It seems so obvious that it shouldn’t need to be said, but the activities of machines can only ever be, at most, half of what defines a technology. The remainder of the definition — at least half — is determined by human beings.
With all the specters of AI, machine learning (ML), and general automation rearing their heads lately, it’s increasingly common for conversations surrounding emergent technologies to leave out the human component—except for the also still too infrequently asked question, “How afraid should workers be about being replaced?” In terms of trends involving positive symbioses between humans and technology, though, there are, probably justifiably, not many at the forefront of most people’s minds these days.
I am not a techno-optimist. However, its compatibility with human ingenuity and collaboration is one reason I am more optimistic about additive manufacturing (AM) than I am about most other examples of next-generation digitization. And of all the AM market segments, medical may provide the most striking evidence of the potential for harmonious feedback loops between humanity and machines, given the direct impact that medical applications have on dramatically improving peoples’ lives.
One individual who epitomizes that optimistic development is Dr. Cora Lüders-Theuerkauf, head of Medical at the Germany-based AM network, Mobility Goes Additive (MGA). MGA Medical was started in 2019, and is now comprised of six working groups that bring together corporations and institutions from around the world, to collaborate, troubleshoot, and advise one another on common issues that arise in medical 3D printing. I recently interviewed Lüders-Theuerkauf, a doctorate in biochemistry who worked for almost 20 years at the German Heart Institute in Berlin, to find out more about the way AM’s mainstreaming is being driven by the success of social networks:
Dr. Cora Lüders-Theuerkauf. Image courtesy of MGA
Lüders-Theuerkauf has firsthand experience with this set of topics, from multiple angles. In addition to an awareness of the benefits achievable with a network in place, the biologist also knows what it’s like to feel a need to ask others for help, and simply not have many options available.
Prototype of a functionally integrated hip implant. Image courtesy of MGA and MUGETO
Moreover, as so often seems to be the case with AM industry professionals who got into the field either before or during the beginning of the desktop printing boom in the early 2010s, networking itself is largely responsible for the trajectory that Lüders-Theuerkauf’s career has taken. During a time when she was looking for another research job, following the completion of one of the projects she’d worked on, Lüders-Theuerkauf met the head of MGA, Stefanie Brickwede, who ended up asking the biologist to start MGA Medical. Pivotally, this was in 2019: thus, the network was in place when the pandemic began, an unprecedented catalyst for the acceleration of corporate entry into the medical manufacturing market, including medical AM.
MGA Network office team. Image courtesy of MGA
To be sure, that sort of crisis doesn’t solely come in the form of a pandemic, either. Expectedly, Lüders-Theuerkauf mentioned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as well, which of course continues to be a far more immediate concern in Europe than it is in the rest of the world. Whatever the emergency, half the work of preparation is already done by a network’s having been established in advance. Now, the natural competitiveness bred by the habit of seeking ever-greater profits may mean that companies still have skepticism and awkwardness to work past when it comes to sharing information. But Lüders-Theuerkauf is encouraged by the unity she sees on display by MGA Medical members:
Thus, at least in an insurgent field like AM, which already has legacy manufacturing to serve as a logical focal point for channeling competitive impulses toward, companies in the same space are starting to come around to the idea that there’s more to be gained by friendship than animus. This sense of camaraderie is going to be increasingly crucial to cultivate, as more and more newcomers enter the industry. And the key to ensuring the success of AM’s greater incorporation into everyday life is the presence in the sector of people like Dr. Cora Lüders-Theuerkauf, whose main assets lie even more so in being personable than they do in technical proficiency.
The post Medical Goes Additive: How Social Networks Are Humanizing the 3D Printing Industry appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing.
