AM Voices Video Podcast - Frank Roberts, President of 6K Additive at Formnext 2022Frank Roberts sat down with Adam Penna in the 6K Additive booth at Formnext 2022 in Frankfurt, Germany for an episode of the AM Voices podcast to discuss the latest news with 6K and their success with material processing for additive manufacturing using their patented Uni-Melt process.Topics include:• Uni-Melt process value • 6K Additive quality • Fraunhofer ILT and 6K Additive Announce Partnership • 6K Additive Announces Plans to Double their Powder Manufacturing Capacity• Methodology  • Applications More info and AM Voices audio podcast: HERE Frank Roberts is the President of 6K Additive where he has built the 6K Additive, Global Manufacturing Center, a new 45 acre, 80,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art production facility for premium additive manufacturing powders and titanium pucks. This facility is ISO9001 certified and is currently in the process of AS9011 certification. Frank has over 20 years of experience in the specialty metals industry. Prior to joining 6K Additive, Frank was the CEO of AL Solutions, where he led a team in a greenfield development building a new facility producing alloy additions for the aluminum industry. He has extensive experience in all facets of manufacturing including, facility design, greenfield development, process design, project management, finance, and operations management. Frank holds a Metallurgical Engineering degree from Penn State University. 

 Adam Hopkins, CEO of Uniformity Labs joined me for Season 3, Episode 2 of the AM Voices video podcast. Visiting onsite in Ithaca, New York at metal 3D printing contract manufacturer Incodema3D gave me an appreciative perspective on the materials development work behind some of the most advanced production 3D printed parts in aerospace. I had the opportunity to find out more about what makes Uniformity Labs feedstock materials and print processes dramatically impact the reliability and efficiency of the Additive Manufacturing (AM) value chain from Uniformity Labs CEO, Adam Hopkins. Topics include:• Overview of Uniformity Labs and how the company got started.• Technology developed and the valued combination of materials and parameters• Addressing both Laser Powder Bed Fusion and Binder Jetting technologies.• Agnostic solutions to machine OEM and metal alloy• Polimotor application = CAM tray 3D printed at Incodema3D• Maintaining material properties even at build rates 2-3 times faster than the standard• Expanding beyond Aerospace and Medical• How Uniformity Labs technology be impacting the adoption of AM and machines.• Reducing carbon footprint and sustainability for manufacturing.• Accelerating the adoption of AM across all the major industries. Video available: AdditiveManufacturing.comAdam Hopkins Adam is an entrepreneur and scientist focused on the commercialization of breakthrough technologies in the physical sciences and novel materials. He is a founder of and since its inception has served as CEO of Uniformity Labs, a rapidly growing additive manufacturing materials, printing, and software company born out of IP conceived and developed by himself and Princeton professor Salvatore Torquato. He has led technical and business teams at venture backed high-tech startups developing novel thermoelectric, photonic, and phononic materials, and he is the author of several materials and manufacturing processes patents, including on the topics of granular media density enhancement, additive manufacturing print processes, thermoelectric design and production, and phononic attenuation. He earned his Ph. D. in Theoretical Chemistry from Princeton, where he was awarded a Charlotte Elizabeth Proctor Honorific Fellowship and the Ray Grimm Memorial Prize in Computational Physics. Adam obtained his bachelor's degree also at Princeton (cum laude) in Physics, with minors in Materials Science and Applied Mathematics. Uniformity Labs produces engineered powders and materials that helps customers realize substantial quality and efficiency improvements in additive and conventional manufacturing at scale using its ground-breaking, high-density metal powders and advanced manufacturing processes expertise. Delivering part production readiness across a large and growing portfolio of materials. Its patented technology uniquely enables groundbreaking improvements in throughput and reductions in residual stress across materials and platforms in laser powder bed fusion printing. In Binder Jetting, Uniformity powders deliver fully dense parts with minimal sintering shrink, resulting in the ability to manufacture to otherwise unobtainable high precision, material mechanical properties.&nbsp

