I’m pleased to introduce this edition of Voices AMplified, which features two leaders who invest their time, energy, and creativity to expand the limits of what is possible through teamwork and additive manufacturing (AM).
In the first story, you’ll learn about Sarah “Bogi” Lateiner and the Girl Gang Garage, a business built “on a dream of creating opportunities for women to explore, learn, and share” their knowledge of a traditionally male-dominated industry. Lateiner, who once planned to be a lawyer focused on women’s rights, started working at a BMW dealership fresh out of college with a degree in prelaw. But the draw of entrepreneurship was strong, and she decided to open her own business doing auto repairs from the carport of her house. After a dozen years, she had dozens of employees, an eight-bay shop, and almost $1.5 million in sales per year, as well as a TV hosting gig with Motor Trend called “All Girls Garage.” With that experience, Lateiner opened Girl Gang Garage, where she teaches basic car care classes and hosts workshops on skills like welding and cutting. Her partnership with Phoenix Analysis and Design Technologies Inc. allowed Girl Gang Garage to design and print body parts for the Iron Maven, and things just keep getting more interesting.
The second feature shares the story of Darin Gray, who has two careers under his belt—and it seems he’s just getting started. After working as an engineer at Hughes Aircraft Co. in Southern California, his life took a turn when he accepted a job as a schoolteacher. Despite taking a large pay cut, being able to apply his expertise and desire to make a tangible impact in the community made the decision easy. With the Los Angeles Unified School District, Gray was an outreach consultant and administrator for the Alternative Education and Work Center for students who weren’t excelling in traditional learning environments. Now, as the director of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, Gray teaches students about STEM, computer science, and AM. It is through 3D printing that Gray sees students who have trouble articulating their ideas being able to “reassemble the pictures in their heads” and create something tangible.
For the past six years, I have had the pleasure of serving on SME’s AM Technical Community Leadership Committee. Although my term has come to a close, I will always look back fondly on my time helping SME in their relentless quest to push the industry forward. I had the privilege of working with a diverse group of outstanding leaders. Together, we have accomplished quite a bit, not least of which was working with SME to help create a platform and better avenues of highlighting interesting and worthwhile stories in our industry.
Sharing stories, including those of Bogi and Darin, inspire others to take a leap and join the AM community, to foster future leaders, and work on some amazing projects that directly impact people’s lives for the better.
