Loveland 3D printing startup prepares to release first product

LOVELAND — A new Loveland startup, built in the aftermath of former Loveland 3D printing company Aleph Objects Inc., soon will begin marketing its first 3D printer designed for the educational and small-business market.

The company, called SynDaver West, is a division of Tampa, Florida-based SynDaver Labs Inc. SynDaver Labs makes synthetic cadavers for use in medical research, medical schools and other applications. “We’re the 3D printing division of SynDaver Labs,” said Curt Ketner, vice president of the Loveland company that began operations in January and employs 10 people. It is located in 7,500 square feet of space at 3121 N. Garfield Ave. near the former Hobby Lobby store.

Ketner, who has been with the company since December, is in startup mode but has benefited from the experience of 3D printing professionals in the region. That experience has resulted in development of the company’s first printer, which is within days of release into the market.

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While SynDaver West will not be producing synthetic cadavers or the popular SynFrog — an artificial frog used in biology labs for dissection — it may in the future, Ketner said. 

“They [SynDaver Labs executives] see the benefit of using 3D printing in the labs, and they wanted to use talent here in Loveland to develop their own 3D printers,” he said.

The printers developed in Loveland can be used for medical purposes, including biological material printing, and may in the future but not right now.

“We’ll develop different printers in the future — biological printers, large-format printers, very possibly target [printing] of organs,” he said. “The 3D printer is a tool; researchers can use the tool to do what they need to do. We’re big into education with our printers. Kids can use them to innovate, design and manufacture.”

“Our goal as a company is to have a printer made in the USA. A very tiny portion of our production comes from China. We wanted to be able to brand our printer as a USA product,” he said.

The company has not had supply-chain issues, despite the COVID-19 disruption of manufacturing and transportation. “We make a ton of our own parts using 3D printers,” he said.

With the company’s first printer in production and with some orders lined up, the company also is responding to demands in the market for personal protection equipment for people dealing with novel coronavirus.

“Our connections in the industry shared their designs, and we modified them to produce an N-95 mask. It’s not FDA-approved, but it acts like the approved version,” he said. It’s been modified to include a replaceable filter, thus giving it longer life.

Ketner said the company’s priority is getting its printer into the marketplace, and then looking to the future, which he said would include development of other printer models. He expects to double the staff to 20 people within the next year.

“Our operations are different [from other 3D printer companies.] We’re incredibly streamlined and poised for significant growth. We know there’s an opportunity and a market,” he said.