Photo courtesy of Mick Ebeling | Mick Ebeling ’88, center, works with a boy who received a new arm printed with a 3D printer.
Ebeling will speak at annual Power Breakfast fundraising event April 28 and an all-school assembly
By Austin Norville ’15
THE ROUNDUP
Brophy alumnus Mick Ebeling ’88 of “Not Impossible Labs” will speak at the annual Power Breakfast Tuesday, April 28 and to all students during an assembly that day.
Mr. Ebeling runs a production company and creative think tank, and is the founder of the Not Impossible Foundation, “a nonprofit organization that develops creative solutions to real-world problems.”
He has taken on projects such as using 3D printers to create new arms for amputee children in Africa.
The school’s President’s Office plans the Power Breakfast as an annual fundraising event to help fund capital projects, and also share the story about Brophy and Jesuit education.
Mr. Ebeling said his time at Brophy was an important period.
“Brophy for me was probably one of the most formative aspects of my life,” Mr. Ebeling said. “So I think learning from the Jesuit priests there and the whole concept of ‘man for others’ was something that was ingrained in me by my parents, but then having that reaffirmed when I got to Brophy was obviously influential.”
Assistant Principal for Technology and Instruction Mr. Jim Bopp said Mr. Ebeling was a huge inspiration for the development of the future Innovation Commons.
“Mick really served as the ‘moral inspiration’ for the Innovation Commons project. We discovered what he was doing when Aakash Jain (’14) heard him speak at the International Science and Engineering Fair,” Mr. Bopp said. “Aakash sent us some information on ‘Not Impossible Labs’ and as we looked at what Mick was doing and why he was doing it, we knew that we wanted our students to have a similar experience.”
Mr. Ebeling said his work deals with what is possible with ever-evolving technology.
“The whole premise is what’s possible based on the concept of technology for the sake of humanity. What we do is we look at problems that exist in the world and we say, ‘how can we solve that where it can be low cost and accessible, approachable and doable for people regardless of socioeconomic status?’” Mr. Ebeling said. “At the (Power Breakfast) I will be talking about some of the more influential projects that we’ve done over the last couple years.
According to Mr. Ebeling, the inspiration he wants his work to instill into students is the sense that nothing is impossible.
“I think the name of my company says it all,” Mr. Ebeling said. “I think that there’s nothing in the world that should be perceived by anyone as impossible and I would love for students to walk away and have that concept of the fact that impossible is really a fallacy.”
Mr. Ebeling recently wrote the book “Not Impossible: The Art and Joy of Doing What Couldn’t Be Done.”
He will be at Changing Hands Bookstore at 300 W. Camelback Road at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 28 for a book signing. Click here for more information.
Contact Ms. Stacy Thomas for information about the Power Breakfast at sthomas@brophyprep.org or (602) 264-5291 ext. 6365, or click here for more details.
