Editor’s note: “A future fabricated by light” is the topic of a lecture that inventor, UNC and NCSU professor and entrepreneur Joseph DeSimone delivers at RTI International. Helping fund that future is a new round of financing for his Carbon 3D company – a whopping $81 million. WTW contributor Jane Albright provided this report.

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. – If your office leases a printer/copier instead of buying, then you understand the basic business concept of Carbon 3D Inc., the 3-year-old 3D printing company co-founded by Joseph DeSimone, who recently received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation from President Barack Obama.

He spoke at RTI Wednesday about “A future fabricated by light.”

The Carbon business model is about to expand.

“3D printing is a translation of the digital to a physical reality and when done right, offers true design freedom across every category,” he said. “At launch we set forth a bold vision to fundamentally change how the world makes ‘things.’ We have been working to deliver on that vision for the U.S. market, and are ready to step onto the global stage.”

Thursday, his company announced new funding from strategic investors to bring this additive technology to more customers who want to transition from prototyping-only to applications requiring final production quality parts for mainstream manufacturing.

A Silicon Valley-based company, Carbon is working at the intersection of hardware, software and molecular science. Carbon plans to accelerate production to meet worldwide demand for its M1 printer.

As DeSimone’s TED talk from March 2015 illustrates, Carbon uses a proprietary resin solution-based technology known as CLIP to create stronger, more complex items quicker than the typical 3D printers that use plastic powder. DeSimone shared videos of this technology with the standing-room-only crowd at RTI. The question and answer session afterwards lasted 40 minutes, people with experience with the more typical 3D process wanted to know more about the potential of CLIP.

(Watch the talk at: https://www.ted.com/talks/joe_desimone_what_if_3d_printing_was_25x_faster?language=en )

“Hardware as a service”

DeSimone is a local legend who holds faculty appointments at both the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University. He is one of fewer than 20 individuals who have been elected to all three branches of the National Academies. He is currently on sabbatical from his university responsibilities.

He describes the Carbon business model as “hardware as a service.” For $40,000 a year on a 3-year subscription, a company gets a Carbon M1 printer onsite. As part of the agreement, the internet connected device sends operational data back to Carbon. This aggregated data from all the machines allows Carbon to improve and update the printing process, which allows new and improved software to be pushed to all of the printers every six weeks. This rapid innovation can only be done through shared data and internet connectivity.

In the factory of the future, parts are made as needed, which will reduce costly inventory, he said. Parts are made locally wherever they’re needed, eliminating shipping costs. Each part can be encrypted so that if a few are found to have problems, only the 250 affected automobiles are recalled, not all the models in a given year.

The potential for medical devices is practically unlimited. A Carbon printer could be shared by all the practices in a facility. A dentist could create the perfect crown. A cardiologist could create a stent to the exact size, curvature and branches of the patient’s block artery.

“Today, when you get a stent is like your shoe size,” he said. “What we offer is a stent designed just for you by your physician while you’re on the table.”

The big investment

Carbon’s expansion is supported by $81 million from new investors GE, BMW Group, Nikon and JSR, as well as existing investors, bringing Carbon’s funding total to $222 million. More details of additional strategic investors involved in this round of financing will be announced in 2017 along with details of their manufacturing projects that utilize Carbon’s technology.

Nikon Corporation and JSR Corporation are exploring making Carbon’s technology available in Japan, as well as entry into other Asian markets. Nikon will bring their expertise in metrology and 3D data profile, including 3D measurement and X-ray CT. JSR, a manufacturer of chemicals associated with the manufacture of microelectronics, is an ideal partner to enhance exploration of new materials and extension of Carbon’s supply chain.

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To view a complete presentation of DeSimone’s lecture, visit:

https://rti.connectsolutions.com/p8zbiazrx8b/