Jonathan Rowley ran London based AM bureau Digits2Widgets (D2W) for 8 years. What differentiated his approach was the opportunity for clients to communicate their ideas and ambitions.
Through the privilege of working with an array of brilliant designers and innovative organisations across all fields of creative endeavour, a great deal was learned. He gained a unique insight into designers’ expectations versus the reality of 3D printing / Additive Manufacturing and was able to help clients reconcile this gap through the application of informed design. He is now taking this experience in to Additive Manufacturing consultancy and education.
Within the realm of 3D printing / Additive Manufacturing, the distinction between realistic uses of the current technology and Science Fiction is often blurred. Jonathan‘s expertise is in encouraging the creative skills of all designers to grasp the current reality of the technology and then challenge it to do more through the application of design understanding.
The spectrum of 3D printing and Additive Manufacturing technologies is an incredibly broad one and very few people are truly expert in them all. Jonathan knows about Selective Laser Sintering (SLS).
With an in depth understanding, it is relatively straightforward to identify which projects will and will not be commercially achievable with SLS. What is really interesting and potentially extremely valuable, is being able to identify and investigate the designs that fall into the blurred zone between these two categories.
In these types of case, the application of informed design makes the technology look better. With a clear knowledge of the genuine boundaries and dynamic material properties of SLS, remarkable objects can be achieved. They go beyond simple shape making and can produce high quality, high value objects that perform.
Jonathan has collaborated on significant one off and production projects with major designers, artists and brands, including Ron Arad’s “Genius 100” 3D printed book for the Albert Einstein Archive at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
He has been involved in significant outreach to design education, Government, Museums and Design Institutions, always attempting to demystify this sometimes confusing technology and facilitating a working understanding of its breathtaking potential. Within the AM industry, Jonathan is recognised as an authority on SLS having been engaged in the UK AM Strategy and been part of national meetings, symposia and conferences. He is also a steering committee member for the UK Design for Additive Manufacturing Network.
Jonathan has also appeared on both radio and television, often discussing the questions surrounding 3D printed ”guns.” He has also contributed articles in the AM industry's leading trade magazine, TCT, and sits on their Editorial Advisory Group and is on the judging panel of their annual industry TCT Awards.
From 2011 to 2019, Jonathan Rowley ran Digits2Widgets (D2W) a London based industrial 3D printing design bureau specialising in EOS SLS. Here he developed broad expertise through working with a client base of professional designers, engineers, artists, jewellers and craftspeople, helping them to understand the technology and applying it to their established high quality and purposeful applications.
Jonathan is an Architect, qualifying from the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London in 2000. With this professional background, he understands how things are made and how they come together to make things worthwhile. He also understands creative ambition and how once constraints are known, these can be designed both with and around to create great things.
Jonathan Rowley on BBC Word News - 01/08/18
Copyright © 2020 Advanced SLS - All Rights Reserved.