Women in 3D Printing

Emerging technologies are typically subject to public hype and 3D printing (i.e., additive manufacturing) is no exception. At times, people said 3D printing was going to take over the world. We were going to be printing everything, everywhere. At the same time, others were saying the technology would never get out of the prototype phase. Of course, the reality lies somewhere in between and many a heated debate has been had on what that reality actually is. For those of us working in the world of 3D printing, we have all encountered people that feel passionate about both extremes of the present state and the future of the industry.

3D printing has applications in medicine that reach from anatomical and biological education to clinical regenerative medicine. Artists, illustrators, designers, engineers, physicians, and scientists have acknowledged and leveraged the use of additive machines for decades, and rely heavily on the technology to move from concept to prototype to final part in today’s healthcare ecosystem. Advanced image processing allows experts to depend on radiological data to accurately represent and recreate the internal components of the body. As a senior biomedical engineer in the Mayo Clinic Anatomic Modeling Laboratory, I have the opportunity to build anatomic models from radiological data to improve understanding and surgical planning. This chapter discusses the variety of applications 3D printing has at the point of care and anatomic modeling from my perspective.

“We are planning to increase our engagement in the area of 3D printing and are looking for someone to lead this effort. Would you be interested in this position?” I was asked this question by Bonnie Fetch, a woman I admired and someone who would eventually be my mentor, my advocate, and my manager. Bonnie was a director at my employer where I had worked for the past 25 years and I had no idea how to respond. I had no background in 3D printing. I was just coming off a special assignment, having spent the previous year serving as the president of the Society of Women Engineers at a global level. It was time to get back into a more traditional role at work. Despite having no experience in 3D printing, I did have 25 years of component product development experience in engineering and manufacturing coupled with 15 years of engineering leadership. I had no idea if 3D printing was an area I wanted to pursue. Spoiler alert; I accepted the job. But my experience leading up to this point, what I did in this role, and what I did after the role are the subject of this chapter.

Inkjet-based additive manufacturing (AM) technologies are highly versatile among manufacturing processes due to their ability to shape any material in powder or ink form. The two inkjet-based AM technologies are binder jetting and material jetting, and as each of their names suggest, the former uses inkjet to deposit binder into the actual build material and the latter uses inkjet to deposit the actual build material. With each of these technologies comes unique opportunities in the form of embedding functional components within the build, creating material gradients within parts by selectively layering feedstocks, shaping non-weldable materials, and creating low-cost tooling with conformal cooling channels. Dr. Amy Elliott at Oak Ridge National Laboratory has explored a variety of materials and approaches with inkjet-based manufacturing technologies, focusing on industry-relevant applications such as injection molding tooling and mining drills.

Dr. Amy Elliott has had unique opportunities to serve as a STEM role model through her various media production projects. Her debut on screen was as a competitor on an engineering reality show competition called “The Big Brain Theory,” aired by The Discovery Channel. Following this competition, Dr. Elliott served as an on-camera host for RoboNation’s water-based, annual collegiate competitions and for The Science Channel’s viral video show, “Outrageous Acts of Science.” Dr. Elliott also serves as volunteer pit-crew for Green Envy Racing, a woman-lead race team that seeks to set and speed records with electric motorcycles. Because of Dr. Elliott’s public exposure, she was selected as an IF/THEN Ambassador by the American Associate for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), a program that seeks to highlight women as STEM role models. Dr. Elliott’s work in 3D printing is frequently a source of inspiration for her.

When people think of modernization, the first industry that comes to mind is often not construction, an industry that has been slow to adopt new technologies for reasons spanning from liability to cost effectiveness. On the other hand, additive manufacturing is an agile and ever-changing field, built on iterations of designs and printers. The combination of these seemingly opposite-styled fields, construction and additive manufacturing, into the subject area of additive construction, provides an avenue for construction to take advantage of the rapid development that has persisted in the field of additive manufacturing over the last decade. When scaling the technology of additive manufacturing to additive construction, the common viewpoint is to design a scale model, prove it works, and then build a bigger version of it. However, there is an inherent flaw with this mentality as this can lead printers of this scale to be too expensive and difficult to operate. This chapter follows the advancements of the additive construction team led by Megan Kreiger at the US Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center, Construction Engineering Research Laboratory. Megan chose to tackle this problem in a different way during the development of field deployable applications for the US military.

