William Drakas presenting his seminar on 3D printing from waste.

What are you presenting in your seminar today?

Today’s seminar focuses on how we as a company have created a business model of printing from waste. We use this product we call Gigalab, a retrofitted storage container that contains the printers, tools, and supplies needed to use waste as 3D printer feedstock. We usually start off by targeting projects that have an ecosystem of waste, and we then go in and assess what materials are available and abundant. Once we’ve done that, we can then start testing each material and analyzing what the best temperatures and printing procedures are.  We do a lot of trial and error testing to see which materials work and which don’t. It kind of depends on what materials will melt at 300 degrees Celsius or less and what will stick to the bed of the printer. There are also material scientists at the company who help us.

What do you do at re:3D?

My official title is Hardware Engineer and I work with both the research and development group and the engineering group. I mostly work on machine design applications where I’ve gotten to design a couple 3D printers for us and for different clients. However, I’ve also been able to work on thermoset 3D printing and extruder screw 3D printing which we call fused granulate fabrication. I’m currently working on creating a Gigalab system for the Kennedy Space Center. It will be a much smaller facility that we can send up to one of the space stations. Then astronauts can use it to create smaller things like lunar anchors or a carabiner and save money on sending those things up.

What was your experience like at Purdue? What were you involved in?

I was part of the 3D Printing Club at Purdue for all four years. We would provide resources for other people and do fun hobby projects as well as school projects. The club wasn’t just focused on printing things; we also did work on the printers themselves. We helped fix old printers but also got to work with new ones.  I also completed undergraduate research my senior year working with additive manufacturing off campus at the Composite Simulation and Manufacturing Center with Dr. Barocio.

How has your time at Purdue helped you in your current position?

The design classes we take each year have been a huge help. I personally really enjoyed the design engineering aspect of each class, especially during senior design where we had to work on the fabrication, design process, and system requirements all the way through the end to our finished product. I also think the business side of it has helped me now that I’m working with a smaller business. Also, getting so much experience on teams has been super beneficial.

What is one piece of advice you would give current ME students?

Get involved with undergraduate research. There’s lots of opportunities for students there that give them the experience of working in a more job-like atmosphere. Knowing how to work on a team is a great skill to have. It’s also important to explore other things and not just focus on schoolwork. Those hands-on experiences are what have the most impact in future jobs.

Writer: Julia Davis, juliadavis@purdue.edu