AMinsider

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In this special announcement episode of AMinsider, hosts Justin Hopkins and Dustin Kloempken share major developments for the future of the podcast. Reflecting on 12 months of experimentation to discover what listeners want most, the team unveils exciting changes designed to expand their reach, deepen audience engagement, and broaden the scope of their additive manufacturing discussions. 

This episode provides a deep dive into the following key themes:

• A Strategic Partnership with 3Dnatives: Discover the details behind AMinsider's new 12-month pilot program with 3Dnatives, the world's largest platform for 3D printing and additive manufacturing news. Managing Director Filippos Voulpiotis joins the hosts to discuss hosting the podcast under the 3Dnatives umbrella and amplifying technical, non-commercial industry conversations. 
• Welcoming a New Co-Host: Meet Ryan Hayford, owner of Hayford Consulting, who joins the podcast team bringing over 15 years of North American additive manufacturing experience in sales, marketing, and business strategy. 
• Expanding Technical & Commercial Scope: Learn how the team plans to combine deep technical expertise with macro-level market perspectives, tackling emerging global trends in drone manufacturing, suppressor production, and biomedical 3D printing. 
• Listener-Driven Content & Truth-First Messaging: Explore why the show is doubling down on audience feedback, honest discussions about industry pitfalls ("the good and the bad"), and deep-dive technical conversations that cut through marketing hype. 

Whether you are an industry veteran or looking to start a career in additive manufacturing, this episode offers essential insights into how innovation is pushing the boundaries of what is possible. Stay curious and join us as we get inside the future of AM.

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In this special episode of AM Insider, hosts Justin Hopkins and Dustin Kloempken take a retrospective look at the transformative year of 2025. Using artificial intelligence to analyze their recordings from throughout the year, the hosts bridge the gap between early-year trends and the industry's current reality.

This episode provides a deep dive into the following key themes:

• The AI Revolution in Additive Manufacturing: Explore how AI is lowering the barrier to entry for CAD and design, making it easier to manifest ideas and shifting the role of the Application Engineer toward higher-value data analysis and responsive workflows.
• Industry Maturity vs. "The Hype": Justin and Dustin tackle the question of whether the industry is "dead" or simply maturing. They discuss the consolidation and bankruptcies of 2025—including names like Desktop Metal and BCM3D—while positioning the industry within the Gartner Hype Curve's trough of disillusionment.
• The Rise of Production and Prosumer Tech: Learn why 2025 became the "year of the Bambu printer" and how AM is proving its worth in high-stakes production environments like the medical and drone markets.
• Building a Resilient Career: Drawing on insights from guests like Amos and Brent Ewald, the hosts discuss non-linear career paths, the importance of soft skills like negotiation, and why a curious, problem-solving mindset is more valuable than any specific degree.

Whether you are an industry veteran or looking to start a career in additive manufacturing, this episode offers essential insights into how innovation is pushing the boundaries of what is possible. Stay curious and join us as we get inside the future of AM.

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This episode of AM Insider features guest Zeke Sudbury, an additive sales specialist at Atlix, who discusses his professional transition from the world of polymers and composites to metal additive manufacturing (AM). Hosted by Justin Hopkins and Dustin Kloempken, the conversation explores the technical and cultural differences between these two realms, noting that polymer expertise focuses on material science and polymer chains, while metal AM is more akin to welding engineering.

The central theme of the episode is the identification of "boring" but highly profitable applications that drive industry growth. Sudbury argues that while industries like aerospace and medical have long qualification cycles that can slow down progress, the firearm suppressor industry has effectively "saved" metal additive by providing a high-demand application with lower barriers to entry.

