Update: Read the follow-up to this post,
Reflections On 3D Printing.
Advanced Decisions is proud to be a co-sponsor of a Ratafia Ventures seminar on 3D printing and additive manufacturing, to be held on Thursday May 23. More information about the event is located below.
If you are interested in attending please contact Manny Ratafia at manny@ratafias.com or 203-387-7348. The event will host a panel with broad and diverse experience in the rapidly emerging technologies we call additive manufacturing and 3D printing, poised to revolutionize business, from how we design and develop to how we build prototypes to how we manufacture and distribute products. Our speakers will provide insights into these technologies, relating their personal experiences and providing advice. After the formal presentations, we will have Q&A and discussion, followed by a reception.
Date: Thursday, May 23, 2013
Location: Robert D. Scinto, Inc., 3 Corporate Drive, Shelton, CT 06484
Time: 4:00pm to 8:00pm
- Registration, networking and refreshments from 4:00pm to 4:45pm
- Program from 4:45pm to 6:40 pm
- Wine reception from 6:40pm to 8pm
Fee (please contact Manny Ratafia at
manny@ratafias.com or 203-387-7348 to pay):
- $40 is payment received or postmarked by May 16
- $65 is payment is received or postmarked by May 20
- $75 is payment is received or postmarked after May 20
- $90 at the door by cash or check (if space is available)
The presenters are:
- Mark Bliek
- Sam Brauer
- Justin Coutu
- Jeff Crandall
- Kevin Dyer
- Bruce Popek
Moderator and meeting organizer: Manny Ratafia
Presenter BiosMark BliekMark Bliek is President of Bolton Works in East Hartford, CT, a leading firm in 3D Scanning, Metrology and Reverse Engineering, as well as 3D Printing. Over the last 25 years, Mark Bliek held positions involving rapid prototyping, 3D scanning and reverse engineering. While at Materialise, first in Belgium from1991 to1995 and then in the US from 1996 until 2001, he worked in the use of techniques currently driving innovation in additive manufacturing. From 1996 to 2001, he founded and directed the Materialise US operations in Ann Arbor, MI. While Director for Materialise USA, Mark reported trends in the field of rapid prototyping and scanning and gave direction to new software developments. Earlier in his career, working in The Netherlands, Mark was a Software Engineer at Somatech, and did work in 3D CAD systems for Teser, Wiva and Rendeck.
Mark Bliek founded Bolton Works in 2002 to develop automated metrology systems using scanning technology. Since 2005, Bolton Works has done projects for Pratt & Whitney and the United Technology Research Center, including baseline accuracy determination of industrial White Light scanners and development of an automated reporting system for dimensional deviations in turbine blades. Bolton Works has also attracted clients outside the manufacturing world, from dental products to jewelry to the arts.
Sam BrauerSamuel Brauer, PhD, is a Partner in Nanobiz and CEO of Nanotech Plus, LLC, both in Stamford, CT. Sam has worked on commercializing advanced materials in areas such as coatings, filtration, photovoltaics, fuel cells, batteries, pharmaceuticals, and personal care. A recent project for the government of Catalan, Spain involved new manufacturing technologies including 3D printing and focused on new materials and construction processes for transportation and energy generation. Sam has an extensive background in market research, including estimating market sizes in widely diverse industries, with an emphasis on advanced materials. While most of his projects today are undertaken as a partner in Nanobiz, Sam is also the founder of Nanotech Plus, LLC, an alliance of consultants focused on the business of nanotechnology, offering analysis of this burgeoning field to major corporations, small materials companies, venture capital firms and angel investors, and large financial institutions.
Prior to Nanotech Plus, Sam was with the Business Communications Company, leading market research on a range of advanced materials topics, including polymer nanocomposites, carbon nanotubes, advanced polymer composites, DNA micro arrays and in vitro toxicology.
Sam Brauer’s presentation at this meeting will focus on materials that can be used for 3D Printing. Although thermoplastics remain the most common type of material, a range of other materials are also being used. 3D printing has produced parts with metals, ceramics, hydrogels, and grapheme, in addition to polymers. The ability to incorporate these types of materials greatly expands the utility of 3D printing to produce more complex devices such as circuit boards, aerospace parts, and medical devices.
