Page 16 - 3DMP Summer 2022

3D AMUG 2022
lot of personalized things, and here’s a machine that allows us to make a metal part on a one-off basis. This is perfect.”
Considering that someone had to prove the technology out for medical applications, Medical Modeling bought the S12 and set to work.
“Going from plastics to metals was not trivial, and it was so expensive, especially with all the other kit that’s needed,” Christensen said. “We brought on a metallurgist and the smart people on our staff helped figure things out.”
Medical Modeling did figure things out, producing the first FDA-cleared 3D-printed titanium part—a hip cup for orthopedic-surgery applications— in 2010 for Exactech in Gainesville, FL. Medical Modeling also produced the first FDA-cleared titanium spinal cages for Texas-based 4Web Medical in 2011.
3D printing pioneer Andy Christensen was the subject of AMUG’s seventh annual Innovators Showcase, an on-stage fireside chat hosted by Todd Grimm, president of T.A. Grimm & Associates, Inc.
a certain degree, you must in some ways hold yourself back, and pick some bets to go deeper. Even when you think you should be looking at 500 things, pare down to the four things that have some chance to succeed.”
Auto-Focused Keynotes
AMUG Conference keynote speech- es offered an automotive focus, with Kevin Czinger, founder, lead inventor and chief executive officer of Divergent 3D and Czinger Vehicles, and Ellen Lee, technical leader of AM research at Ford Motor Co., taking the stage to discuss innovations and changes in the auto- motive sector.
Czinger discussed development of the 1250-hp road-ready Czinger C21 Hybrid Hypercar, which travels 0 to 60 mph in 1.9 sec. Production calls for 80 of these mostly 3D-printed vehicles. He also discussed Divergent’s digital production system, Divergent Adap-
With these successes, Christensen realized the possibility of a solid busi- ness case for personalized production of implantable devices.
“I could see it, but just couldn’t make it work,” he told Grimm. “Today, there’s a story there that keeps getting better. It has taken 10 or 15 yr., and most of the business still is making off-the-shelf devices in assorted sizes. Patient-specific devices are an emerging application. It’s there and is being proved, but some of the early promises haven’t been delivered.
“Many head, neck and facial surgeries,” he continued, “use personalized tools and plans, models, guides, and implants. But orthopedics is a much bigger market. Orthopedic applications for personaliza- tion, while still a small segment, should get much bigger.”
Christensen also discussed efforts to better-standardize reimbursement for planning, modeling and implanting work, and related consultation with medical professionals.
“I could never figure out the reimburse- ment puzzles for what we were providing to the surgeons in hospitals,” he explained. “We tried three times to get nomenclature established through the American Medical Association for reimbursement coding,
and finally decided to forget it.” Temporary codes recently have been established, Christensen reported as a current working member on teams seek-
ing such coding.
“I’m really excited to be playing a role
in seeing this come to fruition,” he said. “It’s been needed for 20 yr.—amazing that it’s still not done.”
Concluding his Innovators Showcase interview with Grimm, Christensen dis- pensed some advice for AM startups and entrepreneurs.
“For a small business, I have some keys,” he said. “First, cash is king. You need to be solvent, and accounts receiv- ables are very important. Second, consider leverage. As a small company, you’re always struggling for leverage—trying to work with much bigger companies with- out having leverage. When you get lever- age, hold on to it and use it.”
Also, don’t spread out by taking on too many projects.
“Small companies say yes to everything just to try getting money coming in,” Chris- tensen offered. “When looking for that killer application, you want to say yes to everything, but you must pare it down. To
tive Production System (DAPS), which “radically transforms auto manufacturing economics and environmental impact using a data-driven approach for design- ing and building vehicle structures,” according to company officials.
DAPS, as described by Czinger, is a software/hardware solution designed to replace traditional vehicle manufactur- ing—a complete modular digital factory for complex structures. Given a set of dig- ital requirements as input, the machine automatically engineers, additively man- ufactures and assembles any complex structure. The system can move seam- lessly between manufacturing different vehicle models. While much detail remains proprietary, some can be gleaned at Divergent 3D’s website, www.diver- gent3d.com.
Lee, who has spent her entire 23-yr. career at Ford, informed attendees via her presentation, Automotive Manufacturing to Additive Manufacturing: From History to the Future of Mobility. She shared how key events and needs in the history of mobility have influenced the advance- ment of modern manufacturing, such as the moving assembly line, development
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