Protopasta is manufactured by Protoplant, a small professional engineering firm in Vancouver, Washington, USA founded by Dustin Cram. PROTO-PASTA: POWERED BY PROTOPLANT EXTRUSION TECHNOLOGY
Dustin Cram and 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 affordab
le FFF/FDM Style 3D Printers such as Lulzbot, Makerbot, Printrbot, Robo3D, SeeMeCnc, Type A Machines, Ultimaker, etc. Since Kickstarting Additive Manufacturing's First Carbon Fiber Composite Reinforced PLA, the Proto-pasta brand has evolved into an expanded pallet of materials including Steel, Iron, and Conductive PLAs (with more to come). Proto-pasta is powdered by ProtoPlant's self-made industrial extrusion technology. Its what makes making Proto-pasta pastable (that's fun to say)! Creating our 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 us more control over what we can both process and the quality of the end result. Its a huge freedom and scalable foundation (investors?). We actually setup a production line at our local 2014 PDX (Portland) OMSI Mini Maker Faire. Here is an informative blog by John Biehler who captured the Maker Faire experience, explaining well "How 3D Printing Filament is Made" on a previous Raspberry Pi powered version of our technology. PROTO-PASTA: 3D PRINTER FILAMENT FOR MAKERS, BY MAKERS
The Proto-pasta brand was born from a unique intersection of passion for making, access to technology, and growing online communities. With a mission to make 3D Printing more interesting and useful, through improved access to unique materials, we continue to innovate and extend our reach through partnering with new communities such as 3D Hubs. Born on Kickstarter, we owe our success to the many communities of makers and 3D Printing enthusiast from around the world who believe in what we we are doing. Little known fact, all of our test prints for our first crowdfunding were made on a 1970s end mill retrofitted with numerical control and an E3D hot end. We mixed materials on a hot plate and did small test extrusions using our lathe. Yup, we've added some printers and purpose-built machinery since then, but doesn't get much more maker than that!!! To our first customers and those who continue to support us, thank you! MORE ABOUT OUR 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, serving on the executive board for the Portland chapter of SME and acting as area mayor for 3D Hubs. Alex enjoys cultivating, preparing, and preserving food and spending time with his wife, two daughters, and two dogs. Aaron Cram - Cofounder & Software Engineer
As Dustin's older brother, Aaron has been an integral part of Proto-pasta 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.