 I had the opportunity to learn more about Laser Powder-Bed Fusion (L-PBF) material development from Elementum3D during a visit inside the Incodema3D contract manufacturing facility outside of Ithaca, NY. Incodema3D has a completely metal additive manufacturing facility that is focused on mission-critical parts for aerospace.Elementum3D is devoted to working with customers on L-PBF materials that are specifically developed for the applications that are scaling the industry by providing better value within cost per part scenarios. Founder and President of Elementum3D, Dr Jacob Nuechterlein and Director of Business Development, Alex Janzen sat down to discuss their current expansion and the reason their materials are driving the groundbreaking end use parts in metal 3D printing.Video available: AdditiveManufacturing.comTopics Include:• Rhenium material development (DARPA funded) update• Hypersonic – nickel alloys• Metal matrix composites – ODS materials• Heat exchanger applications• Elementum3D’s patented RAM (reactive additive manufacturing) technology• NASA to F1 racing and beyondDr. Jacob NuechterleinDr. Jacob Nuechterlein is the founder and president of Elementum 3D in Erie, CO. He earned his Bachelor of Engineering (2010), Master of Science (2011), and Doctor of Philosophy (2013) at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, CO, within 7 years. Dr. Nuechterlein has been working in powder metallurgy for the past 15 years. Elementum 3D’s work with powder bed laser additive manufacturing is based on these principles.His research with composition design, batching, mixing, and forming green parts directly relates to the handling and distribution of powder for additive manufacturing materials development. His thesis work in thermodynamics and formation kinetics of metal matrix composites is directly related to all 3D printing processes.About Elementum3DThe Elementum 3D team is laser-focused on remaining in the lead in both of those areas so that our customers in turn can lead their industries by supplying state-of-the-art, high-performing, alloy-based components.Our continued success will be based on providing the most advanced 3D printing materials and technology while consistently maintaining supreme quality in all we do. Our commitment to serve our clients and investors will always be based on the highest level of respect and trust.Elementum 3D’s success comes from our employee’s commitment to excellence. We look to our 50+ employees to advance their knowledge and skills every day to sustain our core initiative, provide a world-class experience at every Elementum 3D customer touchpoint. Elementum3D.com

Kelley McCarroll-Gilbert, Business Development Director, Global adidas Programs at Carbon in Los Angeles, California joined Adam J. Penna on the AM Voices podcast to explore Kelley's history and experience in additive manufacturing as well as discover what Carbon has been doing to lead vat photopolymerization 3D printing applications, design tools, customer success, product performance and innovation at scale.Topics Include:•Kelley's passion for additive manufacturing and working with customers at Carbon.•How to identify applications that are a good fit for additive for Carbon technology.•Carbons hardware, software design tools and materials that sets them apart and come together to create better products. •Characteristics of successful customers. •How product performance improvements are measured. •How Carbon is uniquely positioned to bring innovative products to market at scale both through a partner network of proven contract manufacturers and through in-house production. Kelley McCarroll-GilbertKelley McCarroll-Gilbert is a Business Development Director on Carbon’s Application Development Team. Kelley leads a portfolio of applications, partnering with customers to implement the DLS technology into new break-through products and successfully scale to high-volume production. Kelley’s key focus to date has been on premium foam-replacement, working to replace foam with variable-density lattice parts. Prior to Carbon, Kelley worked in Business Development & Strategy at TPG, a global investment firm, and in Investment Banking at Deutsche Bank. Kelley attended University of California, Los Angeles.About CarbonCarbon is a 3D printing technology company helping businesses to develop better products and bring them to market in less time. The Carbon DLS™ process combines versatile printers, advanced software, and best-in-class materials to deliver functional parts with end-use performance and aesthetics, helping engineers and designers to create products that outperform expectations. From prototyping and low-volume production to production-at-scale, global organizations use the Carbon process to create a wide range of functional end-use parts and print them reliably wherever and whenever they need them through Carbon’s production network partners. Carbon is a venture-backed company headquartered in Redwood City, CA. To learn more, follow Carbon on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. 

This is a follow-up conversation with Neal Orringer, President of ASTRO America,  after hearing him speak on a panel at ASME’s AM Industry Summit back in June 2022. President Biden launched the 'AM Forward' initiative in May 2022. From the May 6 White House fact sheet:“One of the best ways to lower the cost of the goods and services that families rely on is to make more things in America, with more secure, resilient supply chains.” – White House fact sheet from the launch of AM Forward –Topics Include: 2:00 - Addressing Supply Chain Bottlenecks 3:00 - Seven Lead System Integrators 4:20 – AM Forward was born…talking with President Biden about AM adoption 5:20 – "Whole of Corporation" – drive adoption of AM (casting & forging) 6:10 -  Financing, Qualification, Education – how small & medium suppliers access capital markets, receive qualification, and  improve workforce development.11:24 – Workforce Development 14:07 – Starting at the customer base with lead system integrators that are driving digitalization of the American supply chain 19:00 – ROI and bridging the gap & re-training the workforce 24:10 – Next steps with ASTRO America and AM Forward Neal Orringer is a leader in advanced manufacturing andpublic-private partnerships. He has built research and developmentorganizations in corporations of all sizes, and served as a politicalappointee, as Director of Manufacturing at the U.S. Department ofDefense (DoD), a senior manufacturing advisor to two U.S. Secretariesof Commerce, and national security aide to three U.S. Senators.He is a recipient of the Office of the Secretary of Defense ExceptionalCivilian Service Medal and the Secretary of Defense Excellence Award.Today, Neal is president and co-founder of ASTRO America, a research institute and think tank supporting U.S. public interest through manufacturing technology/policy formulation. About ASTRO AmericaThe Applied Science and Technology Research Organization of America (ASTRO America) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit, non-partisan Research Institute and Think Tank. It was established in 2018 to advance the public interest through manufacturing technology and policy. Led by manufacturing professionals with broad public and private sector experience, ASTRO America supports collaborations by government agencies and companies to address supply chain challenges in highly regulated industries, including aerospace and defense.  Find out more: https://www.astroa.org/

