On this episode, Dr. Chris Arnusch joins me to discuss some of his research work in the fight against COVID-19. With the worldwide focus on coronavirus prevention and transmission, a new type of air-filter that self-sterilizes and decontaminates is being developed at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel based on water filtration technology.
This new nanotechnology is based on laser-induced graphene (LIG) water filters that eliminate viruses and bacteria in water. This new concept, engineered for air-filtration could be used in air filters in heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems. It could also be integrated into face masks for a self-sterilizing effect. Most masks like the N95 can become contamination risks during usage if not properly handled.
LIG is a microporous graphene foam that can be generated on many types of materials and is already resistant to bacteria and actively kills microbes and viruses using a low-level electric current from a power source.
Dr Chris Arnusch and his group of researchers envision the two-fold protective system applied to air-filtration offering a new solution in our fight against COVID-19.
On this episode, I am pleased to have Andrew Pokelwaldt join me. Andrew is the Director of Certification for the American Composites Manufacturers Association.
Andrew has 28 years of experience in leadership, training, and operations. In his current role at ACMA he develops, delivers and directs the composites technical fabrication training and certifications industry-wide.
His composites experience includes manufacturing management, training, process, and personnel training roles in various composite industry areas over the past 10 years. Andrew worked as a dual career military reservist for 24 years including service in Operation Iraqi Freedom leading foreign military training and operations.
On today’s show, we’ll be discussing some safety practices in your plant as it relates to composites and cast polymer manufacturing. We’ll talk about daily implementation and safety improvements that will improve your bottom line, reduce waste, and benefit your workers.
Andrew will also be talking about the ACMA’s Certified Composites Technician (CCT) program. It supports professional development and facilitates uniform training and technical skills for composite manufacturers.
This week, I welcome Matt Villarreal (CEO) of Infinite Composites Technologies on to discuss a new technology they've developed - the first ever, spherical all-composite carbon-fiber pressure vessel for storing cryogenic propellants for launch vehicles and spacecraft such as a lunar lander.
By providing the lowest mass and most cost-effective option to store fuel, ICT’s CryoSphere would affect the in-space capabilities of future missions, reduce the cost of launch vehicles to transport cargo to space, and increase the amount of payload to planetary surfaces.
This week I welcome David Nolletti on the show to discuss how this current pandemic will impact the aerospace and defense industries.
David Nolletti is the director at Conway MacKenzie, and is a manufacturing expert, particularly in aerospace and defense. Dave has substantial experience in aerospace, defense, distribution, consumer products, aerospace maintenance repair and overhaul (MRO), and general industrial verticals. His broad manufacturing experience includes precision machining, grinding, forging, casting, complex assembly, and kitting.
This week, I welcome Blake Teipel, CEO of Essentium on the show to discuss how his company is coming to the aid of the medical industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. Essentium, Inc. provides industrial 3D Printing Solutions that are disrupting traditional manufacturing processes by bringing product strength and production speed together, at scale, with a no-compromise engineering material set.
They manufacture and deliver innovative industrial 3D printers and materials enabling the world’s top manufacturers to embrace the future of additive manufacturing. You can learn more about their company by visiting www.essentium3D.com.
On this episode, I welcome Devon Copley CEO of AVATOUR, a new communications technology that is helping tech-forward companies respond to COVID-19 travel restrictions.
The AVATOUR remote presence platform employs the latest virtual reality technology to transport users to a remote location in real-time, providing a new and effective substitute for travel during times like this.
This technology is allowing businesspeople who find themselves unable to visit facilities worldwide.
You can learn more by visiting http://avatour.co/.
This week, I welcome Ravi Kunju, Senior Vice President of Strategy and Business Development of Altair.
Altair is a leader in composites manufacturing solutions
and has helped many of its customers expedite their manufacturing processes by simulating the design of their 3D printed models to identify places where degradation will occur and how to alter designs to prevent degradation cutting the iterative process nearly in half.
You can learn more about their company by visiting them at https://www.altair.com.