Key topics covered in the episode include:

• The Suppressor Case Study: A deep dive into why suppressors are ideal for metal AM. Sudbury explains the thermodynamics behind their design, noting that additive allows for complex internal geometries and "baffles" that increase volume and decrease temperature to reduce external pressure. He also highlights how surface roughness, often viewed as a defect, is actually beneficial for suppressors as it adds turbulence and improves performance.
• Industry Trends and Market Shifts: The discussion covers the recent surge in suppressor demand due to changes in government fees in early 2026 and the adoption of these components by the U.S. Army for hearing protection and toxic gas reduction.
• The Role of AI and Software: How AI and cloud-based software (such as OAM for dental) are lowering the barrier to entry for new users by automating complex tasks like part orientation, support generation, and failure prediction.
• Future Frontiers: Looking beyond suppressors, Sudbury identifies dental, semiconductors (pure nickel printing), and heat exchangers as the next major growth areas for the industry.
• Advice for Professionals: Sudbury emphasizes the importance of networking and "being a sponge" when entering the field. He recommends the Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium in Austin, Texas, as a premier resource for anyone looking to understand the cutting-edge academic research driving the industry forward.

The episode concludes by emphasizing the importance of the feedback loop between academia, engineering, and sales to solve increasingly complex manufacturing problems.

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In this episode of AM Insider, we sit down with Christian Seidel, professor of additive manufacturing and consultant at Wohlers Associates (powered by ASTM International), to explore where the additive manufacturing industry is headed in 2026 and beyond.

Christian shares insider insights on AM market growth trends, why the industry continues to grow at ~10% annually, and how AI is transforming metal 3D printing, process optimization, beam shaping, and quality assurance. We also discuss the critical role of standards in scaling additive manufacturing, including why ISO and ASTM standards matter for production, defense, aerospace, and regulated industries.

Key topics include:

• The real state of the additive manufacturing market in 2026
• Why Powder Bed Fusion still dominates metal AM—and where DED is gaining ground
• How AI is being applied inside AM processes, not just data analysis
• Defense vs. non‑defense AM growth and market hype
• What skills the next generation of AM professionals must develop
• Why process chains, production readiness, and standards will define the next phase of AM adoption

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Medical 3D printing is one of the most promising—and misunderstood—areas of additive manufacturing.
In this episode of AM Insider, we’re joined by Ben Klein, a biomedical engineer and former leader in medical additive manufacturing, to unpack what’s actually working in healthcare and why adoption takes longer than most expect.

Ben shares firsthand insight from building early medical 3D printing programs, including patient‑specific anatomical models, surgical guides, and tissue‑like training models used by surgeons and device manufacturers. We explore why hype-driven use cases often fail, how real clinical adoption happens, and what it takes for additive manufacturing to become part of the standard of care.

The conversation dives deep into workflow challenges, surgeon adoption, reimbursement realities, and how AI-driven automation could unlock the next phase of scalable medical 3D printing. Ben also offers practical advice for engineers, startups, and hospitals looking to enter the medical space—and what not to do if you want long-term success.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why medical 3D printing adoption moves slower than other industries
• Anatomical models vs. patient‑specific surgical guides
• How surgeons actually decide whether to use 3D printed tools
• Workflow and segmentation as the real bottleneck
• The role of AI in automating medical design workflows
• Reimbursement, regulation, and the path to standard of care
• Where medical additive manufacturing is headed in the next 5–10 years

Whether you’re working in additive manufacturing, medical devices, healthcare innovation, or exploring how 3D printing fits into regulated industries, this episode offers a grounded, experience‑driven look at what it really takes to succeed.

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In this episode of the AM Insider podcast, hosts Justin Hopkins and Dustin Kloempken sit down with Stefan Joens, a second-generation business owner of Elnik Systems. The conversation explores the critical but often misunderstood role of thermal processing in metal additive manufacturing, particularly for binder jetting and other sinter-based technologies.

Key Discussion Points

• Redefining Sintering: Stefan argues that sintering should be viewed as an in-process step rather than "post-processing" because a metal part is not truly complete until it has undergone this thermal cycle.
• The Science of the Furnace: The episode explains how furnaces vaporize polymer binders at low temperatures before heating metal particles just below their melting point to fuse them together. This process involves a significant shrinkage of 10% to 20%.
• Batch vs. Continuous Furnaces: For companies deciding on equipment, Stefan notes that batch furnaces offer high flexibility for various alloys and runs under 200,000 parts, while continuous furnaces are the "unbeatable" choice for high-volume, consistent production.
• The "Glass Box" Approach: Stefan shares his mission to turn the "black box" of furnace technology into a "glass box," focusing on educating users so they understand the metallurgy and physics happening inside the chamber.
• Industry Evolution: The group discusses moving past the initial industry "hype" toward a more mature phase focused on alloy development—such as titanium, copper, and Inconel—and actual production-ready parts.

