This past Friday, I spent the day at Z Corporation and SolidWorks. It was my first time actually visiting Z Corp, and I was excited for it. So much so, that I got my days messed up and actually went down Thursday. Sucks getting old…Anyway, Julie Reece, Z Corp’s Director or Marketing Communication, was kind enough to be my hostess and show me around their facility. Naturally, one thing that dominated the office landscape was 3D prints. There were shoes and skulls and girls, oh my!
I’d love to know who got to scan that last one…
Ok, back on track. Something I didn’t realize was that Z Corp actually builds and ships right from their offices in Burlington. While the parts to make the printers are outsourced, everything is assembled and tested on site. They’ve even won an award for Lean Manufacturing. The culture in the office is very casual, as it appeared to me. Even their CEO, John Kawola, is a member of the cubicle farm. Quite refreshing in this age of executive excess.
Julie began to talk to me about “the video”, and how it had brought out a lot of curiosity seekers. I had to stop her and admit that I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. Turns out that National Geographic’s Known Universe did a story on Z Corporation and their printing capabilities. This ended up bringing out the curious and disbelievers. One guy even showed up at Z Corp’s office just to find out if what he saw was real. This technology, which so many of us are familiar with, is completely alien to the vast majority of non-engineer/designers out there. My Dad saw a clip about it on the local news (he lives in Maine), and likened Z Corp’s printers to Star Trek’s “Replicator”. Sorry, Dad, they’re getting closer but you still can’t get it to make a steak. For those of you who haven’t seen the video, here it is:
If you find yourself in the Boston area with nothing to do, get in touch with Julie. I’m sure she’d love to show you all that Z Corp can do for you.