This week I welcome Kelly DeBusk, owner of Composites Compliance on the show to discuss how to handle an OSHA inspection. She has over 20 years of experience in environmental and safety regulations governing the composites industry.
The continuing goal of her company is to help members of the composites industry comply with all the current environmental, health and safety regulations, as well as, to assess the possible impacts of new and proposed regulations and to help minimize the effects of those regulations.
Composites Compliance is also actively involved with keeping businesses up to date on any proposals, laws or government actions that could affect the composites industry.
On this episode, Kelly and I will be discussing how business owners can handle that dreaded inspection by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. We’ll be talking about what business owners can expect and the resources they should have for always being ready.
You can find out more about Composites Compliance by visiting them at www.compositescompliance.com. If you have questions for Kelly, she can be contacted at k_debusk@compositescompliance.com.
This week I welcome Bill Masters on the show. Bill is an American engineer, inventor, manufacturing entrepreneur, and business advisor.
He is known as the Father of 3D Printing, holding three computer automated manufacturing patents, that laid the foundation for today's 3D printing systems.
A number of highly respected engineers have claimed credit for being the inventor of 3D printing, however, as patents on file with the USPTO make clear, Bill Masters filed the first patent for this additive manufacturing technology on July 2nd, 1984.
According to the Bill, the idea for 3D printing occurred to him one night while camping on the Chattooga River in northeastern Georgia. While lying on the riverbank looking up at the stars, Bill realized you could take one star and make that your seed point. You could add stars from any direction until you had the shape you wanted.
He spent years refining this idea and filed a patent for his Computer Automated Manufacturing Process and System in 1984. This filing is on record at the USPTO as the first 3D printing patent in history.
Bill is also known as the father of modern kayaking. Starting out with only $50, he transformed a one-person operation into the largest kayak manufacturing company in the U.S.
We'll be discussing Bill's extensive background in 3D printing and Kayak manufacturing. We'll also be discussing his latest invention, the Shot Block, which is already sparking conversation in the gun market with it's new, patented, and innovative technology.
This week, we welcome Dr. Robert Doneker of Tangitek, LLC, a technology start-up located in Portland, Oregon USA. They develop carbon fiber composites for the aerospace, electronics, defense, communications and consumer products industries.
On this episode, we'll be discussing their MF-RAMTM, a lightweight thin electromagnetic absorbing flocked carbon fiber material used for EMI/RFI suppression in electronics and as radar absorbing materials.
As wireless communication devices and automation become more common, high-performance shielding materials that are lightweight, thin and durable are needed to manage growing EMI. New materials are needed to facilitate the development of new mobile, wearable, wireless communication devices, and products in the aerospace, automotive and consumer industries.
TangiTek has developed lightweight, magnetically loaded, flocked carbon fiber composites as microwave absorbers in the 300 MHz to 30 GHz frequency range. These CF composite absorbers will have immediate use in aerospace industries where even marginal weight savings has the potential to provide a large payback.
TangiTek is one of twelve companies that won the (ASA(ALT)) Army xTechSearch Phase III challenge for its technology.
You can learn more about them by visiting http://www.tangitek.com/.
This week I welcome Dave Salvaggio and Lyle Brummer of SpeedKore Performance Group on the show. SpeedKore is an American Performance Company where engineers and artisans combine traditional craftsmanship with cutting edge technology.
They specialize in custom performance vehicles, carbon fiber composite part manufacturing, and engine integration.
SpeedKore manufactures the highest quality carbon fiber upgrades, exceeding OEM quality standards. Designed and manufactured in America.
Each of their builds follows the signature SpeedKore recipe: reduce weight and increase horsepower.
The SpeedKore advanced composite team sheds weight from each vehicle with custom, lightweight prepreg autoclave carbon fiber. The increased power is achieved through pairing the updated, lightweight chassis with fine-tuned, high-power drivetrains specifically modified for each vehicle.
On this episode, we'll be discussing the history of the company and their process for designing carbon fiber composite parts.
You can learn more about them, by visiting them at speedkore.com.
This week I welcome Brian Gaughan of IntegriCo Composites on the show to discuss how their patented technology is using recycled landfill-bound plastic to create composite railroad ties that far exceed industry standards for high consistency and structural integrity.