Izhar Medalsy is the Chief Technology Officer of Nexa3D, a 3D printer OEM who is breaking the barriers of Additive Manufacturing and leading the ultrafast polymer 3D printing revolution.On this episode of AM Voices, Izhar spoke with Adam Penna about the technology behind the reality of scaling polymer resin 3D printing and where speed and accuracy are the core value of scaling operations.Topics include:1:00 – Izhar’s inspirational background and experience – PhD Physical Chemistry – Nano and polymer development – now Photopolymer thermoplastics (high temp)· What drives innovation decisions at Nexa3D?2:30 – Motivation & innovation for high speed 3d printing – What is the secret to building faster 3D printers? Dynamic transformation. Days to hours “transform the way you design and iterate products”5:14 – The secret to faster speed resin printers -“LSPc technology speed is at the core of our hardware”8:50 – Scaling LCD for high speed resin 3D printing – scale – resolution – uniformity11:44 – How Nexa3D’s recently launched desktop 3D printer, with this technology, fits into the bigger picture?14:55 – What else makes XiP unique compared with other desktop 3D printers?16:00 – Materials advantages17:23 – Market pricing of Nexa 3D printer18:04 – Post processing – What happens after the print comes off the printer? – end-to-end solutions – efficiency22:05 – Applications23:49 – Injection molding & 3D printing reality – competitive material development“Speed of course is our main focus, but there are several other key differentiators”27:31 – What’s forecasted for hardware and software development to scale 3D printing for design production?About Nexa3D Nexa3D is a team of passionate additive manufacturing practitioners that are committed to digitizing the world’s supply chain sustainably.We make the world’s fastest polymer 3D printers accessible to professionals and businesses of all sizes. Our groundbreaking technology is shattering traditional 3D printing productivity barriers and opening the aperture of additive materials.Our printers take current additive manufacturing speeds from ‘dialup internet’ to ‘broadband’ printing and are capable of continuously printing at speeds of up to 8 liters per hour. This represents up to 20x productivity gains over all current state additive products and is comparable only to injection molding economics — existing supply chain complexities, extended lead-times and the substantial costs typically associated with tooled plastics. Nexa3D.comAbout Izhar Medalsy – Chief Technology Officer at NEXA3D – Digitizing the World Supply Chain.

Peter Eelman, Chief Experience Officer at AMT – The Association for Manufacturing Technology and Adam Penna had a chance to share their excitement around the return of International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS), on this episode of the AM Voices podcast. Topics Include: •            ASME/AMT Tech Leadership Summit @ IMTS 2022  & Live Lab  •            Peter's background and experience •            How IMTS started and developed over the years •            Adjusting through the pandemic (2020) •            IMTS 2022 – what to expect and look forward to •            History of The Additive Manufacturing Pavilion at IMTS •            IMTS+ programming and the lead up to Formnext 2025 in USA •            Tips for IMTS 2022  (IMTS) International Manufacturing Technology Show September 12 - 17, 2022 | McCormick Place, Chicago IL  ASME Tech Leadership Summit @ IMTS 2022 powered by ASME Date & Time Tuesday, Sept, 13, 2022: 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Location West Building, Room 183 A&B  The ASME Tech Leadership Summit @ IMTS 2022 will provide the opportunity for a global community of change-driven, growth-minded leaders to network and collaborate. Focusing on digital transformation, leaders will exchange views and information, allowing discussion of tomorrow's challenges as well as share ideas on how to leverage current opportunities and solutions. Hear from like-minded leaders discussing big data, digital twin, robotics, additive manufacturing and tour the show floor with an industry expert. 

