Inside Xerox^® Elem^™ Additive Solutions

Since joining Xerox Elem Additive solutions a year ago, Timothy Schniepp has used his previous experience in aerospace and AM to educate customers on our technology and support them in their journey to implement it. Learn more about Timothy in the interview below.

1. What’s your background and current role at Xerox? I started my career in aerospace at Lockheed Martin and GE Aviation, primarily in high performance composite structures. In 2010, I joined the JHU Applied Physics Lab (a big R&D facility for the Navy and other parts of the DoD) where I got my first exposure to additive manufacturing (AM). My team provided functional prototypes and low volume manufacturing of composites and 3D printed parts, among other things. After a stop at Stratasys, I joined Xerox a year ago to lead the team. Our mission is twofold – knowledge sharing and knowledge transfer to support adoption for customers. We help educate prospective customers how our technology works and where it might fit in their business. Then we help them implement it for relevant applications, addressing any challenges that might arise and guide validation/qualification efforts.

2. Why did you join Xerox? I’m excited to build this team. I also enjoy educating customers on new disruptive technologies and supporting them in their journey to implement it. Having spent the first half of my career supporting manufacturing, I understand the frustration with long lead times, shortages, long development cycles, and how AM can help address many of them.

3. Which skills from your background have been most useful during your time here at Xerox? I can directly relate to our customers’ journey. I’ve explored, vetted, validated, purchased, and implemented new AM technologies. That’s helpful, and drives me to be completely transparent about ElemX capabilities. Few things are more important than building strong trust-based relationships with customers. My guidelines: 1. Be customer focused and obsessed with delivering value and solving problems. 2. Team-first. We succeed working together. 3. Quality without compromise in everything we do. It’s not worth doing if we don’t do it well. 4. We do whatever it takes to be successful regardless of whether it’s in our job description.

4. What excites you most about the future of Xerox Elem Additive? In just over a year, we’ve come far, which is great to see. I’m excited about the advancement and expansion of ElemX capabilities. Having the safest and one of the easiest to deploy/implement metal AM technologies available provides a foundation for success. We must continue to expand the value that we provide to our customers – that’s what leads to commercial success. I want us to stay obsessively focused on delivering a platform that’s not only easy and delivers parts with the necessary performance, but with great reliability and repeatability. These are the keys to providing our customers value and meeting expectations. With the great team we have, I know we’ll get there!

Arjun Tekalur joined Xerox Elem Additive Solutions in 2021 as an Engineering Director and has used his diverse background and expertise to help advance our liquid metal technology. Hear more in the interview below.

1. What’s your background and current role at Xerox? I’ve been a professor, a research and development scientist, a technology manager and now an engineering leader at Xerox. My days start with a trip to our 3D printing lab, catching up on machine reliability and part quality testing. It subsequently transforms to reviewing data on how we are performing against product goals. I also actively work on setting the strategy for quality monitoring and utilizing data to drive our part quality and reliability.

2. Why did you join Xerox? The 3D printing! I’m fascinated by the core technology and an opportunity to shape the delivery of a product that is going to revolutionize the way our next generation is going to manufacture.

3. Which skills from your background have been most useful during your time here at Xerox? My analytical thinking, EQ and leadership. The technology is fascinating, but the pace at which we are trying to execute is challenging. It requires innovative ways to address time and technology problems together, and my varied experiences have helped me build a team of diverse talent that can deliver on such challenging tasks.

4. What are some additive manufacturing trends you think will emerge in the next 1-3 years? Additive manufacturing (AM) will move closer to consumption and adopt a distributed model. Industrial customers will have reasonable manufacturing capability to address their time sensitive requirements. We will see ‘funky’ design concepts in our products that utilize AM to increase functionality, reduce weight, and other capabilities. We must shift in how we teach design and engineering to the next generation to embrace these ideas.

5. What excites you most about the future of Xerox Elem Additive? Droplets of rain fill up an ocean. Our liquid metal technology has the biggest potential for industrial customers to accelerate adoption of AM in their product lifecycle. We are doing it drop by drop. ElemX has demonstrated the capability to move away from expensive powder storage, PPE and special post processing needs. I believe this is just the beginning of great things to come. The world has lofty goals in achieving sustainable manufacturing and our technology truly would help in the same.

As a metallurgist, Miranda Moschel’s contributions have been key to advancing the performance of the ElemX since she joined Xerox Elem Additive Solutions in 2021. Check out the interview below to hear more about how Miranda is helping to advance our efforts in metal AM.

1. What’s your background and current role at Xerox? I started in powder metal manufacturing, where I spent time between the traditional press and sinter manufacturing and helping establish AM within the company. In 2020, I transitioned to Xerox to work as a metallurgist, where I help optimize the performance of the alloys printed on the ElemX. A large part of my job involves characterizing the current performance of 4008 Aluminum and understanding where improvements can be made to improve consistency and performance of mechanical properties. I also participate in development and scoping of future alloys for the printer.

2. Why did you join Xerox? I initially saw liquid metal AM at the RAPID conference in 2017 under Vader Systems. It was interesting technology that was significantly different from the current AM technology offerings. I later saw that Xerox acquired Vader Systems and started growing a team to further develop the technology. It was very exciting to see the rapid growth of the technology in the few years between when I had first seen it 2017 and when I joined Xerox in 2020. Additionally, the position as a metallurgist is also a great opportunity for me to grow my skills and expand my materials science background. And, of course, I also love the triangle area (around Raleigh, N.C.).

