SPEAKER INTERVIEW
Jason Rolland, SVP, Materials, Carbon 3D
Can you tell us a about your role at Carbon 3D and what your responsibilities entail?
I lead the materials team at Carbon. My team’s responsibilities include the design and development of resins for our printing platform as well as defining our product roadmap. Our materials include tough and durable elastomeric resins, rigid high-temperature resins, and high-impact materials among many others.
Why are resin lattices such an important topic for you and your team?
Elastomer lattices are important because they can only be made by additive manufacturing. Additionally, lattices provide enormous geometric flexibility throughout the part so regions can be softer or more rigid depending on the density of the lattice. This is a significant advantage over foams. The combination of high-performance elastomers with software design tools yields entirely new opportunities for product design. Finally, lattices can create custom geometries such as helmet padding perfectly suited for someone’s head or a midsole specifically tailored for an athlete’s foot.
What innovative new trend or technology is particularly interesting for you currently
Everyone is obviously watching artificial intelligence very closely. It has the potential to rapidly accelerate our efforts to change manufacturing. I can see it as an aid to material discovery, part design, economic modelling, writing software, etc…just about everything.
What are you most excited about for Foam Expo and Adhesives & Bonding Expo 2023?
To showcase our technology and meet with potential users who have new product concepts.
What will attendees learn from your presentation and why is it important that they attend?
They will get an overview of Carbon’s technology and how we are applying it to create new cushioning components that give performance improvements to the end user.
If you could have one famous person (present or from the past) over for dinner, who would they be and why?
Anthony Bourdain – he knew where to find the best food anywhere in the world.
If you were stuck on a desert island, what one item would you bring?
After watching countless episodes of Alone, I’d probably go with a large sharp knife.
