Whether it’s for the portable generator that keeps the refrigerator cold and the light bulbs lit during a power outage, or the hybrid-electric engines that can lift delivery drones high into the sky, the world needs compact and reliable energy sources. Making them smaller, more powerful, and especially more affordable is the vision of Enrique Enriquez, president of KW Micro Power.
Over the past four years, Enriquez has worked tirelessly in pursuit of his company’s goal: a microturbine generator roughly the size of a microwave oven that can crank out more power than systems ten times as large. He ran into some major roadblocks while attempting to manufacture one of the device’s key components and considered scrapping its design and starting all over. But the SupportFree metal powder-bed 3D-printing technology from VELO3D turned out to be the ultimate solution that got him back in the running for a commercial launch by early next year.