AMS Speaker Highlight: Joseph Crabtree, Pioneering 3D Printing Improvements at AMT – 3DPrint.com

Because the momentum builds up for the 2024 version of Additive Manufacturing Methods (AMS), New York Metropolis is making ready to host town’s solely 3D printing occasion. AMS is an eagerly anticipated present, a singular platform that brings collectively probably the most progressive minds and impactful leaders from this fast-evolving world.

One such chief is Joseph Crabtree, the founder, and CEO of Additive Manufacturing Applied sciences (AMT). AMT has been introduced as a Platinum Sponsor for the AMS 2024, underlining the corporate’s dedication to fostering progress and innovation within the sector.

Joseph Crabtree is not any stranger to the manufacturing business. With a Grasp’s diploma in Materials Sciences and Engineering, his profession started in conventional manufacturing, the place he held varied roles starting from metallurgist at multinational metals manufacturing firm Arconic to operational administration roles within the US and Hungary. His breadth of expertise paved the best way for establishing AMT in 2017. Right now, the corporate employs over 100 folks throughout the UK, Hungary, the US, and Taiwan.

AMT’s PostPro expertise at Austin, Texas Demo Heart. Picture courtesy of AMT.

Beneath the management of Crabtree, AMT has amassed a formidable 40 patents, most notably within the subject of chemical vapor smoothing. After a yr and a half of growth, the corporate unveiled its groundbreaking PostPro expertise in 2018. This world-first physicochemical vapor post-processing {hardware} gives automated smoothing for polymer 3D printed elements.

With certification from Underwriters Laboratories (UL), a testomony to assembly stringent security requirements, and the CE mark, which signifies adherence to European well being, security, and environmental safety requirements, PostPro is dedicated to security and high quality. This, together with its compatibility with over 80 completely different supplies, together with Ultem, reinforces AMT’s imaginative and prescient to develop the business’s horizons.

AMT has earned a repute as a trailblazer within the AM area. The corporate’s mission is to unlock the potential of 3D printing as a viable various to conventional manufacturing. The cornerstone of AMT’s success is its proprietary PostPro platform, an progressive expertise that automates the historically handbook, pricey, and time-consuming post-processing stage of 3D printing.

AMT’s PostPro3D. Picture courtesy of AMT.

PostPro’s transformative affect extends past merely enhancing effectivity. It allows the manufacturing of high-volume end-use elements, offering a large increase to the cost-effectiveness, high quality, security, and throughput of producing 3D printed elements. In 2017, AMT secured a grant of £624,000 ($811,000) from Innovate UK to develop an automatic post-processing machine for 3D printed polymer elements, marking a major step within the firm’s journey. The PostPro expertise was praised because the “lacking piece” within the digital manufacturing chain by Crabtree himself.

PostPro achieves an injection molded floor high quality on polymer 3D printed elements, a outstanding achievement that really differentiates it within the market. After 18 months of intensive growth, AMT unveiled the PostPro system, which makes use of Boundary Layer Automated Smoothing Expertise (BLAST) to realize a superior end on 3D printed elements with out compromising their mechanical properties.

The disclosing was backed by a profitable partnership with Mitsubishi Electrical Automation, centered on creating the subsequent era of post-processing expertise to “unlock the potential of additive manufacturing.” AMT’s PostPro system, along with strategic alliances, highlights the corporate’s dedication to overcoming the constraints of typical manufacturing.

AMT’s PostPro3D. Picture courtesy of Joseph Crabtree by way of LinkedIn.

AMT’s progressive advances in 3D printing have attracted vital funding. Over the course of 4 funding rounds, the corporate has efficiently raised a complete of £16.8 million ($21.8 million). Its most up-to-date funding spherical, a Collection B, occurred on July 2, 2021, and introduced in a formidable £11 million ($14.3 million). This spherical was led by Foresight Williams, demonstrating the religion and assist of influential traders in AMT’s imaginative and prescient.

As New York gears up for AMS 2024, business stakeholders from throughout the globe sit up for participating in significant discussions and witnessing groundbreaking improvements. With leaders like Joseph Crabtree and firms like AMT paving the best way, the way forward for 3D printing appears brighter than ever. Keep tuned for extra updates as we strategy the landmark occasion in February 2024.