3DPOD: Insight from 3D Printing Pros

I met Jos Burger when I was working for Shapeways years ago. He’s astute, very bright and a natural leader who later worked at Ultimaker while I was there as well. Naturally, we discussed what Burger calls “Ultimaker’s romantic period,” or the chaotic period between hobby and hyper-growth that he stepped into.

We talked about going direct versus indirect for production, Ultimaker’s European loan, the private equity investment, the number of printers the firm has sold to date (over 130,000!), and the Ultimaker ecosystem. Burger tells us of future plans and the positioning of the firm. He talks of the Business Development teams’ application development, as well as training and Ultimaker Essentials.

We also discuss positioning and price points. As Ultimaker moves up in the world towards corporates what does the company lose? Will they lose touch with makers, educators, and people in the developing world? Will there be fewer community improvements? Burger emphatically redoubles his support for Ultimaker’s open source roots and character and calls it essential for the firm, which may assuage many a worry. All in all, both Max and I really liked hanging out with Jos Burger and we think that you’ll enjoy this thoughtful conversation also.

Fried Vancraen is one of my favorite people in 3D printing. It was a pleasure working for him years ago, as well. I was therefore especially happy that Vancraen chose to come back to the 3DPod once again, as Max and I really enjoyed his initial talk.

This time, Vancraen talks to us about some past things that he’s experienced in terms of exciting moments and career highlights. Max asks him if he thought Materialise would be as successful as it is. Vancraen also talks about Materialise’s Five Year Plans and reveals that, during the next one, he will be looking for a successor. We also mention that very many people at Materialise have been with the firm a very long time and that this may have aided the company’s success.

We talk about the market outlook for 3D printing and Materialise, as well. Vancraen mentions some interesting developments, such as Rapid Fit’s adoption with fixtures and components for electric cars, medical printing advancements, and the firm’s continued COVID response.

We discuss flying cars and the entrepreneurial activity going on there, as well. Other topics include bioabsorbable PCL trachea implants and why Vancraen thinks that it’s too soon for the company to invest in bioprinting.

Vancraen discusses adding value and how Materialise has been extremely lucky as a company. He talks about disappointing customers and firing people. Max and I really enjoyed this talk a lot and Fried’s thoughtful answers have a depth and humanism that really made us savor this episode.

Todd Grimm has been working in AM and 3D Printing for 30 years. He has done a lot of work for Additive Manufacturing Users Group (AMUG), and is a frequent guest speaker at conferences. So, naturally, we spoke about the conferences in the COVID-19 era. As a team, we even developed an exciting new conference idea.

We also looked at the past of the industry. Grimm’s work as a consultant has given him a lot of different viewpoints on and through our industry. Grimm was reserved and weighed his thoughtful responses. Grimm was asked by Max what he got completely wrong and right in his predictions in the past, which he duly and bravely answered.

Grimm also spoke about what has changed in the industry, how important software is, and how the market has evolved. Grimm wowed us with his deep radio voice, but, more importantly, with a great deal of insight, as well. We were challenged and this brought up a lot of new thoughts and ideas. This felt like a fireside conversation and Max and I enjoyed it immensely. We hope that you do as well!

In this episode, Max and I spoke with Eric Pallarés of BCN3D. BCN3D is a Barcelona-based material extrusion 3D printing company. Having started on the desktop, BCN3D now is moving toward enterprise and the factory floor. The company is working on developing an ecosystem of tools including software, settings, and machine.

The firm’s new Epsilon 3D printer is meant for engineers and has two independent extruders, carbon and HEPA filtration, as well as a large build volume. The company is entering into new territory here making something above Pro printers, but below entry-level industrial units. They call it a “workbench” system.

We also delve into Pallarés’s view of the market now and how the market will evolve: what will happen, what needs to happen and how printers will be improved. All in all, Pallarés gives us a lot of interesting information to think about. We’d love your feedback and keep your suggestions for new guests coming.

I’ve known Alexander Oster a long time now. He joined FIT at 16 to work on making a printer and later writing code for the leading service bureau. This eventually resulted in one of the first online price quoting tools. He then wrote one of the first software packages for creating lattices. This effort, in turn, morphed into Netfabb which was later sold to Autodesk and is now a part of Fusion 360.

Now, Oster is the Director Additive Manufacturing at Autodesk. He’s also the Chairman of the Technical Working Group at the 3MF Consortium. He talked to us about 3MF and what it brings to the table, as well as how adoption is faring. He also spoke about the future of file types and workflow in printing. He also spoke about Fusion 360 and what this tool brings to the ecosystem. Most importantly, Oster dove into some 3D printing history, outlining his path and that of Netfabb. Max and I both really enjoyed this story and how it dovetails with the maturing of 3D printing. We hope that you enjoy this episode, as well.

