Additive Snack

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