Sam Brauer received his PhD in Chemistry from Dartmouth. His views have been quoted in a variety of publications, including Fortune, Forbes, Business 2.0, Boston Globe, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Chemical & Engineering News, Chemical Market Reporter, and Small Times Magazine.
Justin CoutuJustin Coutu is the General Manager of R&D Technologies in North Kingstown, RI, a company that has been in the 3D Printing industry since the early 2000s. Justin is responsible for implementing the company’s business plan, as well as managing operations, finance, sales, marketing, technical support and service bureau activities. Using CAD files, R&D’s in-house 3D printing systems can produce high-resolution prototypes for shipment to companies across the U.S.. R&D serves the rapid prototyping needs of the manufacturing, consumer product, medical device, education, defense and industrial markets, and is a reseller of the Stratasys line of 3D printing and rapid prototyping systems throughout New England. R&D also is a service bureau for companies throughout the U.S. who outsource their prototype printing.
R&D’s printers have been used to print rifle scopes, medical endoscopes, exact replicas of houses, golf balls, and models of the heads of conjoined twins for surgeons to use to prepare for operations. R&D has also made a prototype of a console and joystick assembly for underwater exploration vehicles that were used during the BP oil spill catastrophe
At this meeting, Justin will discuss the value of having 3D Printing and Rapid Prototyping available to you and their role in the design, research and product development cycle. He will describe how this technology is significantly reducing the time-to-market for new products and help make products faster, better, and cheaper. Justin will discuss how you can bring Objet 3D Printing into your organization and how this technology can help your company grow. He will also describe the material choices. There are currently more than 107 options for Objet printers alone.
A 1997 graduate of Roger Williams University, Justin earned a BS in business with a minor in engineering. In 2010, he received his CAD certification in SolidWorks 3D design software from Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp.
Jeff CrandallJeff Crandall is the Laser Applications Engineer for Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology (CCAT) in East Hartford, CT. He is directly responsible for projects involving metals additive manufacturing using CCAT’s Optomec 850R Laser Engineered Net Shaping (LENS) system and is the project coordinator for other laser materials processing projects. Currently, CCAT owns the only Optomec system in New England and is working on several federal government additive manufacturing programs as well as additive development projects for private companies.
Prior to coming to CCAT, Jeff was one of the founding members, and held an operations management position at JDS Uniphase Corporation. He has twelve years of laser and optical systems research and development experience doing laser spectroscopy, diagnostics and analysis for NASA’s Space Shuttle Main Engine and Pratt & Whitney’s National Aero Space Plane (NASP) engine programs at United Technologies Research Center in Connecticut; and laser based research and scientific imaging work for aerospace gas turbine and liquid fuel rocket engine programs at Pratt & Whitney Aircraft in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Kevin DyerKevin Dyer is the Founder, Owner and President of InterPRO, located in Deep River, CT. InterPRO provides 3D printing, rapid prototyping, additive manufacturing and related services that help individuals and companies develop better products faster, and at lower cost. The InterPRO team includes engineers, designers, craftsmen, artists and highly skilled model makers. InterPRO serves clients in a range of industries, including aerospace, defense, medical products, hospitals, automotive, electronics, consumer products, universities and other research institutions. InterPRO services include:
- Computer-aided design and engineering
- Rapid prototyping and additive manufacturing (SLA, SLS, DMLS, FDM, Polyjet)
- CNC machining
- Rubber molding and cast urethane prototypes
- Professionally painted appearance models
- Plastic injection molding
- Medical prototypes for research and surgical planning
Kevin founded InterPRO in 1996. After earning a B.S. in Computer Science at UMass/Amherst in 1984, Kevin joined Data General Computer Corporation as a software engineer. He joined Evans & Sutherland Computer in 1986 as an Applications Engineer. Kevin was promoted to direct sales with E&S the following year, responsible for selling high-resolution graphics supercomputers used in biomedical research, flight simulation and mechanical modeling. Kevin was hired by California-based 3D Systems in October 1988 as District Salesperson for the northeast U.S., one year after 3D Systems developed the first 3D printing technology. Kevin was promoted to Northeast District Manager in 1991. In his eight years with 3D Systems, Kevin worked closely with Pratt & Whitney, Hubbell, U.S. Surgical, Torrington Company, Hamilton Standard, The Siemon Company, Raytheon, Grumman, Tupperware, Converse, Leviton and others, helping them integrate 3D printing and additive manufacturing into their product development, testing and manufacturing processes. The installed cost for a 3D Systems machine was then between $300,000 and $700,000.
