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In this episode of Additive Snack, Fabian Alefeld sits down with Bart Van Der Schueren, CTO of Materialise, to discuss additive manufacturing's (AM) evolution from a prototyping tool to a true production technology. Bart shares his journey into AM through early stereolithography research at KU Leuven and reflects on Materialise's origins as a small service bureau that quickly realized it needed its own software to automate data preparation and workflows. Those early efforts eventually grew into the three pillars that define Materialise today: manufacturing, software and medical applications. The conversation explores a major milestone for Materialise, as serial manufacturing volumes in its manufacturing business have now surpassed prototyping. Bart explains what's driving that shift, where AM is gaining traction fastest, and why industries such as hearing aids, dental, drones and aerospace are moving at different speeds. The discussion also examines the growing role of artificial intelligence in manufacturing, from design optimization and simulation to in-situ quality control, automated workflows and reducing the cost of new product introduction. Bart shares how Materialise is positioning itself for the next stage of AM growth while helping customers scale production in highly regulated industries. 01:59 Bart Origins in AM 04:49 Materialise Early Model 07:28 Three Pillars Emerge 09:59 From Prototypes to Parts 15:07 Serial Production Milestone 20:22 Industries Driving Adoption 23:13 Aerospace Slow Burn 27:24 Disruptors Drones and Agile 31:02 Iterative Printing Workflow 32:19 AI Driven Rapid Iteration 34:11 Mass Customization With AI 38:47 Design AI Beyond Hype 42:06 AI For In Situ Quality 45:28 NPI Costs And Scaling 48:16 Materialise Strategy Ahead 55:00 Industry Outlook No Return

Fabian Alefeld speaks with Captain Jason Deichler, Chief of Staff, Director, Submarine Programs, about the U.S. Navy’s effort to increase submarine production and sustainment capacity while rebuilding a strained industrial base. Deichler explains the challenges created by decades of manufacturing consolidation, workforce shortages, supplier attrition, and lost casting and forging capabilities, all while pursuing the Navy’s ambitious "one plus two" goal: delivering one Columbia-class and two Virginia-class submarines annually.  The conversation explores the Navy’s strategy for strengthening submarine production, guided by Admiral Gaucher’s four pillars: stabilizing submarine designs, allowing prime shipyards to focus on integration, expanding the industrial base, and designing future platforms with advanced manufacturing in mind. Deichler discusses how additive manufacturing (AM) helps address obsolescence, reduce lead times, expand supplier capacity, and improve supply chain resilience.  They also examine the growing adoption of both polymer and metal AM, including the qualification of new materials and processes, lessons learned from deploying AM components, and the industry's progress toward certifying increasingly critical applications. The episode concludes with insights into supplier engagement, workforce development, and how companies can support the future of submarine production through the Submarine Industrial Base initiative.   02:21 The State of the Submarine Industrial Base 05:07 The Navy's "One Plus Two" Production Goal 06:54 The Four Pillars Strategy 10:54 Workforce, Suppliers & Obsolescence Challenges 13:12 Rebuilding Capacity with Advanced Manufacturing 18:45 Safety, Data & Certification Requirements 21:22 AI, Cobots & Productivity Improvements 25:34 When Additive Manufacturing Became Mission Critical 29:05 From Skepticism to Adoption 31:51 Scaling from 25 to 75 Qualified Parts 32:54 Lessons from Space Applications 35:16 Qualification and Production Scale-Up 36:22 Selecting the Right Parts for Additive Manufacturing 38:26 New Standards, PPDs & Material Qualification 39:54 Procurement, Ordering & Supply Chain Systems 42:18 Data Rights, Digital Thread & Machine Capacity 43:31 Supplier Demand and Industrial Base Growth 50:28 The Future: Tens of Thousands of Parts 56:00 Neo-Primes, Modularization & New Production Models 57:57 How Suppliers Can Get Involved 59:48 Closing Thoughts

