Evolving the Orthopedic Frontier: A Deep Dive into the History of Medical AM with Charles Hansford

With the top five orthopedic organizations using metal and polymer additive manufacturing for production parts, the space industry using it daily for critical applications, and the automotive industry ramping up, it means this is just the beginning of a very exciting additive manufacturing (AM) journey. Joining Host Fabian Alefeld is Chuck Hansford, Director of Advanced Development at Tecomet. In the US, Chuck is widely known to be one of the most experienced metal additive manufacturing experts in the medical industry. He provides profound insights on where AM is currently as a technology and where it will be in the future, what makes clients adopt AM, and guidance for the next generation of AM innovators. Comments about the show or wish to share your AM journey? Contact us at additive.snack@eos-na.com. The Additive Snack Podcast is brought to you by EOS. Key Takeaways: [:45] Chuck describes his early days of testing the boundaries of additive manufacturing in plastics, then metals. [5:37] Chuck explains where the medical industry stands when it comes to adopting additive manufacturing. [9:41] Chuck gets technical about the product development lifecycle, adoption of AM in the medical industry, and resolving trapped powder particles. [23:00] What are AM adoption rates and trends in the medical space? [28:27] Chuck’s key guidance for engineers, C-levels, and operators who may be skeptical about adopting additive manufacturing.