Joshua Adams, ISU Senior, Industrial Engineering (USA)

Life is what you make of it, sometimes you get a thought in your mind beyond all reason and just have to do it. I got one of those “missions” that lead me to 3 months of adventure (Japan, Australia, Malaysia) between 2nd and 3rd year University and another almost a decade later that lead me to 6 years of adventure (Korea, China, Japan, Philippines and Australia), Josh got one of those as well, his deadline was 10 days for a trip throughout Asia!

I was a different person when I returned, and it’s something I believe everybody NEEDS to do – get way out of their comfort zone and travel alone where you don’t speak the language, don’t know where you are going nor what destiny has in store for you!

Josh did a similar trip and it forever altered his life, he diversified into entrepreneurship running an import business that lead to industrial design and now he’s working on bone implants of all things! You can find him at http://www.linkedin.com/in/adams8

You have almost two decades of woodworking experience, what did you enjoy most about working with your father in this capacity and what kind of tools were your favorite? Any projects that really challenged you that you can share or that you are most proud of having accomplished?

Favorite tools: A clear mind, strong hands, sharp 9/16″ gouge for carving. As far as tools go I prefer hand tools for creative expression and power-tools for production. More than anything it’s nice to have the right tool for a job more than any particular one. Mental Clarity and a Healthy body are tools that benefit every job.

When I was 16 I imagined something that I wanted to carve. I had worked in the shop for some time, but had never attempted a carving. With some trepidation I set about borrowing a set of chisels from my dad and discovering if what was in my mind was somewhere within the piece of basswood that I found…amazingly it was, and I found it! It was a three fingered claw holding an eyeball, not my most mature piece, but it gave me the confidence that I could express myself in this medium.

When I was a kid, my parents purchased a small acreage about 10 miles North of our small Iowa town. Over my upbringing we built a cabin there and when my parents retired, we built on an addition and large garage/shop and moved out there. Growing up with that project where my parents had a dream, took a risk, and are now living in it definitely has influenced my view of my own ability to live my dreams.

My greatest joy working with my dad was when we would get into a harmonized flow of work. The bread and butter of his business was custom kitchens. We would usually start the day by meeting at the tablesaw to double check our drawings, plan the workflow, and set a goals for the time that we had. As soon as we broke from that meeting it was on. We would work together or separately milling and cutting the materials, gluing up cabinets or counter tops, sanding, finishing, loading and delivering.

We have a special energy and (fast) pace when I work with my dad. We are both right on point, because we know just what needs to be done and a simple, “Hey,” or glance of the eyes is all the communication we usually need if one of us is missing something. Mostly if we are talking, it’s usually about an idea or processing something that is bothering us–a good kind of man time.

How did opening your own import business come about with Himalayan Dreams? Was this your first attempt at importing or did you dabble a bit in it beforehand? Why did you eventually close the operation before jumping into engineering?

When I was 18 I had graduated high school and had started a business degree in college where my father taught fine-furniture making as a certificate program. I was not happy there, because there was a part of me that desperately needed an adventure, and had for years of being relatively unchallenged and unexpressed in high school. After three weeks of college it hit me that I needed to get on a plane to Asia within 10 days or I would probably finish the degree, and that just wasn’t right for me at that time of life. I was on that plane within 10 days, and spent 6 months traveling through SE Asia, India and Nepal spending all the money I had saved working with my dad through high school.

I flew into Phnom Pen, Cambodia, and the first day that I visited their central market I realized that there was an opportunity to take advantage of the price difference between products in Asia and America. For the rest of the trip I was looking for a great contact with a great product. I looked everywhere I went, by speaking with shopkeepers, craftsmen and wholesalers, in the end I found the perfect combo in India. A charismatic and trustworthy man named Rafiq with many connections won my friendship and then my business.

Upon reaching home I picked up a couple business partners and we started selling Rafiq’s goods at market nights, gift shows and eventually started wholesaling to different stores in the area. We had some great successes and made lots of mistakes too. We learned a lot! As my partner started to move towards a web development business that he was putting more and more of his time into, and I was starting school for engineering we gave our wholesale manager the rest of our responsibilities. It was a side job for her, but she was great to work with and maintained the business for us for several years. When she had an opportunity that beckoned her over seas, my partner and I decided that we had a great run but sadly it was time to let Himalyan Dreams go.

A big lesson I learned from that business is that it is absolutely important to build a business that doesn’t need you, that is systematized and can be sold. We did well on many things, but in the end the business wasn’t salable and since we had all moved on we let her go.

