Marleen Vogelaar was Shapeways‘ first CFO and, along with a new management team, rescued Shapeways out of bankruptcy proceedings. She takes us through the drama and effort to rebound the firm and grow it once again. What is their strategy to be? What markets will they target, what technologies will they use, and where will they invest? Will the firm focus on consumers, businesses, manufacturing, or prototypes? Will the company look at series manufacturing and more assembly operations, or stick to what others do? On the whole, this is an exciting set of experiences and a well-informed look into the future of Additive Manufacturing.

Today we’re doing something completely different in not having one guest on the 3DPOD but many. We’re talking one by one to a team of people at Center Street Technologies. We will hear from the factory floor, machine operations, and founders, all speaking about their role and their part in this team. Center Street wanted this because they’re a team effort, and they want to show how: Michael Garvey, Patrick Kiraly, Brady Walther, Matthew Heffinger and Clark Patterson help make up Center Street. Center Street is developing a large-format Material Extrusion system and service for the Additive Manufacturing market. Building off of work for the Air Force, the team is developing materials, machines, settings and machine in tandem, acting as a systems integrator for large format additive.

Øyvind Tafjord runs Visitech, a firm that makes the light engines that power a lot of the DLP machines we use in Additive. We talk to Øyvind about light engines, their market, competition, and the logic of really large vat polymerization systems. Øyvind thinks that vat polymerization systems using scrolling light engines of several meters by several meters would push Additive into low cost production. We also talk about what it is like to run a business amidst geopolitical uncertainty. Visitech implemented a “No China” supply chain a few years ago, a move that looks very prescient in the current circumstances. Given their work in optics and complex assemblies, Visitech´s success may mean that your own supply chain could also be localized.

Ruben Meuth worked at Fraunhofer before helping to start 3D Spark, a German startup that helps companies identify, cost, quote, and screen 3D printed parts. There’s a lot going on in the part screening, digital warehouse space, and we discuss this fast-developing part of the industry with Ruben. Where are the important choke points in additive and how can software help grow our market?

Jay Dinsmore founded the eponymous company Dinsmore years ago. Since then, he’s had many an adventure in hiring people, managing them, training them, keeping them, and getting the best out of them. Meanwhile, he’s wrestled machines across several technologies as well. We also discuss the takeover by ADDMAN of his firm and the path ahead. We really run the gamut here from finance to operations, and I think it’s an enlightening entrepreneurship and growth story.

Jacob Nuechterlein is back with us. Initially we go into Fortius Metals discussing the special materials that firm has for DED. But, the meat and bones of this episode is metals more generally. What’s is an oxygen dispersion steel, what about a superalloy? And what are refractories? When is something a metal matrix composite? And can we have things that fit into multiple categories? Rather confusingly, the answer is yes. Jacob helps guide us through a lot of often used but little understood terms which should help us all understand metals better.

Mark Skylar-Scott is an experienced bioprinting researcher now working at one of the foremost bioprinting labs in the world at Stanford University. We talk about inexpensive desktop bioprinters and their ability to do meaningful work, as well as various bioprinting technologies. We were very happy to get a lot of detail, but also a great overview into this rather murky market. We’re told about the future probable and the future possible, as well as the different challenges. This is a great primer for anyone on bioprinting, but also an insightful view into the sector for those already in the bioprinting market.

Kodiak Brush grew up playing football before working on crash testing. Sometimes someone’s career can seem like it is inexorably building up to one goal. And with Kodiak now making better football helmets through 3D printing, this is one of those cases. LIGHT Helmets is making affordable 3D printed helmets. Using desktop 3D printing and design optimization, special structures have been created that absorb critical impacts in the correct way. There are cheaper helmets out there, but starting at $649, this is probably the best helmet and a prime example of how 3D printing is set to revolutionize sporting goods and impact protection.

Dieter Schwarze is a true 3D printing icon. Here we get the twisting, arduous tale of Dieter’s journey into additive. Starting with inkjet, SLA and lots of other technologies, Dieter´s path was filled with telenovela-like plot twists. The Nikon SLM Solutions story is an important element of his tale, but the entire saga is much more complex. With a lot of candor, he talks about getting started, growing a business, selling to Nikon, and more. We get a real entrepreneurial vision here. Nothing has been straightforward in Dieter’s journey, and there is so much to learn. This is a must-listen for those who wish to be entrepreneurs or are already.

Spencer Loveless’ story is a compelling one. It’s a tale of a family business starting from nowhere and becoming successful. Then subsequently, it is a tale of manufacturing in the USA against all odds. This is a very topical story, but it is also a crucial story for 3D printing. His firm Merit3D uses a technology that most have only seen at trade shows, Photocentric. Furthermore, he’s not running a traditional service bureau. Spencer wants to do to true manufacturing, bridge manufacturing, and production in the hundreds of thousands of parts. Now, of course we’ve heard that vision before. The difference here is that Spencer and his team are producing millions of cost-effective parts in the US. And we’re not talking about high end rocket nozzles or turbo machinery, but regular things, such as stud finders, hangers for epoxy tubes, and much more. Spencer is showing us all how we could scale up to real production.