James Novak, the winner of the Trophy Design competition at 3D Printing Industry Awards, gave a detailed interview for the organizer’s website. We have collected and summed up the most interesting points about his experience in 3D printing and as a designer in general.
First, have a look at his winning trophy — as the competition required, the model is printed in two materials using two different technologies (SLA and MJF) and feature lattice structures. As a prize, James received a dual-extrusion version of the high-end Craftbot Flow XL 3D printer.
Novak’s career in 3D printing spans over a decade. In these years, he has been involved in a variety of aspects of the AM industry, carrying out plenty of projects and conducting a great deal of research — as both an educator and academic.
After finishing the university of architecture and trying to work in this field, James quickly found out that he was not up for long processes inherent in that profession, so he decided to go back to the university and study Industrial Design. That’s when he made his first 3D printed prototype. Soon enough, Novak realized the absolute virtues of additive manufacturing and made up his mind to focus on 3D printing and design.
Prior to winning at 3D Printing Industry Awards, Novak was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the School of Engineering at Deakin University, as well as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the School of Design at the University of Technology Sydney. There, he had the opportunities to research 3D printing in education, 3D printed furniture, the use of additive manufacturing during the pandemic, etc. Now James is the Senior Research Fellow in the Herston Biofabrication Institute. His program combines neurosurgery and maxillofacial 3D printing applications.
One of the most interesting projects from Novak’s career was the world’s first full-sized bicycle frame, which he designed and 3D printed in 2014. Even today, it still gets requests from media and exhibitions.
Novak is planning to continue his work on medical devices and models. Now he is particularly excited about 3D printing artificial eyes, having also some secret project that we are supposed to learn about in the near future. Besides, James is going to 3D print all lights for his new house, like he did in his last one. He wonders how larger designs will look like using the XL build volume of his new Craftbot.
