Dr. Khalid Rafi has over 14 years of experience in teaching and research and is one of the few established metallurgist in additive manufacturing. His research has focused on process optimization, materials characterization and developing structure-property correlations for metallic parts produced using additive manufacturing techniques including selective laser melting (SLM), electron beam melting (EBM) and ultrasonic consolidation (UC). He has published 23 research papers and is acting as reviewer for various reputed international journals.  He completed both his Masters and PhD in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and received his bachelors from Kerala University in Mechanical Engineering. Dr. Khalid Rafi will be a speaker at the #3DHEALS2018 conference on April 20-21st, 2018. 
Jenny: When was the first encounter you had with 3D printing? What was that experience like? What were you thinking at that moment?
Khalid: 3D Printing caught my attention in 2010 while I was doing a literature search on potential advanced manufacturing technologies that would be interesting to consider for future research.
My first hands-on experience with 3D Printing was in 2011 at the Rapid Prototyping Center in University of Louisville where I joined as a Research Fellow. The first 3D Printer I worked was ARCAM S400, a Metal based 3D printer using electron beam energy to process metal powders. Electron Beam Process is now an accepted 3D printing technology for manufacturing metallic implants.
Though setting up the process was bit complex and handling the metal powder was bit messy, it was really exciting to take my first build out of the machine.
Jenny: What inspired you to start your journey/company/career/research in 3D printing (bio-fabrication/bio-printing)?
Khalid: Being a Mechanical Engineer with research background in materials and metallurgy, I realized the huge potential that 3D printing can offer on the materials and the process space. I was really curious about how the materials behave when it is processed at different conditions and what would be the impact on its final properties.
Jenny: Who inspired you the most along this journey in 3D printing (bio-printing/bio-fabrication)? This can be a mentor, a patient, a celebrity, anyone basically. You can name more than one as well.
Khalid: The 3D printing research team at University of Louisville led by Dr. Thomas L. Starr (professor at University of Louisville) and Dr. Brent E. Stucker (previously a professor at University of Louisville) was a real inspiration for me to stay focused on 3D printing research and to expand the research beyond academics. We did a few projects with direct industry relevance using the research grants from NSF and NIST.
Jenny: What motivates you the most for your work?
Khalid: At UL, ensuring quality and safety of products is our priority to accomplish our mission of working for a safer world. One of the motivating factor is the great opportunity lying ahead to work on developing procedures and methods to ensure quality and safety of parts produced by 3D printing. We need robust procedures which can ensure consistency and reliability of 3D printing process.
Also, it is really exciting to get involved with standards development activities, interact with the technologists who have great expertise in this field to understand the best practices, and to keep up to date with all the latest developments in 3D printing technology.
Jenny: What is/are the biggest obstacle(s) in your line of work? If you have conquered them, what were your solutions?
Khalid: Based on my current focus in validation/certification of 3D Printing materials and process at UL, limited 3D printing standards and unavailability of historical data are the two major obstacles. The 3D printing community is aware of this and rigorous activities are currently underway to develop standards and to make as much data available to the public domain.
Jenny: 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)?
Khalid: The key challenges are on new materials development, process scalability, and of course, the cost. Fundamental research and application-based research should go hand-in-hand to address these challenges.
Jenny: What advice would you give to a smart driven college student in the “real world”? What bad advices you heard should they ignore?
Khalid: Get the right knowledge to critically analyze and differentiate hype and reality. Accept the fact that every technology has its pros and cons. Your challenge is to address the cons and come out with workable solutions.
Jenny: If you could have a giant billboard to promote a message to millions and even billions of people in our community (i.e. healthcare 3D printing and bio-fabrication), what message would that be?
Khalid: 3D printing is certainly a powerful tool that can greatly impact healthcare. To get the most out of it, take a holistic approach to the technology. Analyze and understand how you can leverage the technology for your specific needs. Go for adoption after having a thorough understanding of the technology.
Jenny: What were/was the best investment you made in 3D printing/bio-printing/bio-fabrication?
Khalid: We have made investments in collaborations with research institutes and in developing training curriculum for workforce development.
Jenny: What was/is the biggest risk you took in your career?
Khalid: My original career ambition was to become an academician. However, 3D printing influenced me to think in a different direction to move to the industry at a time when the path ahead was not that clear.
Jenny: What do you enjoy in your spare time? What are you passionate about outside of your work/3d printing?
Khalid: Other than being with family, I spend a good amount of my spare time reading articles shared by my contacts in professional networks.
Jenny: What is your favorite quote? Why?
Khalid: “Once you stop learning, you start dying” – Albert Einstein.
Continuous learning is a must to stay relevant in this world that moves faster in technological advancements.
Jenny: What does the word “3DHEALS” mean to you? =)
Khalid: A healing touch with 3D Printing technology.

