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.
On this episode, I welcome Reza K. Amineh, assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at New York Institute of Technology. He and a colleague won more than $350,000 to develop new imaging techniques that will enhance testing of composite materials in oil-and-gas pipelines.
Professor Amnieh has been working on this project since 2017 with support from internal NYIT grants, which paid for the launch of their Applied Electromagnetics Research Lab (AEMRL).
Their aim is to produce a prototype that can conduct fast and reliable tests of composite materials in various applications. If successful, this technology will significantly reduce costs and increase system safety for oil and gas extraction, urban infrastructure, and other operations that rely on pipelines.
We'll be discussing this project on this episode.
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!
This week I welcome Tom Wright, director of business development for Bedford Reinforced Plastics (BRP) on the show to discuss the benefits of FRP (fiber reinforced plastics) over traditional building materials such as wood, steel, and aluminum.
BRP is a company that offers a wide variety of structural products made of fiberglass-reinforced polymer, including PROForms® structural shapes, PROGrid® molded grating and PROGrate® pultruded grating. Their staff of skilled design, engineering and manufacturing professionals has been dedicated to helping customers maximize the benefits of FRP.
You can learn more about their company by visiting them at https://bedfordreinforced.com.
This week I welcome Chris Camfferman, managing director of marketing for Deckorators, a company that manufactures composite decking using their patented "Eovations" technology. This technology provides the best stiffness-to-weight ratio and lowest thermal expansion/contraction of any thermoplastic deck board available.
Deckorators composite decking is composed of a mix of polypropylene and calcium carbonate, which is used instead of wood fiber to prevent moisture absorption and minimize thermal movement.
In this process, the polymer-mineral blend is extruded and stretched. The resulting cavitation creates tiny air pockets that keep the
board lightweight as it takes on a fiber-like structure similar to wood for superior strength.
The result is a fibrous composite board that looks and works like wood. At the same time, each board is:
On this interview, Chris will be sharing the background of Deckorators and how their Eovations technology is creating a superior product.
You can learn more about their company by visiting them at www.deckoroators.com.
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.
This week, we welcome Matthew Butterman on the show to discuss the growing role of composites in the Bicycle fabrication industry. Matthew is the news editor of Handbuilt Bicycle News and a 25-year veteran of the bicycle industry. He is also the current News Director for the Philly Bike Expo. On this episode, we'll be discussing how new carbon fiber technologies are benefiting the bicycle industry through better performing frames.
The use of carbon fiber composites in this $48 billion worldwide industry is growing every day. Particularly for high-end racing and performance bicycles, carbon fiber is the go-to material.
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.
On this episode, we welcome Matt Guiaraffa on the show to talk about their company Guerilla Gravity, a mountain bike manufacturing company whose design philosophy centers around a high level of refinement and focus on efficiency. They creat bikes that are built to last, and are easy to work on.
Their new Revved Carbon Technology, which has been in development and testing for the last three years, combines an innovative, patent-pending manufacturing process to create the next generation of carbon fiber mountain bikes that are 300% more impact resistant. Their patented system enables the company to make at least four frames a day and allows them to offer a significantly less expensive frame than other brands.
Matt will be sharing the background story of Guerrilla Gravity, and their process for offering an American made, higher quality affordable frame for the mountain bikers everywhere.
This week I welcome Joshua Martin, CEO of Fortify on the showto discuss his company and some of the work they are doing in the world of Digital Composite Manufacturing.
Fortify is a company that was founded on research by Randall Erb and Joshua Martin at Northeastern University. Their goal was to enable quick and seamless fabrication of composites with optimized microstructures.
Through their research, they invented magnetic 3D printing, or Fluxprint. They established Fortify to bring optimized composites to engineers across the globe.
Today, Digital Composite Manufacturing (DCM) has found success in tooling, aerospace, and automotive applications. Now, Fortify is a leader in optimized composites. DCM has transformed the DNA of materials, pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in engineering.
Fluxprint is a patented magnetic 3D printing process that creates optimized composites. It combines magnetics and digital light processing (DLP) 3D printing to produce composite parts with ideal mechanical properties. As a part is additively manufactured, fibers are magnetically aligned voxel by voxel to optimize the microstructure. High-performance components are created significantly faster and at a fraction of the cost compared to traditional manufacturing.
You can find out more about Fortify by visiting them at https://3dfortify.com.
This week, we welcome of Lee Clark-Sellers of Ply Gem on the show. Ply Gem is a leader in exterior building products across North America. We'll be discussing some of their roofing products that use recycled composite materials.
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.
This week we welcome Dr. Peter Highlander on the show to discuss how 3D printing is changing the world of orthopedics.
Dr Highlander, DPM is a Reconstructive Foot & Ankle Surgeon in Sandusky, OH and has been practicing for 7 years. On this episode he'll be discussing how 3D technology is revolutionizing the medical field by creating prosthetic limbs for amputees, new faces for trauma victims, and practice models for orthopedic implant surgeons.
For more information about the process of 3D printing orthopaedic implants, visit https://www.3dorthosociety.org.