it can be true, as shown by two seniors at Nashua High School South who are using computer-aided design and 3-D printers to solve a problem I’ve been whining about for years: Holding onto my hiking poles. The story began with a column I wrote in January about 3-D printing, in advance of that month’s Science Cafe. I mentioned that I always lose the little plastic clips that hold two hiking poles together when they’re not in use, thus making it much harder to store and carry the poles, and I ruminated about how these clips seemed perfect subjects for 3-D printing.