 After hosting the AM Industry Summit in Long Beach, California June 2022, Adam Penna took the opportunity to follow up on an invitation from Kevin Czinger to visit their facility in Torrance, California and learn more about re-inventing sustainable automobile production assembly from Chief Technology Officer, Michael Kenworthy at Divergent3D. Topics include: 1:20 - How Mike got started in advanced manufacturing. MIT, Mechanical Engineering, Material Science. GE Aircraft, components and assemblies, 3D printing tooling, direct printing of end use parts. GE fuel nozzle, core strategy for growth of aviation business, Honeywell Chief Engineer for Additive Manufacturing. 3:17 - Opportunity to join Divergent3D. 3:30 - Connecting the benefits of 3D printing and extending that fully through the process of production. Upstream in software and analysis and then downstream in automated assembly. Addressing the main pain points in automotive. Tooling & fixtures, change cycle --- EV growth, carbon offsets. 5:21 - Czinger 21C Hypercar technology demonstrator to show what the Divergent Adaptive Production System (DAPS) can provide. 7:48 – Typical product has 20-30 individual printed pieces assembled (20-50 kg parts. 1/3 of vehicle. Ex. full engine cradles, chassis. 08.21 – More about the DAPS process including adhesives and node alignment (core technology) 10:34 – Sustainability and removing waste from  the  vehicle production process. AMGTA partnership. 12:30 – The aluminum can, sustainability case study example – design freedom. 14:18 – Eight OEM dealer announcement in September and Global Dealership Network, Czinger vehicles. 16:22 – Czinger Vehicles subsequent reinvention of Luxury Coupe and SUV production. 21:13 – DAPS adaptation to industries beyond automotive. Aerospace as logical growth for Divergent3D.23:00 – Gleaning ambition from “one of the biggest thinkers in manufacturing”. Brought to you by: Metrix, an ASME CompanyVisit: AdditiveManufacturing.com for more!

Eric Bert, Senior Vice President of Inkbit in Boston, MA  joined Adam Penna on the AM Voices podcast to explore Eric's history and experience in additive manufacturing as well as discover what makes Inkbit multi material polymer solutions production ready.Topics include:Eric's influence and experience in AMInkbit Vista Unlocks Additive Manufacturing at Production Scale Contactless process enables the use of high-performance polymersInkjet 3D printing using machine Vision to Control the Jetting print process. Vision-Controlled Jetting (VCJ) First 3D printer to provide closed loop feedback control of the print process.Multi-Material jetting to deliver exceptionally robust material characteristics and lowest cost-per-partPost-processing reductionInkbit Applications About Inkbit Inkbit is an additive manufacturing company located in Medford, Massachusetts. The Inkbit Vista system is designed to mass-produce end-use polymer 3D printed parts. Incorporating a novel technology called Vision-Controlled Jetting (VCJ), Inkbit delivers high-resolution print, enabling users to produce parts with dimensional accuracy and precision at high volume. Using high-speed scanning, Inkbit delivers a materials jetting platform with the speed, precision, and materials required by the most demanding industrial applications. Learn more at inkbit3d.com. About Eric BertEric is Inkbit’s Commercial Leader, managing sales, marketing, applications, and customer support. In previous roles, he served as COO at 3DMEDiTech, a patient-specific medical device manufacturer, SVP Global Sales at ARCAM (a GE Additive Company), and SVP of Sales – North America at Stratasys, a leading global supplier of additive manufacturing systems and materials. Eric holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.Inkbit Media contact: Lisa Hannon, Office, call: +1  978-788-4288 or email:  [email protected] Russell-Jones, Incus, call: +44 1737 215200 or email: [email protected]. Suzan Niksarlioglu, Incus, call +44 7769 398206 or email: [email protected]. 

Amelie Erben from Hyperganic Group joins Adam Penna on this episode of the AM Voices podcast to discuss the current state of bioprinting and employing the rules of nature to algorithms that shape the future of additive manufacturing. Amelie covers what can be leveraged from the advantages that voxels have with cells and functional tissues to the bioprinting process from design, materials, simulation, to final application. Amelie Erben studied Engineering at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and Technical University of Deflt with a specialization towards Medical Engineering in her Master’s. As a PhD student in Bioprinting at TUM and the Center of Regenerative Medicine and Tissue Engineering, Munich, she improved the micro printing workflow towards clinically relevant scaffolds. Challenged by the limitations of CAD tools to generate organotypical print templates for bioprinting, she demonstrated the capabilities of Algorithmic Engineering together with Hyperganic Group GmbH, where she is now working in Business Development.  Hyperganic radically redefines engineering to help improve the future of humanity. The company's software platform creates parts, structures and entire machines through computer algorithms and AI, and enables mass production in digital factories using industrial 3D printing.