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Welcome to Inside Seurat, where we introduce you to the awesome people on our team that help us achieve our mission of transforming manufacturing for our people and planet.
(Summer is pictured on left with a few members of the mechanical engineering team)
Aloha, Summer! Please share with us your role at Seurat
I am a mechanical engineer that works in engineering and product development. This means that I help optimize our beta printer and scale those improvements to future machine generations. Lately, I’ve been working on gas and soot management designs. This includes analyzing our process gas flow (lots of CFD), collaborating with various team members, especially the Process team in order to pinpoint how our gas flow is affecting soot dynamics and its removal from the printer. I also help develop new designs based on our lessons learned, testing them and seeing which ideas are feasible to roll into the product.
Your background is in telecommunications and now you’re working on building an industrial 3D metal printer from scratch. Tell us what that has been like e.g. what have you learned? What has been most challenging?
I joined Seurat during the start of the pandemic so not being able to interact with people initially was challenging--you end up matching voices to names vs faces to names after being in so many online meetings. But I’ve learned a ton in the short time that I’ve been at Seurat due to the awesome guidance and mentorship available here. For instance, I was an absolute novice in fluid dynamics and working on our soot management designs has been the most challenging, but also the most rewarding.
I think one of the biggest things I’ve learned here is to appreciate both the successes of your designs and most importantly the failures. In fact, the failures can often give you more insight into the behavior of whatever you’re working on, but it’s important to remember that careful iteration and documentation is key in driving those aha! moments.
And I’m lucky to have mentors who consistently remind me of that through example and guidance.
You started S.O.S (Sisters of Seurat) which is a grassroots, peer-driven support group for the females at Seurat. Share with us a little more about SOS and how it’s grown over the years.
S.O.S. was started over the summer of 2021 and we have doubled our size in 6 months. Our EVP of Engineering, Kourosh Kamshad encouraged the formation of the group and supported it every step of the way. The group was formed to empower, mentor, and celebrate each other. We hold workshops that have been helpful in providing professional and personal growth. Personally, these workshops have been very helpful in opening up my perspective to tricky situations and how to handle them effectively with empathy.
What excites you the most about Seurat’s future?
I am most excited for Seurat’s launch of its first commercial printer. Being able to contribute to an actual product that will be used to print industrial parts for customers is pretty awesome. This will also be the first industrial product that I have ever contributed to outside of R&D. I think the most exciting day will be when our printers are featured at a 3D printing expo such as Rapid + TCT.
What advice do you have for prospective Seurat candidates?
For engineer candidates, always bring a portfolio to the interview! The easiest way to communicate with you about your past experiences is through reviewing your portfolio!