In this episode, host Fabian Alefeld sits down with Nick Classen, General Manager of Northwest Rapid Manufacturing, to explore how the company has grown from supporting early UAV production at Northwest UAV into a leading provider of polymer additive manufacturing (AM) services. Classen shares how Northwest Rapid began using EOS selective laser sintering (SLS) technology in 2008 and continues to operate its original system today. The conversation examines why AM has become a strategic technology for UAV and aerospace applications, enabling lighter-weight components, reduced part counts, complex geometries, and a seamless path from functional prototyping to production. Classen emphasizes the importance of engaging AM experts early in the design process to ensure parts are optimized for manufacturability before release. The episode also explores production scaling, with discussions around typical UAV production volumes, market growth driven by defense spending and industry consolidation, and applications ranging from structural brackets and housings to conformal fuel tanks. Classen highlights the role of advanced materials, including Nylon 12, glass-filled polymers, alumide, and flame-retardant materials, as well as the extensive post-processing, coating, testing, and EMI shielding capabilities required to deliver finished production parts. He concludes with insights into Northwest Rapid’s plans to expand into metal AM. 02:05 The Origins of Northwest Rapid Manufacturing 03:59 Why AM Makes Sense for UAVs 06:40 Designing for Additive from the Start 10:52 Low-Rate vs. High-Rate Production 12:29 Scaling for Future Market Growth 14:52 UAV Applications Moving into Production 16:41 Conformal Fuel Tanks and Structural Components 20:05 Materials Driving SLS Adoption 22:27 The Value of Post-Processing 23:00 Finishing and Certifying Fuel Tanks 24:16 Understanding EMI Shielding 24:57 Why More UAV Housings Are Being Printed 26:07 Growth Trends in the UAV Industry 28:39 Expanding into Metal AM 30:09 Opportunities Beyond UAVs 31:31 Educating the Next Generation of Drone Engineers 36:09 Scaling Operations to Meet Demand 37:27 Hiring, Workforce Development & Post-Processing

Fabian Alefeld welcomes back Harshil Goel, founder and CEO of Dyndrite, to discuss how current additive manufacturing (AM) qualification practices limit advanced laser powder bed fusion toolpaths by locking variables such as software, machine, strategy, layer height, and material. Harshil reviews MQ, IQ, OQ, and PQ, noting cost and rigidity increase toward part qualification.  They discuss Dyndrite’s roles in multiple America Makes efforts: AI4AM to reduce the specimen counts needed for material allowables (starting with 17-4PH) using improved statistical methods; DeltaQual 2.0 to enable “bracketed qualification” so parameter changes within a defined process window don’t retrigger requalification (including varying layer heights within a part); and Gotham to transfer scalable, qualified parameter approaches across different machines and sizes using materials like Scalmalloy.  Harshil describes “Sasquatch,” a physics-based KPV framework using ratios (e.g., energy density, enthalpy, melt pool dimensions) to bound process windows and increase confidence without relying solely on sensors or simulation, and highlights software and AI accelerating DOE and parameter iteration with a target program timeline of about two years. 01:34 What Dyndrite Builds 02:11 Why Qualification Blocks Innovation 03:58 IQ OQ PQ MQ Explained 08:22 PQ Locks Everything Down 09:00 America Makes Program Overview 09:57 AI4AM Materials Allowables 12:39 Process Windows Not Fixed Params 14:57 Delta Qual 2 Bracketed Qual 17:38 Partners Sensors And Confidence 19:25 Sasquatch New KPVs 25:33 Gotham Scaling Across Machines 27:07 Future Less PQ More Reuse 28:39 Industry Impact Of Faster Qual 29:52 Customer Owned Parameters 30:54 Additive As Moat 32:13 Microstructure Driven IP 33:12 Selling Machine Control 34:31 Breaking Vendor Silos 35:36 Two Year Timeline 37:57 Risks And Adoption 41:23 Software As Glue 42:11 AI Accelerated DOE 45:34 Math Meets Empiricism 49:48 Future Outlook Wrap