Tuan is known universally by his first name alone. Like Madonna and Beyonce, everyone knows hi by just that one name. In Tuan’s case his fame is 3D printing specific and stems from his long history in 3D printing. Tuan has been working in our industry for over 17 years. Having started at color binder jetting company ZCorp, he later worked for 3D Systems, then Objet; he went over to Stratasys, when that was acquired, then on to Arcam (GE Additive). Later on, he moved to Desktop Metal and, now, he is with AREVO.

Because AREVO 3D prints composites and has now released a composite 3D printed bicycle, we spoke a bit about that on our most recent episode of 3DPOD. But, Tuan also addressed his career and new emerging technologies. We talked about 3D printing constraints and futures. We also spoke of sales, how sales in 3D printing works, and how Tuan sells. We spoke of new business models and new markets also. A candid Tuan talked about where he thinks that the industry is headed, as well. Both Max and I really enjoyed speaking with Tuan and gleaning from his insights into the industry. Give it a listen and tell us what you think.

Twikit is a mass customization startup that hopes to make many things parametric. With their software, companies can let consumers customize electronics, car parts or orthotics to their liking or fit. Martijn Joris is one of the co-founders of the Belgian firm. We spoke to him about mass customization, including the applications that have a high degree of interest, such as the automotive market and things like braces and jewels. We also discussed less well-known applications such as sporting goods.

Mass customization has long been a buzz word for conferences but is it really coming into its own? What is going on day to day in mass customization and is it growing? Martijn gives us an idea of what is going in their market and how Twikit works. We also talk about what is important in a mass customization solution and some limitations of mass customization. What kind of things do people want to customize and when will they be interested? Give this episode a listen and let us know what you think.

John Barnes is a key figure in industrializing 3D printing for aerospace. His career had him at key roles at key times for 3D printing at Honeywell, Lockheed, and Arconic. Now, with his own firm, The Barnes Group Advisors, Barnes wants to aid companies in the qualification of parts, manufacture using 3D printing, as well as implement the technology across organizations.

Recently, we discussed how they were collaborating with the VA on the Austere mask. The Barnes Group Advisors also runs training courses to teach executives what they need to know about additive. Given his extensive use of 3D printing in aerospace Barnes is skeptical of hype and trends, but wants to see the technology grow through useful applications.

In this 3DPOD, we talk quite a lot about microstructure. Gradient materials and training are also subjects that we wade through. Barnes tells us what he thinks university students should cover and what is holding back the technology. We talk about his history with Optomec’s LENS technology and his time at Lockheed Martin’s Skunkworks, as well. CSIRO, Oakridge National Labs (ORNL), Airbus, NASA JPL, VELO, Carnegie Mellon, and DARPA are just some of the companies and institutes that we mention. This episode is skewed a bit toward the more technical side of things, but we had a blast recording it with Barnes.

Phil Reeves is a very knowledgeable 3D printing consultant with strong opinions. He’s spent over 25 years working in additive manufacturing and, in that time, has conducted many significant, groundbreaking projects in the space. Reeves has done work on data, characterizing new 3D printing materials, industrializing new technologies, and bringing new tech to market. He helps companies understand the cost of additive and implement it in a coherent way. Previously, Reeves has worked for customers like BP, Caterpillar, IBM, Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, GE Aviation, Bentley, BMW, Jaguar Landrover, Redbull Technology, Nike and LVMH.

We enjoyed talking to Reeves and he gave us well thought through crisp answers to our questions. Max and I discussed COVID, 3D printing implementation, the limitations of the technology, comparing photopolymers with thermoplastics, and a new exciting drop-on-demand/mix-on-demand 3D printing technology. We’ve been really lucky to have such really good guests so far and this one was another one that we hope you can enjoy as well!

Previously we spoke to HP’s Ramon Pastor & Terry Wohlers, had a discussion about decentralized manufacturing, got to talk to Materialise CEO Fried Vancraen, EOS CEO Marie Langer, Ty Pollak from Open Additive, and have had conversations about the ethics of 3D printing, 3D printing for COVID, and about handheld scanning.

Other episodes included the following:

In this episode of 3DPOD, Max and I were joined by Ramon Pastor, Interim President, 3D Printing and Digital Manufacturing, HP inc. He is responsible for HP’s 3D Multi Jet Fusion business and heads up HP’s Barcelona Campus, as well. We interviewed Pastor previously about adding value with AM and he wrote an article for 3DPrint.com about making the world better through AM. This time, we caught up with him to talk about HP’s progress and newest releases.

HP recently released polypropylene as a material which I was very excited about. The company also partnered with Oechsler, added FastRadius to its network of service providers, and printed millions of parts for COVID-19. We spoke to Pastor about all of that and more in what was a thoroughly enjoyable conversation for us. We hope that you will enjoy it as well. Give it a Listen.

In previous episodes, we also had the pleasure of talking to Terry Wohlers, had a discussion about decentralized manufacturing, got to talk to Materialise CEO Fried Vancraen, EOS CEO Marie Langer, Ty Pollak from Open Additive, and have had conversations about the ethics of 3D printing, 3D printing for COVID, and about handheld scanning. Other episodes included the following: