Lake Mary student 3D-prints ballot printer part, saving Seminole County thousands

A Lake Mary High School sophomore turned a classroom skill into a county savings fix, 3D-printing a replacement part for Seminole County ballot printers that could have forced the elections office to spend more than $18,000.

The small plastic piece helps hold ballot paper in place so it does not jam during printing. When it breaks, Supervisor of Elections Amy Pennock said the vendor requires the county to replace the entire tray, at a cost of about $125 each. With roughly 150 printers in use, that expense would have added up quickly.

Instead, Ethan Sigal brought the problem into Lake Mary High School’s advanced manufacturing program and measured the broken part carefully before recreating it on a 3D printer. Sigal said the work required precision down to hundredths of an inch. Pennock said the finished part worked.

The fix came out of a program Seminole County Public Schools says is designed to prepare students for postsecondary study and high-tech careers. Lake Mary High School’s advanced manufacturing lab uses CNC machines and laser cutters, and the district says the Advanced Manufacturing & Innovation program gives students a chance to design and prototype innovative products on industry-standard equipment while working toward industry certifications.

For Seminole County, the payoff reached beyond one repaired printer. Pennock leads an office responsible for voter registration, voter rolls, candidate qualification, vote-by-mail ballots, polling locations and the accurate tabulation of election results, so even a small equipment problem can become an operational issue. Pennock took office in January 2025 after winning the 2024 race, and she had already told county commissioners during her 2025 budget presentation that her office was dealing with records-retention, human resources file and contract problems uncovered in an internal review.

The student-made part also landed during a year when county leaders were closely tracking election costs. Seminole County budgeted $1 million for election expenses in 2026, even as the county was expected to have no elections that year for the first time since at least 1978 because several municipal races were uncontested.

In that context, Sigal’s part was more than a school project. It solved a real government problem, cut a replacement cost that multiplied across 150 printers and showed how a teenager, a classroom and a practical problem can deliver a direct win for taxpayers.