Fabian Alefeld interviews Brandon Brodie, co-founder and CEO of Annihilator Broadheads, about how an Idaho elk hunt and a lost bull sparked a new broadhead concept sketched by Brandon’s future partner Micah. They describe turning the 2D sketch into plastic CAD prototypes via Boise State, a makeshift “wind tunnel” test using Instant Pot steam, and early performance goals of flight, penetration, durability, and lethality. Field and improvised tests (steel drum, long-range accuracy, animal kills) plus third-party fluid dynamics modeling suggested Annihilator’s design created unusually large high-pressure and low-tension effects.   After major supply failures with investment casting and metal injection molding - causing shortages, high scrap rates, and lost dealers - Brodie brought manufacturing in-house, adopting metal laser powder bed fusion, improving repeatability and enabling new geometries like the Katana. He outlines ongoing innovation, potential adjacent products, and plans to leverage Annihilator’s additive capabilities for partnerships and contract manufacturing.  02:26 Elk Camp Origin  06:43 Sketch to Prototype  11:36 Instant Pot Wind Test  14:44 Performance Pillars  18:41 Steel Drum Proof  22:45 Real Hunt Validation  26:45 Fluid Dynamics Breakthrough  30:41 Engineering Led Marketing  33:32 Manufacturing Growing Pains  34:27 Industry Award Surprise  35:53 COVID Demand Crunch  36:54 Casting Supplier Failures  39:40 MIM Tooling Disaster  42:30 Additive Breakthrough  46:35 Learning Metal Printing  49:55 Repeatability and Materials  52:56 Katana Broadhead Innovation  57:49 Scaling R&D Team

Host Fabian Alefeld interviews Professor PS Lee, Head of National University of Singapore Mechanical Engineering & Program Director of STDCT, and founder of CoolestDC, about heat as a key constraint in AI infrastructure as data centers shift from CPU-heavy to GPU-dense systems with higher power density, hotspots, and bursty workloads. Lee explains why cooling must be treated as an integrated “chip to grid” system spanning cold plates, racks, CDUs, piping, controls, and operations, and discusses single-phase versus two-phase direct-to-chip liquid cooling and the added need for condensation in closed loops.   Professor Lee describes how additive manufacturing (AM) enables complex fin structures and unibody cold plates that reduce leakage risk, lower junction temperatures (~10°C), cut pumping power (60–70%+), and reduce material use, while requiring TCO evaluation. At NUS’s live testbed (22 liquid-cooled racks, ~500 kW), AM cold plates are being deployed and show promising thermal, power, and compute-performance improvements; future work includes two-phase cooling and broader system-level heat rejection, warm-water operation, and waste-heat reuse, plus a discussion of challenges and potential AM roles in space-based data centers.  02:13 Meet Professor Lee  05:26 Chip To Grid Cooling  10:22 Liquid Cooling Maturity  14:15 Two Phase Explained  18:12 Cold Plate Tradeoffs  20:40 AM Unibody Cold Plates  24:41 Benchmarking AM Gains  30:18 AM For CDUs  34:13 Inside STDC Testbed  38:09 Reliability And Leakage  39:00 Next Phase Roadmap  42:31 Orbital Data Centers

In this episode, Fabian Alefeld sits down with Ante Lausic, Lead Process Engineer at General Motors' Additive Industrialization Center (AIC), to explore what it takes to successfully scale additive manufacturing (AM) in the automotive industry. Ante explains why automotive manufacturing demands more than innovative technology - it requires AM-native designs, cost-effective production, automotive-qualified materials, and repeatable processes capable of supporting high-volume manufacturing. He also shares how GM has evolved from using AM primarily for rapid prototyping to establishing the Additive Industrialization Center in 2020 to evaluate new technologies, validate production readiness, and strengthen collaboration across the supply chain. The conversation highlights real-world production applications, including the Cadillac Celestiq, which incorporates more than 130 AM components, such as a safety-critical binder-jetted stainless steel seatbelt guide and aluminum steering wheel trim. Ante also discusses the rapid growth of additive manufacturing for tooling, including die-casting inserts, plant fixtures, and end-of-arm tooling, and offers his perspective on where the technology is delivering the greatest value for automotive manufacturers today. 01:56 Scaling AM in Automotive 05:10 Value and Cost Reality 07:27 GM Additive Center Origins 11:02 Educating Engineers and Suppliers 14:34 Celestiq AM Success Stories 19:44 Supplier Freedom and Standards 23:00 Tooling Inserts Big Wins 27:50 End of Arm Tooling Growth 29:36 Motorsports and F1 Links 32:10 Aftermarket Digital Warehousing 33:39 Materials and PPAP Hurdles 36:14 PPAP Explained Simply 38:43 Rethinking Qualification Costs 41:07 Scaling to Corvette Volumes