Expert Recommendations

Stefan strongly advises that before making a major capital investment, companies should benchmark their parts. He encourages sending full loads of printed parts to experts, such as his sister company DSH Technologies, to prove the process works before buying a furnace. He also recommends resources like the Metal Injection Molding Association (MIMA) and the Formnext and Rapid + TCT trade shows for continued learning.

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This episode of the AM Insider podcast is hosted by Justin Hopkins and Dustin Kloempken. It is part of a miniseries focused on the beginnings of additive manufacturing (AM), aiming to share experiences from industry veterans.

The guest is Darin Everett, who is referred to as an industry "longtimer". He joined Stratasys in 1999 when the company was relatively small, starting at $28.5 million. Darin agreed with the common observation that the industry’s start-up era was "darn fun" and dynamic.

Career and Focus at Stratasys

• Darin studied mechanical engineering but transitioned into sales to better communicate with his typical customers (mechanical engineers). Before joining Stratasys, he worked in demanding traditional manufacturing environments like oil refineries, requiring him to wear fire retardant clothing and steel-toe boots daily.
• His passion and specialty during his 16 years at Stratasys was manufacturing, production, and tooling.
• He began in direct sales of large frame systems ("big boxes"). In January 2009, he moved to the first segment team (starting with aerospace) to develop applications such as composite layout tools, jigs, fixtures, and drill guides. After the Objet merger in late 2012, he helped resellers worldwide sell these manufacturing applications through channel management.
• After a sabbatical (2017 to 2020), he returned to work in St. Louis, motivated to be part of the push to bring manufacturing back to the US. He currently focuses on the metal side of AM, specifically refractory metals using electron beam powder bed fusion.

Selling and Production Challenges

• Selling "Black Magic": In the early 2000s, selling AM felt like selling "black magic" as engineers were highly skeptical.
• Focus on Solutions: Darin stressed that the industry sells solutions, not machines, and the only relevant output is the part. Sales must address the customer's pain or the losses they are preventing.
• High Stakes: Production cannot stop, as a shutdown in high-requirement environments (like a refinery) can cost $1 million to $3 million a day. High-requirement applications must justify the entire system cost (machine, people, floor space) with a one-to-two-year ROI.
• Certification Hurdles: Material qualification and certification are lengthy and expensive. The effort to fly the first 3D-printed part stalled for over five years due to the multi-million dollar cost of obtaining burn data and allowables. Currently, a hurdle for newer processes, such as electron beam powder bed fusion of tungsten, is that there is no US-certified lab that has a standardized process to prepare and test the required specimens.

Future Outlook and Advice

• Future Outlook: Darin believes AM has a great future but anticipates an overdue "squeeze" on the number of OEMs. He expects growth tied to critical items returning to US manufacturing, especially in defense, energy, and nuclear fusion.
• Key Advice: The second sale (the repeat sale) is the true test of a company, the machine, and the relationship, as it requires proving oneself after the initial battle.
• Recommended Resources: Darin advised watching "How Things Are Made" to understand traditional manufacturing (casting, forging, molding), reading the Wohlers Report annually, and attending AMUG for real feedback. He also recommended resources on sales and marketing, including Chris Harris’s book Phase Selling.

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This podcast episode of "AM Insider" features an interview with Ryan Kircher, a principal additive manufacturing engineer at RMS Company, a medical device contract manufacturer. The discussion centers on the adoption of additive manufacturing (AM), specifically within the medical device industry. Kircher shares his 20 years of experience in the field, detailing the challenges and successes of using AM for medical implants, including the complexities of FDA regulations, process validation, and quality control. The conversation also explores the economic considerations and the integration of AM with traditional manufacturing processes, highlighting how these factors influence the widespread use and future of additive manufacturing in medicine.