You’ve had an incredibly diversified life thus far, from woodworking and payroll manager to entrepreneur and being a manufacturing research assistant. I have an equally diversified background, it’s fun to mix things up but what out of all that brought you into the highly specialized field of bone implant manufacturing?

A couple years ago I became fascinated with 3D Printing (and still am). I had just switched majors from Aerospace Engineering to Industrial Engineering–arguably switching from the most difficult to easiest engineering disciplines, ha ha. That summer I decided to build a 3D printer, which I did, and when I got back to school I asked my favorite professor in my new department, Dr. Frank, if there were any research positions. It turned out there were. I spent about 6 months printing samples on my printer for a research study on the weld strength of 3D printed samples extruded at different speeds, temperatures, and materials. As that project was winding up one of the TA’s in a manufacturing process class asked me if I would like to work in one of the labs as a 3D printing and CNC tech. I said, “OF COURSE!”

It turned out it was Dr. Frank’s lab and I’ve been working there ever since.

How did you enjoy your time at the Maharashi University of Management and how different was it compared to Iowa State University’s Industrial Design program?

Maharishi University of Management (MUM) was great. It was laid back, students were friendly and spiritually inclined. The emphasis at MUM is growing yourself in every way, and enjoying a high quality of life. I think that’s great, and I would have stayed if they had an engineering program.

I switched over to Iowa State University (ISU) initially because they were a great engineering school and had and Aerospace Engineering program (which is what I wanted to go into, and did go into). My first 2 years of ISU were in the Aero E department, and I really loved it. I enjoyed programming, because it was challenging and powerful and I enjoyed learning about the engineering fundamentals of flight. The Industrial Engineering department had a very different feel too, with a greater emphasis on interpersonal skills and wide-angle system development and refinement.

In my experience, MUM had the emphasis on living a creative, happy, low stress life. Whereas the Iowa State Engineering Departments have their emphasis on teaching it’s students how to be logical, well rounded problem solvers.

Can you share the experience you had building your very own 3D printer? What did you learn from the experience and are you planning on launching a Kickstarter campaign like many other 3D printing manufacturers? Can you share some stats like platform size, resolution etc?

I obsessively researched 3D printers and ended up deciding to build a Mendel90 with plans available on reprap.org. Everything made sense mechanically and I had no problem putting it together mostly using a few good pictures, the materials list and some emails with the Mendel90 designer, Nophead.

Getting the software to work was a trick, but around 2 am the night before I had to go back to school I got it all running. It was fun using it for the research project, bringing it a few times to the Ames Makerspace, and doing projects with friends and one on MakeXYZ.com. Last Thanksgiving I donated it to my old high school, specifically the Destination Imagination program which I participated in for 6 years. I figured I’ve got bigger and better ones in the lab to use and it would be fun for middle school and high school students to have a printer to play with.

I’m not planning a Kickstarter for a 3D printer, however, I have an idea with a friend about launching a product that would be a base model that we would produce and it would be specialized to the user with 3D printed parts. We made several prototypes, perhaps you’ll see it next holiday season?!

In the realm of Rapid manufacturing, I took a graduate class on the topic and my team won some funding to investigate the possibilities producing RP parts generated by projecting a point cloud of intense light points in a curable resin.

You’ve traveled extensively, how did this help create your world view and how does this help you be a better designer? I know for me, I spent 6 years traveling abroad and technically, I’m still abroad outside of my native country (Canada) and love the freedom of mind that happens when you see the real world outside of your neighborhood.

Congratulations on your traveling! I’m sure in 6 years you have experienced a lot!
Traveling has given me the opportunity to try on many different lifestyles and views on people, money, nature, relationships, and who I am and what I am really here for.

What are some unique challenges you have to contend with using and working with models using bone over other materials? Why is it better than 3D printing or CNC’ing surgical grade stainless steel or titanium?

So far we’ve been machining several types of fake bone with similar mechanical properties as real bone (it is illegal to machine real bone in Iowa without jumping through all sorts of hoops. Also I’ve heard it is very stinky). Many materials are used in medical procedures with bones, however for our application using an implant made from real human bone is the best because of the bodies ability to accept and integrate it.

Anything else you’d like to add?

I’ve got to run now, but it was fun to reflect on your questions! I wish you outrageous success! It is amazing how accessible people are! I’ve been able to email and speak with some world experts in their chosen fields just by finding their email and expressing sincere interest in them. Go for the best when making connections and friends! And go for the best when pursuing your dreams. One of my best habits has been to stay in touch with my feelings, and keep my goals and actions true to the biggest dreams in my life.