Fabian Alefeld interviews certified prosthetist/orthotist and EastPoint Prosthetics VP Brent Wright about his career path into O&P, his shift from being anti-digital to adopting scanning and additive manufacturing, and the impact on patient care and global access. Wright describes traditional fabrication workflows (casting, plaster positives, vacuum forming thermoplastics for orthoses, and carbon fiber/resin layups for prostheses) as artistic but time-consuming, hazardous, and lacking records.  His digital journey accelerated after a Guatemala trip with Life Enabled highlighted the need to scale care; he focused on scanning, digital modification, and later powder-bed fusion, moving toward SLS with materials like PK5000 and TPU. He emphasizes pressure casting for prosthetic sockets, the value of digital records for insurance, and how AM can change socket “dynamics” to improve comfort and heal wounds.  The discussion also covers RADii’s data-driven fitting approach, Life Enabled’s mix of traditional and 3D-printed solutions (including pediatric feet), modular “kit” concepts for developing regions, and barriers to sensors/actuators in the US due to reimbursement. 02:33 Brent Origin Story 09:30 Why Go Digital 11:17 Scaling Global Access 17:32 Traditional O&P Workflow 20:02 Casting And Fabrication Steps 24:07 Digital Workflow And Scanning 33:22 Benefits Of Digital Records 36:36 Flexible Liner Heals Wound 40:47 RADii Data Meets Craft 46:06 Life Enabled Model 01:01:50 Democratizing via Manufacturing 01:08:01 Sensors vs Simplicity

Fabian Alefeld sits down with Sean Whittaker, founder, president, and CEO of Incodema3D, to discuss the company's journey from a sheet metal prototyping business to one of North America's largest metal additive manufacturing operations. Sean shares why he invested in metal AM early, how Incodema3D built a production-first business model, and what it takes to scale additive manufacturing beyond prototypes. The conversation explores the evolution of Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) technology, the importance of vertically integrated manufacturing, and how improvements in machines, materials, software, and Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) are making production at scale a reality. Sean also discusses growing demand driven by reshoring, defense, aerospace, and energy applications, Incodema3D's specialization in aluminum thermal management components and high-volume Inconel production, and how AFM Capital's investment is accelerating expansion through new equipment, automation, and future U.S. manufacturing sites. Episode Chapters 01:41 Sean's Origin Story 05:13 Taking the Leap into Metal Additive Manufacturing 07:05 From Prototypes to Production 08:07 The Advantage of Vertical Integration 10:54 The Maturity of Additive Manufacturing and DfAM 15:46 Thermal Management, Inconel, and Consumer Applications 19:21 Defense, Energy, and Replacing Cast Components 21:28 Accelerating Growth with AFM Capital 25:49 Cycle Times, ROI, and Production Flexibility 30:07 Automation and Building the AM Workforce 34:50 Reshoring, Expansion, and the Future of Production 39:50 Wrap-Up

Fabian Alefeld interviews Omar Mireles, Director of Manufacture and Materials at Space Nuclear Power Corporation (Space Nukes), about his career spanning NASA, Oak Ridge, and Los Alamos and how additive manufacturing (AM) reshaped space hardware development. Omar describes early exposure to SLS prototyping, graduate work in nuclear materials and propulsion, building nuclear materials labs at NASA Marshall, and later leading AM efforts for liquid rocket engines and refractory metals.   He explains how AM accelerates iteration, enables complex geometries, part consolidation, and weight reduction, and where traditional methods still dominate depending on production rate. The conversation covers refractory metal challenges (supply chain, oxygen sensitivity, post-processing, inspection) and nuclear reactor basics, generations, and regulatory barriers to AM adoption. Omar outlines Space Nukes’ goal of delivering safe, affordable, reliable power anywhere in the solar system, noting heat rejection as a key space constraint, Krusty’s 2018 test heritage, potential AM roles in heat exchangers, and an aggressive ~2-year flight timeline depending on regulation and mission.  02:26 Omar Early Motivation  03:08 NASA Co-ops and First AM  07:59 Stirling Radiation Research  20:07 Refractory Metals AM Lab  21:31 Los Alamos to Space Nukes  25:14 Did AM Change Space Race  31:46 Where AM Flies Today  37:41 Rocket Engines Print vs Traditional  41:15 Refractory Alloys Challenges  46:39 Where Refractories Make Sense  47:05 Will Refractory AM Grow  49:39 NASA Metal AM Handbook Origins  56:37 How Nuclear Reactors Work  01:13:02 Additive Manufacturing in Nuclear  01:18:31 What Space Nukes Builds  01:19:36 Why Space Nuclear Power Matters  01:25:20 Why Space Needs Nukes  01:37:47 Krusty Test Proof  01:41:18 Heat Rejection Challenge  01:49:25 Timeline and First Missions

