Hello from Newark,DE,USA

Hello everybody,
You can call me printed solid if you want, but my name is Matt.
I'm a mechanical / materials engineer by education. I spent about the first 12 years of my career doing a whole range of engineering thing including product and equipment design using Pro/E, SolidWorks, and AutoCAD, failure analysis, and reliability testing. A few years back, I made a career change over to 'the dark side'. I'm now a regulated quality assurance manager for a medical device company. This gives me a great opportunity to widely influence design decisions and to teach other engineers, but I believe that the phase of my professional career where I create new things on my own is either done or on break.

So, I'm happy to start putting those creative energies to use at home. I'm working on starting up a small 3D printing, scanning, and design business. You can check out my website (presently just a blog) at printedsolid.com. I presently have a Makerbot Replicator Dual Extrusion and an Ultimaker. The Replicator has been modded and upgraded and I am consistently getting 50 micron resolution prints when desired. My Ultimaker is still a little bit of a work in process. I bought it used and need to replace some parts, but I'm optimistic that it is going to be able to do as well or better. I also have a David 3 SLR scanner. For software, I'm running Alibre for 3D CAD. I haven't really settled on a program for 3D design, but I'm guessing I'm going to have to learn Blender at some point.

I'm curious to see how the Robo compares to my other two machines. From the pictures that have been posted, I'm guessing it will not be able to put out the same quality, but that's OK given that its a third of the price.

With all that being said, you'd think I have a ton of free time and cash, which I definitely do not. I'm a father to an infant and a preschooler, both girls. Right now, most of the things I print are chosen by the three year old. Most nights she will describe something before she goes to sleep and wake up to find it on the kitchen table. One of my friends at work asked me what I am going to do when she asks for a car. I replied that I'll download a model from thingiverse, print it up, and leave it on the kitchen table just like any other night : )

-Matt

 

Welcome Matt! I honestly think that is so funny about what you do with your daughter. Offer her a Tesla or Ferrari. lol