1. Significant Investment Required for Medical AM: Establishing additive manufacturing capabilities for medical devices demands substantial upfront investment, often in the realm of millions of dollars, and takes years to develop the necessary qualifications, validations, and a robust quality system. Many companies tend to underestimate this significant financial and time commitment.
2. Evolution of Regulatory Landscape and FDA Guidance: Early pioneers in medical additive manufacturing faced the daunting task of creating new terminology, standards, and process validations from scratch, often having to adapt existing standards for conventional materials. However, the FDA has since published guidance documents, such as "Technical Considerations for Additively Manufactured Medical Devices," which have helped clarify requirements and streamline the clearance process, making it easier today for those who understand the process.
3. Additive Printing is a Small Fraction of the Total Process: While the actual "additive portion" of manufacturing a medical device might only take 2-3 days for a build, the entire process from initiating the print to shipping a finished device can span 6-8 weeks. This highlights the extensive pre- and post-processing, quality control, and other complementary steps that are crucial for medical device production.
4. Integrated Manufacturing Capabilities are Essential for Success: Being a successful medical device manufacturer using additive processes requires much more than just a "print shop." It necessitates comprehensive in-house capabilities, including downstream processes like CNC machining, thorough powder removal, and advanced inspection techniques. Companies that already possess a strong manufacturing infrastructure (like contract manufacturers) are better positioned for success.
5. Strategic Application Drives Value in AM: Additive manufacturing should be leveraged for the unique value it can add, such as creating complex porous lattice structures that promote osseointegration or eliminating secondary manufacturing steps (e.g., coating processes). Simply using AM to replace an existing conventional manufacturing method for a part that could be made cheaper or better otherwise is often a struggle. It's crucial to objectively determine if AM is the right fit for a particular part or feature.
6. Medical AM is a Large-Scale Success Story: Despite common misconceptions, additive manufacturing has achieved significant scale and success in the medical device industry. For example, RMS company alone has sold over 1 million off-the-shelf additively manufactured medical implants, and other major companies like Stryker operate at even larger scales. Spinal fusion cages, in particular, represent a major success story for AM due to their part volume and design requirements.
7. Economic and Incumbency Barriers Can Hinder Adoption: While hip cups were one of the first applications for AM (circa 2008-2009), they serve as a cautionary tale. Only a small percentage of hip cups are additively manufactured today, primarily because major OEMs have already invested millions in conventional manuf

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 This episode features an interview with Rajeev Kulkarni, a seasoned professional in the additive manufacturing industry, who shares his extensive experience and insights into the history, evolution, and future of 3D printing. Rajeev discusses his early contributions to the field, including the invention of support generation for SLA and the creation of the STL file format, highlighting the collaborative effort required for innovation and the importance of focusing on problem-solving and applications rather than just technology. He also offers advice for newcomers and executives in the industry, emphasizing the need to view 3D printing as a manufacturing technology and to integrate it within a broader digital ecosystem rather than positioning it against traditional methods. The conversation touches upon the impact of AI and the rewarding aspects of 3D printing, particularly in healthcare.

1. Humble and Challenging Beginnings: 3D printing began in the early 1990s from a state of "nothing," facing significant challenges such as a lack of 3D CAD design, expensive software, and the absence of standard formats, which led to the creation of the STL format. Computers were also slow, sometimes taking overnight to slice a file.
2. Evolving Industry Vision: Initial visions for 3D printing centered on accelerated product development, toolless manufacturing, and customization/one-off production. The concept of on-demand and distributed manufacturing emerged later as the technology evolved and customers presented these possibilities.
3. Innovation Through Collaboration and Iteration: The industry's rapid progress from creating the first 3D printers to establishing business models in industries like hearing aids and jewelry within 8-10 years was a multidisciplinary, cross-functional, and collaborative effort. Success hinged on being nimble and iterative, as customers often did not know what to ask for in a disruptive technology. Rajeev Kulkarni himself invented support generation for Stereolithography (SLA), drawing inspiration from electric pole designs.
4. Focus on Applications and Solutions, Not Just Technology: The core principle for success is that "technology is the cost and the application is the revenue". Focusing on specific applications and customer solutions that address real-world problems is paramount, as demonstrated by the long-term success in sectors like dental and hearing aids.
5. No Single "Killer App" or "Inflection Point": The industry has not experienced a singular "inflection point" or "killer app." Instead, successful applications like aligners, hearing aids, dental, and jewelry have achieved significant penetration through a "grind" that takes years or decades to replace complex workflows and achieve perfection.
6. "Manufacturing," Not "Printing": A significant disservice to the industry is referring to it as "printing" instead of "manufacturing." Executives and professionals must understand that replacing or enhancing manufacturing workflows is a complex undertaking, not a simple printing task, and requires a manufacturing-oriented mindset to succeed.
7. Complementary, Not Replacement, Approach: Positioning 3D printing against traditional manufacturing is often the "wrong approach." The real value of 3D printing lies in enhancing and complementing traditional methods, such as accelerating design cycles, producing complex internal features, or consolidating multiple part assemblies.
8. The Importance of the Entire Ecosystem: The success of 3D printing extends far beyond the printer itself, encompassing a vast ecosystem including design software, reverse engineering, pre-processing, materials, post-processing, quality control, supply chain, workforce education, and MES software. All these elements must work in conju

