AM Voices, hosted by Adam J. Penna AdditiveManufacturing.com

 AM Voices Video Podcast - Frank Roberts, President of 6K Additive at Formnext 2022

Frank 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.com
Adam 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.com

Topics 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 beyond

Dr. Jacob Nuechterlein

Dr. 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 Elementum3D

The 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-Gilbert
Kelley 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 Carbon
Carbon 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 and
public-private partnerships. He has built research and development
organizations in corporations of all sizes, and served as a political
appointee, as Director of Manufacturing at the U.S. Department of
Defense (DoD), a senior manufacturing advisor to two U.S. Secretaries
of Commerce, and national security aide to three U.S. Senators.
He is a recipient of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Exceptional
Civilian 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 America
The 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 – uniformity
11:44 – 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 advantages
17:23 – Market pricing of Nexa 3D printer
18:04 – Post processing – What happens after the print comes off the printer? – end-to-end solutions – efficiency
22:05 – Applications
23:49 – 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.com

About Izhar Medalsy – Chief Technology Officer at NEXA3D – Digitizing the World Supply Chain.