Living Metals: Enabling Higher Potential in Building and Making

Alex Finch of Tri-D Dynamics introduces a new kind of additive metal manufacturing process that enables embedding intelligence into metal components

Alex Finch and his collaborators, Deepak Atyam and Jesse Lang, achieved notoriety as students at the University of California San Diego when they became the first university team to successfully 3D print a rocket engine. They launched their company, Tri-D Dynamics, based on that experience, but found a limited market for their services. So they put their aerospace expertise to work pioneering a new kind of metal additive manufacturing process that they call “cold fusion.” It involves spraying powdered metals through a rocket nozzle at supersonic speeds using a high-pressured gas, causing the metal to adhere to the substrate without ever melting. The process is 100 to 1,000 times faster than today’s standard metal 3D printing processes and can have a strength-to-weight ratio that’s four times greater than titanium alloys, enabling them to use four times less material in the fabrication process. Perhaps most important, though, because the metal is never heated, it can be applied directly to sensitive materials. This enables them to embed sensors and other electronics directly within metal components, creating what they term “living metals.” These components can send information to a human or AI operator that can in turn change the function, shape, or other properties of the component or the system. In other words, it’s metal that can respond to stimuli and adapt to meet the dynamic needs of users.

About the speaker

Alex Finch is president and co-founder of Tri-D Dynamics. Previously, he was a structures engineer at The Aerospace Corporation. He holds a master’s degree in Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical Engineering from Purdue University, as well as a degree in Business Administration and Management from the Purdue University Krannert School of Management.

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