Protopasta is manufactured by Protoplant, a small professional engineering firm in Vancouver, Washington, USA founded by Dustin Cram.
Dustin and his team have an endless passion for designing, building, and tinkering. What began as an exploration into creating extrusion machinery, resulted in the Kickstarting of 3 new materials for affordable FFF/FDM Style 3D Printers. Since Kickstarting Additive Manufacturing's First Carbon Fiber Composite Reinforced PLA, the Protopasta brand has evolved into an expanded pallet of materials including Steel, Iron, and Conductive PLAs (with more to come). Protopasta is powdered by Protoplant's self-made industrial extrusion technology. It's what makes making Protopasta pastable (that's fun to say)! Creating their own extruders is awesome for a couple reasons: First, bragging rights. Seriously, what other filament manufacturer can claim they make their own industrial-grade extruders? Moreover, this gives more control over what they can process and the quality of the end result. This provides immeasurable freedom and a scalable foundation.
The Protopasta brand was born from a unique intersection of passion for making, access to technology, and a growing online community. With a mission to make 3D printing more interesting and useful, through improved access to unique materials, they continue to innovate and extend their reach through partnering with new communities. Born on Kickstarter, they owe their success to the many communities of makers and 3D printing enthusiasts from around the world who believe in what they are doing. Little known fact, all of their test prints for the first crowdfunding were made on a 1970s end mill retrofitted with numerical control and an E3D hot end. They mixed materials on a hot plate and did small test extrusions using a lathe. They've added some printers and purpose-built machinery since then, but doesn't get much more "maker" than that!!!
MORE ABOUT THE TEAM:
Dustin Cram - Founder & Lead Engineer
The founder of Protoplant and a licensed Professional Engineer, Dustin Cram is the man behind our specialized filaments and designer/builder of our extruder. He is co-inventor on several patents, has hardware he designed and built for the Solar Dynamics Observatory currently flying in space, and is passionate about design and manufacturing. When not spooling filament, Dustin loves spending time with his family and exploring the beautiful Northwest.
Alex Dick - 3D Printing Innovator
Having worked in 3D printing for more than 10 years, Alex Dick brings industry-specific experience to the team. A mechanical engineer specializing in laser sintering technology, Alex has a deep technical understanding of additive techniques, though his true strength is in understanding opportunities and building relationships. Alex is actively involved in local engineering and maker communities, and also enjoys cultivating, preparing, and preserving food while spending time with his wife and two daughters.
Aaron Cram - Cofounder & Software Engineer
As Dustin's older brother, Aaron has been an integral part of Protopasta from day one. Armed with a degree in Computer Science, Aaron not only created all of our customized software and quality assurance devices (including Xtrudie, our extruder bot), he also provided troubleshooting and engineering work, as well as producing marketing material like our Kickstarter video. When he's not experimenting with code, Aaron enjoys pondering the mysteries of the universe under the endless Tucson sunshine.
