Talking Additive

Matt Griffin speaks with members of the 2020 Ultimaker Innovators list and their nominators about their initiatives and ideas. 

The 2020 Ultimaker Innovators list is the first in what will become a yearly celebration of the 3D printing industry, placing the spotlight on individuals or teams around the world using the technology to transform the ways people work, think, and live. It is a showcase of 3D printing technology and the innovative results that can be achieved through its use.  

From architecture to manufacturing, from automotive to healthcare – and everywhere in between – we believe the 2020 Ultimaker Innovators list is a great way to send off the year – and kick off a new one.

Matt Griffin draws insights about the application engineering role from Ultimaker colleagues and allies concerning identifying and implementing opportunities for 3D printing. Whether it’s holding workshops, growing capabilities within a team, or undertaking site scans in a factory, application engineers often play a key role as champions for the adoption of additive manufacturing. 

Episode 17 of Talking Additive creates a group portrait of the diverse ways in which these experts make a difference in organizations around the world, as well as showcases trends in the growing catalogue of challenges well-suited to a 3D printed solution. 

Matt Griffin sits virtually with Roger Sijlbing and Tobias Rödlmeier of BASF 3D Printing Solutions to discuss the company’s role in additive manufacturing, which includes divisions for metal FFF as well as thermoplastic filaments, along with other 3D printing technologies.  

Roger is BASF’s Head of Sales Additive Extrusion Solutions. He joined BASF with the acquisition of Innofil3D in the Netherlands to expand BASF's role in additive manufacturing. Tobias serves as a Project Manager focused on the company’s metal FFF strategy.  

Matt Griffin and Cody Cochran, General Manager of Azoth discuss the creation of “digital inventory” items, a method for preparing projects for immediate, on-demand part production. Azoth is a recent additive manufacturing service launched within the EWIE Group of Companies (EGC), a family of manufacturing brands headquartered in Ann Abor, Michigan. Azoth 3D’s Center of Excellence is said to have grown from “an empty warehouse into an impressive lab of the industry’s highest-performing technology in less than two years.” 

Matt Griffin speaks with Steve Serpe of Arkema about the company’s high-performance materials development, including FFF 3D printing materials made with engineering-grade polymers capable of resisting harsh chemicals, high temperatures, and UV exposure. 

Steve works within Arkema’s North American presence, at its research center in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, the site that also contains Arkema’s global center of excellence for FFF extrusion technologies. 

In the third episode of Talking Additive’s second season, Matt Griffin speaks with Job van de Sande, manager of Engineering and Design for ERIKS, the Netherlands, about co-engineering certified parts and 3D printing in a “clean” facility – changing the way additive manufacturing is used to meet business and logistical needs of organizations around the world. 

In the latest episode of Talking Additive, Matt Griffin sits down with Haleyanne Freedman of M. Holland Co. to discuss the evolving role of additive manufacturing in the injection molding industry. M.Holland, one of the industry’s leading resins distributors, was founded in Illinois in 1950. In the past few years, it has created a team dedicated to offering cross-industry knowledge, advice, and expertise to help its customers compete in the world of 3D printing.

**SPECIAL PRO-BUNDLE-LENGTH EPISODE!** In the first episode of Talking Additive’s second season, Jabil Additive’s Director of Product Management, Matt Torosian, discusses how Jabil produces engineering-grade polymer filaments for manufacturing processes and end-use parts. 

Jabil’s factory ecosystem has deployed these solutions for its own print cells for several years, and continues to introduce new materials to the Ultimaker Materials Alliance that help manufacturers increase the capabilities for jigs, fixtures, tooling – and eventually end-use parts. And stay with this special Pro Bundle-Length episode as Matt Torosian draws on his thirty plus year experience in the polymer business to discuss the role of additive in the future of manufacturing.

In episode 10 of Talking Additive, Matt Griffin speaks with Marie-Luise Naerum from Schubert Additive Solutions about the Schubert Group’s unique approach to distributed manufacturing. Gerhard Schubert GmbH is a global market leader in top-loading packaging machines (TLM). Schubert Additive Solutions uses Ultimaker 3D printers to fulfill validated parts from a “digital warehouse” using the Partbox networked platform for certified printing jobs. FFF technology also gives the Crailsheim, Germany-based company more freedom in the designs it creates for its packaging machines, allowing for faster, cheaper iterations and ensuring it is future-proofed in a rapidly changing industry.

Asli Oney is Digital Fabrication Manager at Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF)’s New York office. This multinational architectural firm has worked on buildings shaping the cityscapes of many of the world's greatest cities and has been on a twenty-year journey to explore ways to implement 3D printing to support its design processes. 

This week, Asli explains how the KPF has standardized on approaches to 3D printing to allow designers and architects to create multiple iterations of design concepts within the KPF design studio. These low-cost models enable better communication of ideas to clients and shareholders. They also promote a more experimental, exciting approach to architectural design, with 3D printed parts usually costing a few dollars or less. She is joined by three of her colleagues -- CIO and principal James Brogan, applied research director Cobus Bothma, and master modelmaker Ross Page -- who contribute additional perspectives.