Kevin launched InterPRO in 1996 and 3D Systems offered InterPRO the opportunity to become a reseller for their new lower cost ThermoJet 3D printers. InterPRO also became a reseller of reverse engineering software and digital sculpting systems as well. InterPRO currently has ten employees, and is now the largest provider of rapid prototyping services in the New York/New England area.
Bruce PopekBruce Popek is President of Design Innovation, Inc., in Avon, CT, a leading product design and development firm working with Fortune 100 companies, inventors, and entrepreneurs. For 25 years, they have been fully integrated in the product development cycle, working on brainstorming, concept design, production drawings, and manufacturing follow-up. Clients include Cannondale, Conair, Edible Arrangements, Otis Elevator, and Yale.
Before founding DII, Bruce was Director of Design at Coleco Industries, responsible for aesthetics and human factors for ColecoVision and the Adam Computer system. As design director of preschool and games, he was involved in concept evaluation and development of those concepts from Tomy Japan. Bruce started as a designer for Prince Corporation (now Johnson Controls), designing accessories for General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler. Working with National Semiconductor and Cadillac, he was on the team that developed the first automotive computer for drivers’ use.
DII entered the CAD age in 1993 with one seat of Pro Engineering and, in 1997, became an early user of SolidWorks. Today, they employ product designers, mechanism developers and model makers that use 3D CAD in performing a multitude of development tasks. Their work for a project may include pencil sketches, mock-ups, 3-D CAD, 3-D printing of models and prototype mechanisms. They have in-house capabilities to create RTV molds, urethane castings and thermo-formings.
In late 2002, DII entered the age of 3D printing with the purchase of a 3D Systems Thermo Jet wax printer. Since 2012, they have been using an ObJet 30 printer. DII uses their 3D printing system along with CNC machining, SLA models to build prototypes, evaluation models, working models, and photography sales samples. The ability to print models overnight gives them a competitive edge over competition while saving clients time and money. The accuracy of the Objet 30’s additive layer process and photopolymer materials hold production tolerances for engineering mechanisms and also reduces finishing time for appearance and working models.
Bruce is a graduate of the College of Creative Studies in Detroit, MI with a BFA in Automotive Design. He is a member of the APMM, Association of Professional Model Makers.
Moderator and Meeting Organizer—Manny RatafiaManny Ratafia is an entrepreneur, management consultant, and angel investor. He has founded and run ventures in a variety of technology areas, organized conferences and meetings, and has consulted to owners and senior executives of companies on a range of management, market, and technology issues. His educational background includes a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from The Cooper Union and master’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and in Engineering and Applied Physics from Harvard, and an MBA from Dartmouth. In the past, when he worked as an engineer and manufacturing process researcher, he has been involved in extensive product design, development, manufacturing, manufacturing process improvement, and has personally run various types of machining equipment, including some automated equipment, and has done some computer-aided design. As a management consultant, he has developed and helped commercialize products in medical devices, sensors, scientific instrumentation, and physical therapy/physical fitness markets, and has consulted on several product development/manufacturing company acquisitions, consulting at times for both acquiring companies and companies being purchased. Manny has served on the boards of directors and advisory boards of several start-up companies and non-profit organizations. Manny’s research and opinions have been published and quoted in more than 100 general, business and scientific publications in the U.S., Europe, and Japan.