Their products are formulated from extremely tough plastic, and the specialized, low-heat process used by IntegriCo preserves the properties of plastic that make it such a strong and versatile raw material.
Their railroad ties provide benefits for all major rail tie applications from the extreme loading conditions of Class I heavy axle load applications to the caustic environment of an industrial chemical processing plant.
On this interview, you hear Brian share the history of their company and how they are diverting and reusing landfill-bound plastic to create extremely durable products. To date, they have reused over 80 million pounds of plastic since 2009!
On this week's episode, I welcome Greg Paulsen of Xometry on the show to discuss how their proprietary software platform enables product designers and engineers to instantly access the capacity of a network of manufacturing facilities. This software makes it easy for all customers — from startups to Fortune 100 companies — to access manufacturing on demand by providing the most efficient way to source high-quality custom parts.
We'll also be discussing Xometry's Carbon DLS™, a technology that unlocks new business opportunities and product designs previously impossible, including mass customization and on-demand inventory.
The Carbon Platform enables companies to bring products to market that were never thought possible.
You learn more about Xometry by visiting them at https://www.xometry.com.
On this episode, I am pleased to welcome Tim Kenerson of AIT Bridges. AIT is an engineering and manufacturing company that supplies advanced composite materials for bridges while providing low-cost solutions to an aging infrastructure industry.
On this episode, we'll be discussing the addition of a composite tub girder to its composite bridge system offering.
The new technology has been developed in cooperation with The University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center. The tub girder (named as such as its wooden mold is shaped like a bathtub) can now be used for about 80 percent of bridges around the US and has many advantages over conventional steel and concrete girders. They are resistant to corrosion and can be manufactured to be as strong as needed.
Ken is the Senior Design Engineer at AIT and has been with the company for almost 7 years. He coordinates with Consultant Engineers and Owners on the project design process and manages the engineering team who works together to bring the project from concept to contract.
You can learn more about AIT by visiting their website at https://www.aitbridges.com/.
This week Marlo Stradley of Power Blanket joins me on the show to talk about his company and how they are helping manufacturers protect valuable equipment and fluids from freezing and overheating.
Marlo has been with Power Blanket for 6 years and has a 30-year career in the Aerospace industry. He's worked with NASA and other Aersospace customers for composite launch structures.
On this episode, we'll be discussing how Power Blanket is helping their customers prevent project setbacks and unnecessary costs associated with adverse weather conditions by providing total temperature control.
This week, I welcome Anvesh Gurijala and Kedar Murthy of Boston Materials to talk about their company as well as the Supercomp™, a drastically toughened carbon fiber composite that overcomes many of the shortcomings of traditional 2D composites. This new 3D reinforced prepreg features enhanced interlaminar and Z-axis properties that deliver greater performance and functionality at a low switching cost.
This super composite is formed by coating a standard carbon fiber fabric with milled carbon fibers. The milled fibers are vertically oriented by using a proprietary process. These Z-axis milled fibers mechanically pin the layers of a laminated composite together, drastically increasing the interlaminar fracture toughness.
This week we welcome Andrew Mullins and Andy Phillips on the show. Andrew is the president of VISIONknit, a leading technical knitting company based in Toronto, Canada. Andy Phillips is the president of Composite Creations. These companies have worked together to launch the world’s first 3D knitted canoe.
The VISIONknit 3D knit canoe provides lightweight, sustainable construction, at a competitive price point using a patent-pending hybrid Kevlar-polyester material, called KR18.
This new technology has potential in many other composites industry applications as well and we'll be discussing these on the show.
Along with the savings on production time, there is also a reduction in material waste by knitting pre-shaped parts, eliminating labor costs in a traditional layup process.
This week, I welcome Dr. Karl Englund of Global Composite Solutions. GFS is a composite fiberglass/carbon fiber recycling and green manufacturing firm that specializes in recycling thermoset composite fiberglass waste and using this material to manufacture new products.
