Metafold: How It Started
When I started MESH in 2012, I wanted to use my skills as a mathematician and developer to help solve geometrically challenging projects in industry settings. As my team of consultants grew, I welcomed the expertise of new colleagues in the areas of architecture, engineering, construction, and design. This newest adventure, Metafold, has emerged from the expertise of the MESH team, and in particular our specialty service of the design and 3D printing of Microstructures.
The past year has been a game-changer for the world over, and MESH was no exception. With COVID-19 restrictions limiting practically every industry sector and facet of life, our traditional work came to a near standstill. One unseen benefit, though, was that it gave us the opportunity to explore how we might apply our team’s comprehensive knowledge to the geometric challenges that our industry partners regularly faced.
So what is Metafold, you might ask? It’s a solution to a problem we saw repeatedly in our consulting work: how can we employ geometrically complex lattices in industry settings? How are they designed, tested, scaled? Every aspect of this process was a challenge, but it was a challenge that we were equipped to meet… one that required mathematical expertise, and wide-ranging knowledge in a variety of disciplines — engineering, mathematics, graphics, even life sciences! Essentially, we are translating this broad scope into practice, by designing and building specialized 3D printing technologies that will answer the need for complex geometric lattices in practical industry applications.
It has been a team effort: Elissa Ross heads the research component, with her comprehensive understanding of lattice geometry in a wide range of application areas, and Tom Reslinski brings his acuity for parametric design and digital fabrication, as well as many years’ experience in building 3D printers. Coupled with my knowledge of graphics and computational geometry, we’ve got quite the team. Of course, we are well supported by other MESH team members: Nicholas Hoban, Digital Fabrication Coordinator at U of T Daniels, brings his expertise in digital fabrication, robotics and computational workflows, and David Reeves is an architect by training, having honed his skills as a computational designer at Zaha Hadid Architects, and has developed 3D modelling applications in multiple industries.
Getting this project off the ground during a global pandemic was challenging, rewarding, and sometimes quite comical. Where we otherwise might have started by collaborating on just one prototype, we began with three so that Elissa, Tom, and I could all participate in early modelling and testing while also respecting public health guidelines. As our modelling progressed, we were able to make use of space at the MESH office in downtown Toronto– vacant because of provincial work-at-home orders — to continue our prototype development (as it turns out, industrial 3D printers in a residential space amidst a house-bound pandemic, even if properly vented, aren’t the most desirable addition to the average basement.) And since I was developing the software for the printers in Tom’s physical workspace, sometimes he would know I was working because the motors would suddenly come to life!
Through it all, we’ve come up with something truly innovative. Our approach addresses some of the everyday issues with 3D printing — broken meshes being one — while also providing an elegant solution to problems that come up on the bleeding edge of advanced manufacturing, especially problems associated with scaling up production. Apart from the hardware, once we saw the prints themselves, we knew there was something to this project, and we’re very excited to share it with our colleagues, industry partners, and anyone else who might be interested in learning more about our new lattice 3D printing technology.
