In 2019, Additive Manufacturing Media (AM) launched The Cool Parts Show, the video series dedicated to end-use parts made through 3D printing.
To celebrate the show’s fifth anniversary, AM will host a special livestream episode on Thursday, December 12, 2024 at 8:00 p.m. (EST). Join us!
Co-hosts Peter Zelinski and Stephanie Hendrixson will share updates about parts featured on the show, answer audience questions and give away Cool Parts merchandise.
Thursday, December 12 at 8:00 p.m. (EST)
Stephanie: Unless you’ve got your hands in it already, I think it can be very difficult to imagine the possibilities that additive manufacturing brings. And AM users were even more secretive back in 2019 when we started the show, so getting into this technology and starting to use it required a huge leap of faith and stretch of the imagination.
Obviously not every part is going to land perfectly with every viewer—maybe they’re working with different materials or in a completely different industry—but I think there is something to be learned from every part we feature regardless of your current use of AM. Even as the industry has opened up a bit more and there are more success stories to share, I continue to believe this show is important as a platform for showing what AM can do, and inspiring and informing the people who watch it.
Pete: We wanted to raise a flag to every manufacturing organization thinking about additive manufacturing. The potential applications for AM cover a vast spectrum but the lessons of applying it and seeing it through to success are the same – or many of the lessons are the same – from industry to industry and from use case to use case. We wanted to be able to show everyone imagining they might be able to benefit from additive: Here are the successes! Showing the 3D printed parts and talking to the people responsible for those parts was the straightforward and compelling way to do that.
Stephanie: A few things about the show have never changed—Pete and I always host, we always hear from the experts involved in the story, and the part is always present and the primary focus. But over time we’ve tweaked the format (often at the prompting of Austin, our videographer) to be more concise, a bit punchier and more balanced. I can’t say we’ve gotten succinct exactly, because at the same time we’ve also found ourselves pursuing more complex and nuanced stories that sometimes take more time to tell. Early episodes are more one-sided with one host advocating to the other, and we discovered that we just didn’t need that device getting in the way of the conversation. Over 77+ episodes I think the show has evolved to have a very clear sense of self—all of us who work on it have a shared vision for what makes something a Cool Part and how to execute that story.
Pete: Our intentions for the show were so humble at first. We did a batch of five brief episodes and called this a “season,” after a while we followed up with another five-episode season, and all that time we filmed in the studio and stuck with parts we could have there with us. Now, we are producing episodes on a continual basis, episodes are often 20 minutes or more in length with everything we are able to include, and we go on-site with many AM parts (like in our episodes at NASA space centers) that are too big or too critical to leave their location.
Stephanie: My favorite thing about the show is getting to highlight the people who have worked so hard to design and manufacture the Cool Part we’re showing. I’ll admit have a particular soft spot for inventors and entrepreneurs—I love it when we can showcase a product from a startup company that might only exist because of how 3D printing brings manufacturing within reach.
Pete: People recognize the show and feel real fondness for it. When they recognize me in public, often they are apologetic for bothering me to say they are viewers or fans, but there is no bother and no way is any apology needed. I feel so blessed for the experience of carrying this show forward and having it land so well. I love being part of a team that created something that so many people enjoy and look for.
Stephanie: Whenever we publish a new episode, there’s a delay in communication. There’s this complete video that we’ve put out into the world, and we don’t know how viewers will react until the comments start to come in. With the livestream, I’m looking forward to hearing from those viewers in real time. I can’t promise we’ll answer all their part-related questions (we’re not the experts, of course) but I’m excited for the chance to have a more direct conversation and learn about the people behind the usernames who are tuning in.
Pete: I have not done it yet, but to prepare for the livestream, I am going to look back across episodes we have done. The show still seems so new to me; I cannot believe it has been five years. I cannot believe we just posted episode #77. I am not sure “excited” is the right word, but I am getting into the right mindset: I want to take stock of the journey so far and what it might mean.