I credit my fascination with space from an early age, my enjoyment of math and science, and affinity to the arts as the driving factor to becoming an engineer. My desire to pursue a career that would hone technical skills but allow my creative side to flourish led to aerospace engineering, and eventually to 3D printing. As a co-founder of a startup, the job is successfully executing a little of everything. From helping develop the product roadmap and completing R&D projects, to communications, to helping recruit and fundraise, to acquiring new customers, and to facilitating business relationships, I find myself drawing on, and thankful for, every role I’ve held over the prior 15+ years in the aerospace and defense industry. The journey of becoming a female engineer to entrepreneur has been an exciting and challenging journey, driven by passion and a hunger for adventure. The impact metal additive manufacturing (AM) technology is imparting on multiple industries to open the design space is incredible, including redefining what is possible with multiple materials, embedded sensors, and complex geometries. I look forward to sharing my personal story of the journey and technology developments, while it continues to unfold.

Advancements in technology allow for longer lifespan, creating the need for improved medical devices, especially in orthopedics. Using technologies like additive manufacturing (AM), it is possible to achieve a high degree of personalization, namely patient-specific implants with complex shapes and controlled porous structures. This process not only foments the creativity, but it also promotes the research of new biomaterials, and the optimisation of existing processes and techniques. During my PhD studies, I aimed to exploit AM for the development of novel materials and devices within bone regenerative medicine. I have investigated the use of Apatite-Wollastonite (AW), a bioactive glass-ceramic, as feedstock for AM techniques. From doping of AW powders with alumina to the use of the AW precursor glass as a filler for polymer-ceramic biocomposites, the goal was always to obtain a device able to improve osseointegration. A material like AW can be easily tuned, allowing for a high degree of freedom composition-wise. Two AM techniques were applied, binder jetting and fused filament fabrication, to create a load bearing device and scaffolds for critical-size defects, respectively. The choice of the developed materials and techniques envisioned the fast translation into an industrial context, and their easy commercialization.

The cruise altitudes and speed of flight will be higher than ever before for next-generation aerospace applications. While this will enable superior efficiency and reach, especially for military aerospace vehicles, it comes at the cost of harsher environments experienced by the component materials. Ceramic materials are of interest for these applications since they can withstand higher temperatures and harsher environments than many traditional metal or polymer aerospace components. Beyond increased temperature capability, they also offer increased erosion resistance, higher stiffness, lower density, and, in some cases, multi-functional properties. Additive manufacturing (AM) of ceramics offers a more agile manufacturing method to create the complex-shaped components needed for next-generation component designs. Due to the complexities that come with forming dense ceramic materials, the field of AM of ceramics is still in initial stages of adaptation. This chapter will briefly introduce background on the variety of AM routes that exist for forming ceramic materials along with some advantages and disadvantages of each. A more detailed account will be given to some recent advances in AM of ceramics and ceramic matrix composites using the technique of direct ink writing.

Additive manufacturing (AM) enables freedom of design, part complexity, and customization with minimal added cost, by fusing materials layer upon layer. AM, in general, is considered to have great potential in complementing conventional manufacturing methods. Functional parts with high strength to weight ratio generated using structural topology optimization can be eventually realized by AM. Limitations of AM parts related to surface finish and dimensional accuracy can be overcome by post-machining of critical features and surfaces in order to achieve a specific tolerance and surface quality. To minimize the trial and error efforts, accurate AM and post-machining simulations are essential for effective planning of the synergized processes. The goal of this study is to propose a process workflow which can be used as a guideline for successful production of complex parts manufactured via laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) and post-processed via CNC (computer numerical control) machining. The workflow is deployed and iterated through a case study of the manufacturing of a surgical navigation tracker, where the holistic manufacturing process involves a digital design utilizing structural topology optimization, AM part geometric distortion simulation, machining process planning, fabrication, and validation.

“You’ll learn more starting a company yourself than getting a minor in entrepreneurship.” These words of advice given to me by my college professor are the ones that shaped my final years as an undergraduate mechanical engineering major at the University of Florida. I chose mechanical engineering as my major because, like many engineers, I was passionate about designing and making things. As a kid I built massive LEGO towers and marble runs in my parents’ living room, loved sewing and crafts, and folded an origami dragon out of any spare pieces of paper I could find lying around. But during my college career, I found my passion deviating from that of my peers. Those around me were working toward research gigs that would get them into graduate programs, and industry connections that would get them a full-time offer at a Fortune 500 company after graduation. While my four industry internships were great learning experiences, that wasn’t where I saw my future headed. 3D printing was my tool to forge my own path ahead. It was my key to starting my own company. Through my story, I offer tips on using additive manufacturing as an outreach and entrepreneurial tool.