This week we welcome Dr. Matthew Dunbar on the show to discuss shape shifting composites. Shape-shifting materials are not new, but their use has been limited. On this episode we'll be talking about these fascinating materials & some some of the determining factors or environmental triggers that lead them to change shape. We'll also be discussing how these materials are being used by 3D printers to create structures that can alter shape at particular times.
Dr. Matthew Dunbar has been a member of the scientific analysis team at Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) for more than 18 years, with a focus on polymeric substances and applications. In this role he is one of hundreds of scientists building the CAS content collection by extracting and connecting key details from globally published scientific literature and enhancing discoverability of this information to support innovation. Dr. Dunbar earned a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from University of California at Davis, and a PhD in Polymer Science from University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
This week I welcome Tony Lancione on the show to discuss the growing carbon fiber market and get his perspective working with a number of OEMs in the composites industry.
Industry Star is an on-demand supply chain technology company that works with many companies to bring innovative and disruptive products to market that will have a positive impact on the world.
This week, I welcome Andrew de Geofroy, Vice President of Application Engineering at MarkForged on the show to discuss their 3D printing technology.
On this week's episode, we’re going to be discussing 3D printing as it related to the area of Robotics.
Jared Go, Co-founder of the Robot development company Ohminlabs joins me today on the show.
OhmniLabs isn’t interested in replacing human interaction, however – they want to use robotics to better facilitate it.
When the company was founded back in 2015, their main goal was to reinvent the traditional robotics development process.
The co-founders, Jared Go, Tingxi Tan and serial entrepreneur Thuc Vu, are robotics experts from Carnegie Mellon and Stanford who believe that personal consumer robots can make a positive impact on people’s everyday lives.
They have extensive experience in AI, machine learning, multi-agent systems, industrial design, mechanical & electrical engineering and cloud infrastructure. You can find out more about their company by visiting https://ohmnilabs.com/.
Jared is an Avid maker and roboticist & previous CTO and founding member at networks startup. He has extensive experience in software, AI, real-time graphics, VR, mechanical engineering and electrical engineering.
This week, we welcome Kevin Williams, a trade law attorney, on the show to discuss tariffs and how they could affect us composites manufacturers.
Kevin practices Customs and International Trade Law focusing on all aspects of the import and export process. Kevin also advises clients on export licensing and develops comprehensive import and export compliance programs.
This week, Avi Reichental joins me on the show to discuss how 3D printing will impact the world of manufacturing and what it means for local creators and entrepreneurs.
Avi Reichental is one of the world’s leading authorities on exponential tech convergence.
In 2014, he was named by Popular Mechanics as one of the top 25 Makers Who Are Reinventing the American Dream, and was listed by Fortune magazine in 2013 as a top 50 business leader. His acclaimed TED talk about the future of 3D printing has garnered more than 2.5 million views.
As the former president, CEO and director of 3D Systems for 12 years, Reichental built the company into a formidable global 3D printing leader.
Avi is the founder, Chairman, and CEO of XponentialWorks, an advisory and product development company and the General Partner of OurCrowd’s Cognitiv Ventures fund.
Avi holds several corporate leadership roles including chairman of Nano Dimension, vice-chairman of Techniplas, chairman and co-founder of Nexa3D, Vice Chairman ofDWS, chairman and co-founder of NXT Factory, and chairman and co-founder of Centaur. Reichental also sat on the board of Harman until its sale to Samsung.
Reichental actively contributes his knowledge and insights as a contributor to Forbes, Money Inc and TechCrunch.
He is a core faculty member at Singularity University, a member of the XPRIZE board, and a trustee of the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt Museum.
This week, I welcome Michael Tate and Matt Villarreal on the show to discuss their company Infinite Composites Technologies (ICT).
ICT is a company that designs, develops, and manufactures advanced gas storage systems for aerospace, industrial gas and transportation applications. The Company was founded in 2010 to revolutionize the way pressurized gases are stored.
Infinite Composites develops products for such as launch vehicle pressurant tanks, satellite propellant tanks, or oxygen breathing tanks, among other products. The company has also provided products for industrial gas use, and for compressed natural gas (CNG) refueling.