From Prototype to Commercial Sales – NanoPrintek Marks Critical Milestone  

Developing a working prototype of a new invention is a monumental step in the journey from promising entrepreneurial idea to commercial business success – a defining achievement in the progression from initial start-up to sustainable business operation.  

Necessary, yes, but not sufficient, says Masoud Mahjouri-Samani, the Godbold Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Auburn’s Samuel Ginn College of Engineering and founder of NanoPrintek.  

NanoPrintek is an Auburn New Venture Accelerator (NVA) company applying proprietary additive nanomanufacturing technology created at Auburn to transform the way a wide range of electronics components and other next-generation materials and objects are designed and produced. 

According to Masoud, while an engineering prototype is fundamental and noteworthy, the challenge of turning an initial prototype into a minimum viable product (MVP) that can be cost-effectively manufactured in volume and sold commercially is an even better measure of progress and success. That’s particularly true, notes Masoud, when it comes to highly complex, meticulously engineered and inherently costly-to-build inventions that draw upon the latest advances in multiple, disparate technology disciplines. 

Yet, Masoud and his team have accomplished exactly that – in record time. When we spoke with him 18 months ago, he was just beginning to show his initial prototype to senior officials in the U.S. government, commercial defense industry leaders and potential business partners, hoping to drive interest and engagement. 

Fast forward to today, and NanoPrintek now offers three MVP models for evaluation and purchase and has already delivered revenue-generating commercial systems to customers in two key markets. 

The NVA caught up with Masoud recently to get a download on what he and his team have been doing to move from prototype to initial commercial product sales and where the company goes from here. 

NVA: It appears that a lot has happened since we last spoke – fill us in, if you would, on what you’ve been up to. 

Masoud: To be frank – quite a bit. 

To begin with, we created our website – complete with descriptions of our proprietary technology and the three models we have available for sale. We attended a number of trade shows and other industry events where we were able to demonstrate our unique competencies and innovative solutions to potential customers and partners. 

More importantly, we developed the three commercial models which are now available for purchase, each designed to fulfill separate sets of needs and all based on leveraging the advantages of our dry multi-material 3D printing vs. traditional wet printing technologies, be they inkjet- or aerosol jet-based. 

Model One is semi-automated, so most of the work will have to be done by the operator with that model. Model Two is fully automated, so essentially, the user doesn’t have to do anything – everything is controlled by the software.  

Finally, Model Three is a multiplexed version of module number two – you basically have two automated machines integrated into one. That integration enables tunable material printing via two printheads capable of operating in sync or independently – depending on the application and materials required. 

NVA: Why is that important? 

Masoud: There are many applications where you want to have tunable composites, where you would like to have multiple materials with variable material ratios mixed and printed.  

Let’s say you want a certain percentage of one material and a certain percentage of another – you can use the two different print heads to make a device or a structure that has both ceramic and metal. That way, for example, you can make batteries, you can make supercapacitors, you can make sensors.  

To make it simple, let’s say you want to make a biosensor, and you need to have a mixture of silver and copper to get the performance you want – 30% silver, 70% copper, for instance.  

Models One and Two will allow you to put any composite in the chamber, a target that contains 30% silver to start, for example, followed by a second target composed of 70% copper. But Model Three allows you to tune that ratio any way you wish – during the printing process. You can make those changes on the fly, so to speak. 

NVA: Where does this unique capability come into play, the applications for which there is no other viable option? 

Masoud: A good example is an application in the consumer space we talked about last time – flexible electronics for mobile devices – fitness monitors, bio-tracking systems, anything that requires power, sensors, supercapacitors, etc.   

If you want to print a battery, you can precisely mix the ratios of the composition to make the best formulation for the power and duration the application requires. You can do the same for the micro capacitors, for the sensors that detect different gases, or temperature, or the presence of a contaminant. With Model Three, we can print everything all at once. 

There’s simply no way to do that cost-effectively with ink-jet or aerosol jet printing approaches. 

NVA: Those are the “Internet of Things” applications we discussed at length last time. But that’s not where you are finding the most interest, where customers are actually buying your systems today, right?  

Masoud: Correct – those consumer applications are coming, but they aren’t the first to gain traction. 

Where we’re seeing the most real interest – backed up by purchase orders – is in the high-profile research and development (R&D) sector such as Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).  

We’ve sold and shipped a system to each of these two organizations, where they are currently undergoing evaluation and prototyping. Once they’ve put our machines through their paces, we fully expect more units to be purchased and put into production. And when we say “production,” we’re talking about a lot of units once they get going.  

NVA: Can you give us a sense of what these machines cost and how that compares to competing systems? 

Masoud: I don’t want to get too specific on the prices we charge our customers for competitive reasons, but I will say that the return on investment for them is unbeatable compared to our competitors. And that’s before considering that our customers save hundreds of thousands of dollars from a materials use perspective alone compared to our competitors’ ink-based systems.  

On top of that, there are significant limitations to their systems. First, their systems are only able to print a very limited number of materials, which limits the efficiency of the process, especially from a volume manufacturing perspective. Ours can print multiple materials – up to six in the current versions – and is fully automated, with options to customize processes, materials, and integrated designs that their machines simply can’t come close to offering. 

Second, our printer’s manufacturing cycle from materials selection to application, can take as little as a few hours or days rather than years in our competitor’s systems.    

And then there are the size and power consumption differences, which come into play, for example, in space and on the battlefield. Aerosol jet printers are around four feet by six feet by eight feet tall, weigh a few thousand pounds, and consume multi-kilowatts of power.  

Our systems are much, much smaller – weighing in at only around 200 pounds – and use less than a few hundred watts of power. These differences matter when it comes to customers deploying these systems in the field.  

NVA: How do you build these commercial systems? Do you make the units yourself? In your own facility? Or do you have manufacturing partners? 

Masoud: All of the above. 

Some of the parts are outsourced, some of the parts are manufactured onsite, but the design, integration, assembly and final tuning of the systems are done in-house. We have to control the end product.  

After making the prototype system in my own garage, it became clear that wouldn’t work at all going forward. So, I talked with the City of Auburn and was able to secure some manufacturing space at the Auburn Center for Developing Industries Auburn Center for Developing Industries (ACDI), where the initial commercial systems were built. We’ve been there since the beginning of August, and things are working out great. 

NVA: Finally, you’ve noted the value of your research at the College of Engineering and the support from the City of Auburn and the ACDI in helping you get to where you are today and where you’re going next. Who else has been instrumental to your success to date and prospects going forward? 

Masoud: The New Venture Accelerator, of course. I came to the NVA with a wealth of technical and additive manufacturing experience and expertise, but virtually no knowledge or even familiarity with the marketing and sales side of the equation.  

From Barry Thomasson to Jennifer Nay to Lou Bifano himself, the team at the NVA has informed, directed and inspired me well beyond my expectations, especially when it comes to getting our first wave of products into the hands of very promising initial customers.  

As we move from early customer evaluation and adoption to volume deliveries of fully vetted commercial products, I look forward to working even more closely with the NVA to help grow NanoPrintek to the next level. 

For more information about NanoPrintek, please contact Masoud directly at mzm0185@auburn.edu or mns19@nanoprintek.com 

For more information on the New Venture Accelerator, please contact Lou Bifano, at loubifano@auburn.edu.