Meet Ian Comishin | Founder and President

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ian Comishin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ian, what is the most important factor behind your success?
When you design and build custom machinery such as concrete 3d printers it is easy to get caught up in what you like to make… but you cant. We have been one of the most successful brands in this space because we put a lot of time into understanding the user experience and how our clients are able to best make use of our machines. We hire from as many diverse backgrounds as possible to speak as many languages we can so feedback from the operators trying to use TAM printers makes it all the way back to the engineering team. We often send technicians into the field and far abroad so they can have hands on experience running the equipment in the unique situations only our clients can imagine. Its east to build a printer and throw it in a container and be done with it, that is not a way to insure your clients can generate profit; they have made a major investment when they entrusted us by choosing one of our machines. Listening to them and acting on their ideas is why our product development is arguable faster than anyone else operating in this space right now.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Twente Additive Manufacturing is a young company that was founded in Enschede Netherlands in 2018 by a group of friends with a background in industrial automation. We believed that the 3D printing industry that was catering to home construction or other architectural projects was still in its infancy and that it could benefit from our vast experience in large machinery design and construction. Our first 3D printers we made as prototypes were already state-of-the-art and were outperforming other the brands, some who had been in development for over a decade longer than us. We knew to manage the growth of this new technology we would have to set out immediately with a global footprint as this will be a paradigm shift in the world of construction. We have set up subdivisions and sales teams in North America, Europe, the Middle East and South East Asia already. The key success factor and arguably still a hurdle to us is understanding how architecture and construction have vastly different but highly regulated standards around the world. What makes a great 3D printed home in Japan may not even be allowed in California. We have a client in Colorado who has set out to rekindle the indigenous architectural styles that predate colonialism but do so with the most advanced robotics we can build them. Recognizing that our equipment needs to be able to adapt to a huge variety of build conditions and function commercially in vastly different behaving markets demands TAM to be constantly self educating. We do this by sitting on the shoulders of those great construction firms who for generations have been putting people into homes. Everyone knows robotics is without a doubt the direction all dangerous and monotonous work is going, having the wisdom of our clients participate in how we program those robots is rewarding and thankfully making it easy to achieve our goals.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I guess this depends what city, currently I am in Nelson Canada, some know it as the most beautiful small-town in the world. In one week we would go ski touring on a glacier, wakeboarding on the lake, caving and mine exploration underground, cliff jumping into water falls and watching bald eagles fight ospreys for land-locked Kokanee Salmon. On the second day we would probably rest on the sandy while beaches and decide which of the many amazing restaurants we would try out as Nelson has the highest per-capita umber of unique restaurants in all of Canada. This place can be a little much for most, but there are hundreds of km of mountain biking and hiking trails right out the back door of Canada’s first 3D printed house which is right here. The Fibonacci house is available to guests with all proceeds going to World Housing and their never ending initiative to give people safe and healthy living space.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
First shoutout goes to Douglas Adams for penning the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, ambition and futility overlap a lot more than most people realize, it is nice to stay grounded even if that ground is whirling away from where we don’t know at 1.3 million mph. In all seriousness though, the one organization that I have seen stay as a constant my whole life is the Rotary Club; their core belief which has adapted to change through multiple generations and who have maintained the focus of community engagement for a better and connected world for all. They make you ask… “is it fair to all involved?”
Everyone, no matter how busy their life is or their financial or social status, should join in on some form of philanthropic work. Somewhere they can completely let go of their own challenges and just enjoy offering a hand to someone or something else. Charities all over really succeed with volunteers and Rotary is one of many places that I have found it super rewarding to get my own grounding.

Website: https://www.twente-am.com/

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Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/twente-additive-manufacturing

Twitter: @twente_am

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TwenteAdditiveManufacturing

Youtube: @twente-am

Image Credits
All images courtesy Twente Additive Manufacturing