Host Fabian Alefeld interviews Dean Bartles, President and CEO of the Manufacturing Technology Deployment Group (behind NCDMM, Advanced Manufacturing International, and America Makes), about manufacturing’s evolution, defense industrial base challenges, and additive manufacturing. Bartles recounts his career from shop-floor machining and industrial engineering to international defense manufacturing programs and 31 years through successive owners culminating in General Dynamics, then leading NCDMM and forming a parent organization to expand technology deployment. They discuss consolidation and contracting barriers that pushed small/medium firms out of defense, productivity gains from automation, reshoring momentum driven by tariffs and new investment, and workforce shortages and training pathways via trades, community colleges, and SME/Tooling U. Bartles highlights AI for process monitoring and adaptive control in laser powder bed fusion, the promise of low-cost desktop FFF for drones, the need for shared data and improved repeatability, and sustainability efforts including the Additive Manufacturing Green Trade Association.    00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro    02:54 Dean Manufacturing Origins    04:18 Global Defense Career Path    06:05 Leading NCDMM and America Makes    10:44 Defense Base Decline and Industry 4.0    18:14 Reshoring and Global Models    22:17 AI Capital and Process Control    35:25 Open Data and Repeatability Challenge    38:24 Defense Adoption and Drone Boom    44:08 Workforce Pathways and Community Colleges    50:04 Sustainability and Greener AM    54:27 Closing ABL Always Be Learning

Fabian Alefeld welcomes back Thomas Pomorski of Ursa Major to discuss developments over the past year across three focus areas: hypersonics, solid rocket motors, and in-space propulsion. Pomorski reports more than nine hypersonic missions flown with the reusable, ~80% 3D-printed Hadley engine and two successful test flights of the storable Draper engine with AFRL, plus progress on Ursa’s LINX solid rocket motor manufacturing approach using additive for tooling and cases to enable flexible “unit cell” scaling. They cover key hypersonics challenges around affordability and manufacturability and why a storable liquid rocket approach can reduce testing complexity. Much of the conversation focuses on AI’s current value in development: rapidly prototyping slicer features and scan strategies, building data-fusion and monitoring tools via EOS APIs, and enabling small teams to operate with much higher productivity, while noting production validation remains challenging. 00:00 Welcome Back Thomas 01:48 Ursa Major Year Update 02:37 Hypersonic Flight Milestones 04:05 Solid Motors and LINX 05:21 Additive Scale Up Tools 06:39 Hypersonic Cost Challenge 11:58 Solid Motor Unit Cells 15:37 Additive Geometry vs Supply 18:01 AI in Additive Workflows 24:33 AI Productivity Multiplier 29:33 Live Claude Slicer Demo 35:13 Prompting Claude Code 36:35 Sharing Team Workflows 38:40 Production AI Readiness 42:20 Slicer Feature Results 44:49 Closed Loop Optimization 46:46 AI Built Web Monitor 52:59 Automation Roadmap 01:00:12 Verifying Hatch Strategy 01:03:07 Advice For Students 01:08:29 Wrap Up And Thanks