3. Which skills from your background have been most useful during your time here at Xerox? Two things: My background in material science engineering and my time focused on aluminum alloys has helped tremendously. My time spent on laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) also provided me with an understanding of the current AM field for technology, customer expectations, and material offerings. Softer skills such as detail management and organization have also helped in processing the amount of data collected, which is expected to ramp up as the technology matures. In 2021, we tested 372 tensile bars for aluminum 4008 alone!

4. What are some additive manufacturing trends you think will emerge in the next 1-3 years? I’ve seen a lot of focus on throughput, reliability, and process monitoring of machines in AM. However, material selection is starting to grow now that most technologies can support it. One area the current technologies struggle is with aluminum alloys, but that space is starting to grow as LPBF utilizes nanoparticle nucleating agents to improve the alloy processability. Adding those nanoparticles is a decisive step toward custom materials suited for AM. From a metallurgist’s perspective, changing the material to optimize performance based on production method is optimal. I expect the area of custom materials to rapidly start growing to fill customer needs for currently known and understood alloys, but also to offer completely novel alloys with higher performance.

5. What excites you most about the future of Xerox Elem Additive? I have seen the rapid advancement of liquid metal AM over just a few years and I’m very excited to see how it progresses. Compared to the other additive technologies that have been around for decades (with many companies dedicated to maturing their technologies), liquid metal is still in its infancy. Yet, it is already competing in the industrial space and the rapid improvements are catching attention. I’m thrilled to be able to contribute to the growth of this tech and can’t wait to see where it goes.

When he joined Xerox Elem Additive Solutions in 2021 as a Senior Sales Executive, Keith Campbell brought a wealth of experience in both aviation and additive manufacturing. Check out the interview below to hear more about what Keith is doing with Elem Additive and some of his thoughts on the future of the AM industry.

1. What’s your background and current role at Xerox? I spent 35 years in the aviation industry, but the last five have been in the metal additive industry working in the aviation, space, automotive, medical, and industrial markets. I caught the additive manufacturing bug as a product manager at GE. I saw additive as an excellent opportunity to transition traditionally manufactured plates, fins, and aviation heat exchangers to metal additive

2. Why did you join Xerox? The people and can-do attitude attracted me to join the Xerox Elem Additive team, and I was proud to be associated with the strong Xerox global brand. I also saw the potential in ElemX and knew there was a market for liquid metal additive manufacturing (AM). It’s a tremendous opportunity.

3. Which skills from your background have been most useful during your time here at Xerox? My knowledge of the metal additive market. The knowledge of customer expectations, challenges, and competitive landscape also has been useful. That allowed me to provide immediate insights and inputs that helped the team. My extensive customer contacts also helped make immediate connections for ElemX and spread awareness of the technology.

4. What are some additive manufacturing trends you think will emerge in the next 1-3 years? Demand will accelerate due to supply chain challenges. In-house rapid prototyping and local manufacturing capability will become more important than ever before to ensure companies can deliver uninterrupted goods and services. Machines and materials will need to be qualified to support demand, which means those adopting metal additive manufacturing will need to collaborate to achieve success. Xerox can do that because it is fully committed to collaboration and to the success of its customers.

5. What excites you most about the future of Xerox Elem Additive? I am most excited about achieving and celebrating success with the Xerox Elem Additive team, all of whom are working hard to bring solutions to the market that will add value to the industries it serves. I look forward to the success of our customers and partners, and to helping customers who are seeking to invest scarce CAPEX and infrastructure funds in a technology that is not only safe, but green and cost effective. I hope to be part of an ecosystem that helps to overcome today’s supply chain challenges.

Sebastian Calderon joined Xerox Elem Additive Solutions in 2021 as a Process Engineer. His previous experience at a large automotive company helped him to see the unique benefits of the ElemX. Read more about his background and thoughts on the future of AM below.

1. What’s your background and current role at Xerox? My previous job was at a large automotive company, installing aluminum CNC machining lines. I sourced equipment and ensured it worked as a single reliable line. My current role at Xerox involves testing the limits of the current generation ElemX printer and checking that the entire system functions as intended under varying scenarios. It’s a lot of measurements and testing correlating data to show reliability. My role allows me to have very detailed knowledge of how the machine operates and has me touch base with almost everyone on the ElemX team with either questions, comments, or concerns to help them in their development or understanding of the product.

2. Why did you join Xerox? I spent some time in the 3D printing division of that automotive company, focused on finding ways to reduce costs or save manufacturing time using various 3D printing processes. That gave me a detailed understanding of how to apply additive manufacturing (AM) in the real-world vs the limitations of existing processes. When I learned about ElemX, I was interested to see why this AM technology was so different. What piqued my interest was that this technology directly addressed the biggest headaches with metal AM, such as material handling or extended post processing seen in binder jet systems. This was exciting since I could clearly see the potential and wanted to be a part of moving that technology forward.

3. Which skills from your background have been most useful during your time here at Xerox? My time spent sourcing and installing production lines taught me several useful skills, such as working with multifunctional teams and time management. Both skills are key when trying to understand the limits of the machine and how to efficiently problem solve.

4. What are some additive manufacturing trends you think will emerge in the next 1-3 years? I think we will see companies across various industries start to design a lot more parts specifically tailored to AM processes. Also, we’ll see complex geometries, lower volumes, and performance that pushes the limits of conventional manufacturing.

5. What excites you most about the future of Xerox Elem Additive? I am most excited about the new materials that are being developed. Every advancement in capabilities enables ElemX to solve more problems, especially materials.