Zylo3D

Interview with Ahmed Adel: Zylo3D for Digital Dentistry

Category: Blog,Influencer Interviews
May 23, 2024

Ahmed Adel “My background is mechatronics & robotics, I travelled 30% of the world learning how 3D printing could impact people life, and I do scuba & sky diving. I have been in the additive manufacturing space for ten years and recently co-founded Zylo3D to bring 3D printers to the retail business of dental offices.” Adel will join live at the 2024 3DHEALS Dental 3D Printing virtual event.

When was the first encounter you had with 3D printing? What was that experience like? What were you thinking at that moment?

Ahmed: 2013, During robotics student competition, I used the 3D printing to build robots for the student competition, it was like magic to accelerate the prototyping and gives higher degree of freedom in design. How can we make this technology more accessible to a wide range of people outside the university (by bringing the cost lower than $10K USD).

What inspired you to start your journey?

Ahmed: I love manufacturing, I realized that the world is saturated when it comes to mass manufacturing while we are stumbling when it comes to highly customized products that requires 1 – 2 Qty production. And the technology is there while it is expensive and not easy to use. My background in robotics and mechatronics allowed me to think how can we automated the 3D printing process so that anyone can use the printer (aka every doctor)

Who inspired you the most along this journey in 3D printing?

Ahmed: Steve Jobs’s explanation of how he sees human superpowers as the ability to make tools that amplify our inherent ability resonated with me big time—as computers already amplify our conceptual ability but still can’t easily make/implement these concepts in the physical 3D world.

What motivates you the most for your work? 

Ahmed: Too see the impact of our technology on the dentists, how it is democratizing the dentistry, by allowing the average dentists in hand skill are delivering the same quality of treatment as the same as the super talented dentists in hand craft. That allow every dentist in any place in the world to deliver high quality treatments to their patients. 

What is/are the biggest obstacle(s) in your line of work? If you have conquered them, what were your solutions? 

Ahmed:

  1. The need to operate in different eco-systems, different geographies.  
  2. The multidisciplinary group of talents required in very niche interests, skills. 
  3. The power of focus and accepting the bets could be 100% or 0% by operating only in the dental market (being specialized)

1 & 2. Communication, networking, realizing the fact that we are all identical in our genetics 99.9%, operating in the US, China, Germany, India are not that different. Also focus on conversion rate and probabilities, it is process of finding the right stakeholders – nothing personal in rejections, we only need One-YES.
3. When the COVID hit, the dentistry disappeared, we private labelled our technology to other 3D printer manufacturers in other sectors.

Communication, networking, realizing the fact that we are all identical in our genetics 99.9%, operating in the US, China, Germany, India are not that different. Also focus on conversion rate and probabilities, it is process of finding the right stakeholders – nothing personal in rejections, we only need One-YES.

What do you think is (are) the biggest challenge(s) in 3D Printing/bio-printing? What do you think the potential solution(s) is (are)?

Ahmed:

  1. The material for each use case
  2. The complete digital ecosystem (data acquisition – CAD – 3D printing)
  3. The doctor mental capacity to learn how to use the 3D printing & design
  4. The economics 

Solutions: 1. More serious development of materials or the strategic option between materials, software, and hardware manufacturers. 
2. Vertical integration between scanner, CAD, 3D printing. And also offering that through system integrator channel partner not offering each piece separately
3. AI and automation to make the 3D printing easier to use/adopt for doctors
4. ROI calculator for the medical practice before building the product

If you are granted three wishes by a higher being, what would they be? 

Ahmed:

  1.  Living as a multi-planetary species.
  2. The world is going to be united as one nation despite nationalism religion or colors
  3. The biological evolution is to be accelerated by human/technological intervention like CRISPR, bioprinting, and medical printing.

What’s your favorite book you read this year and why? Alternatively, what’s your favorite book of all times you read and why?

Ahmed:

  1. Mindfulness
    It allowed me to differentiate between the perceived and objective reality, dealing more with my emotions & thoughts in proper way. 
  2. The hard thing about hard things
    It allowed me to stick to my values: People, Product, Profits – in that order.

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