Fabian Alefeld hosts Karl Littau, CTO of Sakuu, to discuss why rechargeable battery manufacturing has changed little in decades and how Sakuu is rethinking it with additive approaches. Littau explains conventional thick-film slurry coating and stacked anode/cathode layers, noting heavy use of copper and aluminum and high costs driven largely by bill of materials. He outlines battery basics (anode, cathode, electrolyte) and contrasts lithium-ion with solid-state concepts, where solids replace liquid electrolytes but face commercialization challenges. Sakuu’s initial product targets electrode coating by shifting from wet, solvent-based processes to dry powder-bed methods, enabling powder reclaim/reuse, removing toxic solvents, reducing equipment size (e.g., long drying ovens), and potentially increasing throughput. The conversation also covers future possibilities like multi-material patterning, arbitrary shapes, bipolar designs that reduce metal, and broader impacts on EVs, grid storage, and electrification.   00:00 Welcome and Topic 01:32 Why Batteries Need Change 04:13 Cost Drivers Today 07:53 Sakuu Additive Approach 13:09 Battery Basics Explained 18:30 Dry Powder Manufacturing 26:10 Speed and Footprint Gains 28:47 Scaling and Supply Chain 32:27 Future Shapes and Structures 35:42 Solid State Readiness 37:48 Sakuu Origin Story 40:31 Roadmap and Industry Impact 42:34 Electrification Future Vision 49:48 Wrap Up and Thanks

Fabian Alefeld hosts Pan Michaleris, founder of PanOptimization (PanX), and Erik Denlinger, co-founder and chief engineer, to discuss the evolution and role of simulation and finite element analysis (FEA) in additive manufacturing. Pan shares his background as a Penn State professor and entrepreneur (including a prior company acquired by Autodesk) and explains how simulation helps reduce costly trial-and-error builds by predicting distortion, temperature, stress, buckling, cracking, and recoater risks, while moving toward closed-loop manufacturing-to-design workflows and property prediction. Erik outlines PanX’s commercial capabilities - fast thermo-mechanical simulation for very large parts, distortion compensation, and dwell-time optimization - and describes proof-of-concept work on controlling melt quality and hardness via parameter modulation. They cover adoption in aerospace/defense and new space, qualification implications, integration with build-prep workflows (e.g., EOS/Velosis), and cautious, validation-focused views on AI surrogate models. 00:00 Welcome and Episode Preview 01:13 Meet Pan and Erik 01:59 Pan’s Journey to PanX 03:59 Erik’s Origin Story 05:10 FEA History and the Elephant Test 08:32 Why Additive Needs Simulation 10:23 Closing the Design Manufacturing Loop 14:33 PanX Today Core Capabilities 17:30 From Distortion to Material Properties 20:25 Making Simulation Usable for Engineers 27:06 Workflow Integration and Automation 29:44 From Failures to Design 30:41 Who Uses PanX Today 32:41 Simulation for Qualification 35:17 Layerwise Parameter Control 38:51 Why FEA Is Hard 41:38 AI and Surrogate Models 46:53 Future Material Tailoring 48:37 Roadmap Workflow Integration 52:27 Closing Thoughts and Wrap

Host Fabian Alefeld speaks with Japan-based additive manufacturing consultant Peter Rogers about the state of additive manufacturing across Asia Pacific. Rogers contrasts Japan’s advanced but risk-averse manufacturing culture - strong in incremental optimization, with slower certification (notably medical) and limited defense budgets - with faster-moving but smaller markets like Australia/New Zealand, where mining drives demand for rapid, remote part supply. They discuss China’s manufacturing scale and government support, its growing dominance in desktop FDM, and how low-cost Chinese metal PBF machines can win and retain service-bureau business despite Western strengths in quality and productivity. Singapore is highlighted for academia and MRO, while Korea spans shipbuilding, semicon, automotive, and defense. Southeast Asia is still production-focused with limited local R&D, whereas India is rising as an English-speaking engineering and R&D hub for global OEMs. Both see lowering costs and AI enabling broader, consumer-facing AM applications. 00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro 01:49 Peter Rogers Background 03:32 Moving to Japan 05:12 APAC Additive Overview 09:23 China Manufacturing Dynamics 13:27 Reshoring and Kaizen Mindset 18:45 Traditional Skills vs Additive 20:57 Japan Nearing Inflection Point 25:06 Top APAC Applications 29:02 Japan Korea Industry Mix 30:31 China Scale And Funding 33:18 FDM Race To Bottom 34:27 Bambu Ecosystem Advantage 36:53 Metal AM Price Expansion 38:23 Chinese Metal Machines Case 40:30 Competing On Productivity 44:10 Southeast Asia Adoption 47:06 India RnD Powerhouse 49:46 Future Consumer Breakthroughs 52:40 Japan Pushing DED Limits 55:30 AI Lowers Barriers 57:13 Wrap Up And Farewell