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This episode of AM Insider features a special discussion on the history and evolution of the additive manufacturing (AM) industry. Hosts Justin Hopkins and Dustin Kloempken welcome Kevin Mortzfield, an industry veteran who began his career in late 1994, to share his extensive experience.

Kevin Mortzfield's background includes working at 3D Systems as an associate applications engineer, where he started with stereolithography (SLA) on machines like the SLA 250. He then moved to Masco Corporation, running various 3D printing technologies (SLA, SLS, Objet) and managing their R&D facility as a shared service for business units like Delta Faucet and Liberty Hardware. Later, he transitioned to the software side, working for Live Software and currently serving as a solutions engineer at Autodesk, with a focus on Fusion Additive and NetFabb Additive products. This diverse experience allowed him to witness the industry's progression from sales to customer, and then to software development and education.

The discussion covers several key aspects of AM's journey:

• Terminology Evolution: Kevin notes that when he started, it was primarily called rapid prototyping, which was a broader term. The term 3D printing emerged about ten years later, emphasizing the layer-by-layer build process, followed by additive manufacturing, which now encompasses a wider range of applications, including end-use parts.
• Early Applications and Challenges: In the early days, AM was used for form-fit parts and visualization, such as an eight-cylinder engine block that helped identify an interference in a water jacket. Significant challenges included Unix-based software that required manual input and high-end Silicon Graphics workstations. CAD files were often problematic, with issues like bad formats, holes in models, and incorrect parameters leading to distorted shapes or excessively large files. Support removal was also difficult, as solid plastic supports could easily crack parts.
• Technological Breakthroughs: Kevin highlights metal additive manufacturing (direct metal 3D printing) as a major game-changer, allowing for the creation of metal components directly from a 3D printer. The entry of big-name companies like HP into the 3D printing space also brought significant public attention and legitimacy to the industry. The evolution of software from OEM-specific to independent solutions (like Materialise and NetFabb) and eventually integration into CAD packages (like Autodesk Fusion Additive) has greatly enhanced usability and efficiency.
• Successful "Boring" Applications: The episode touches on applications that, while not always glamorous, have proven highly successful and valuable. These include investment casting patterns for complex metal parts (like those used by SpaceX for rocket bodies) and injection molding with conformal cooling lines, which significantly improve manufacturing processes and reduce costs.
• Staying Current and Industry Impact: With the rapid proliferation of different 3D printers—from hobbyist machines to high-end production systems—Kevin emphasizes the importance of staying informed through newsletters (e.g., Additive Manufacturing Media, TCT Magazine, 3D Printing Industry) and attending trade shows like Rapid and AMUG. He stresses that AM has profoundly impacted various industries, including healthcare, manufacturing, and design, becoming an indispensable tool.
• Future Outlook: Looking ahead, Kevin predicts exciting developments in bioprinting (organs, skin) within 5-10 years, as well as large-scale 3D printing in construction for houses and bridges. The conversation also delves into the growing role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in AM, particularly for automating build setups, generative desi