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Dr. Underwood is a Manager in the Biomedical Engineering Practice at Exponent’s Philadelphia Office. He is a Chartered Engineer and Member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.He specializes in the tribological performance of mechanical systems and is an experienced metrologist. 

Dr. Underwood is a Visiting Research Professor at the Implant Retrieval Center, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Health Systems at Drexel University. His research interests include the tribological performance of orthopedic devices and the effect of design, manufacturing, lubrication mechanisms, wear mechanisms, and surgical/patient factors on the in-vivo performance of orthopedic devices.Dr. Underwood is an active member of the ASTM, gives regular guest lectures, is a reviewer for several orthopedic and tribology journals, and has chaired sessions at international conferences. One of Dr. Underwood’s current interests is the application of additive manufacturing to medical devices.

Q: What is your vision on the intersection of 3D Printing and healthcare?

A: 3D Printing has the potential to disrupt the medical device landscape as we know it by allowing the mass customization of medical devices, taking manufacturing away from traditional factories and into the clinical environment.

In the future, traditional medical device companies will design customizable implants, where the key dimensions and parameters of the device can be modified locally by physicians within an overall design envelope. The medical device company will have developed and tested the device within the design envelope and will provide the necessary software and hardware to allow physicians to go directly from patient imaging to the final manufactured device.

Q: What inspired you to do what you do?

A: I have always wanted to know how things have worked since I was a child, and coming from a family of engineers it was natural that this curiosity would lead to me becoming a mechanical engineer. My time at the University, both as a student and researcher, has provided me with a skill set and passion to apply engineering principles to solve real life problems.

Q: What do you specialize in? What is your passion?

A: By training I am a mechanical engineer, and I am currently working in the biomedical engineering practice at Exponent, a scientific and engineering consulting company. Often working in multidisciplinary teams, I apply my engineering and scientific training and experience to solving the complex problems of our clients. I get a real buzz from helping our clients to achieve their goals.

Q: What is the biggest potential impact you see 3D printing having on the healthcare industry?

A: The adoption of additive manufacturing technologies in the health care industries depends a lot on the regulatory framework implemented by the FDA. The end goal — mass customization — will depend on companies developing a design and manufacturing processes that allow individual patient data to be used in the design and manufacturing of devices. If the standardization bodies such as the ASTM and ISO are able to develop the necessary standards to allow the safe application of this technology, and the FDA develops the framework to allow local manufacturing, the current manufacturing paradigm maybe turned upside down.

Q: What challenges do you see arising in implementing 3D printing in healthcare sector in the next 5 years?

A: Additive manufacture holds the promise of mass customization of medical devices, the possibility of doctors designing bespoke devices based on individual patient anatomy and then creating the device using a 3D printer in their office. However, in order to achieve this potential, it will be necessary to develop a whole new design and manufacturing eco system, within a framework of regulation from the FDA, covering the imaging, design, software, manufacturing, sterilization, and quality systems.

The challenge for engineers and clinicians will be to develop the tools and software to allow doctors to seamlessly customize standardized designs with an overall design envelope, based on patient imaging, perform the necessary design validation and verification, and then print the parts using the 3D printer in their office, which is also validated and verified. Finally, the finished part must be verified to ensure that the dimensions and material properties meet the design specifications. All of these processes must comply with the regulatory requirements and be documented.

Q: What is the best business lesson you have learned?

A: It is cliché, but to succeed you need to invest time and work hard.

Q: What is the biggest business risk you have taken?

A: After I finished my postdoctoral research at Imperial College London, I left the UK and moved to the US to start a job with Exponent. America is still the land of endless opportunities!

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