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V O L . X X I I I N O. I V F E B R UA R Y 2 0 , 2 0 1 7 20 T E C H N O L O G Y F O C U S W hen your favorite sneakers finally fall apart, you can see the various layers of foam, rubber and other materials that make up the sole. As it turns out, what looks like a solid slab of rubber from the outside is quite intricate inside, making it the most expensive and time-consuming part of the sneaker to produce. And the process of making soles hasn't changed in almost 50 years. at spelled opportunity to Bangor startup L&K Manufacturing, doing business as Cobbler Technologies. e company found that sport shoe mak- ers around the globe are looking for ways to make the sole cheaper, faster and with the news materials their initial elite clients expect for better comfort and performance. One top tech choice for shoemakers is 3-D printing, which lets them experi- ment more easily with prototypes and get to production more quickly. Cobbler President and CEO Andrew Katon thinks he has found a better mousetrap to make 3-D printing even faster and more flexible, and in the process, modernize New England's tradition in shoemaking. "Shoe companies want to use materials they already use," says Katon. "What doesn't exist in the 3-D print- ing market now is a printer in which you can swap out materials [easily]." Cobbler's technology can print several materials without an operator having to stop the printer, change the material and the print head to handle it. Change-outs translate into down- time on the factory floor. e Cobbler Atomized Particle Deposition 3-D printer will enable construction of multi-material products and mix the materials as they're added. e company's development- stage atomized particle deposition, or 3DADP printer nozzle technology, lets the printer deposit customized layers of materials in three dimensions. ose materials start out as tiny beads about half the size of a pea, and are fed into the printer, where they are atomized so they blend together to create a multi- layered sole. "Our focus is on simplicity and automation," says Katon. In the adjoin- ing room, parts for his new printer are being built by a small 3-D printer made from a kit by Tim Abraham, the company's robotics engineer. e two men met as students at the University of Maine, Orono, in 2015. Abraham says he was walking to robot club when he saw Katon working on his 3-D printer in a room, and became intrigued. Both are mechanical engineers. "We can talk and disagree on things," says Abraham, adding that the give- and-take is good because together they can come up with better ideas. When Cobbler's printer is com- pleted, it will measure about four feet both wide and deep and be three feet high, weigh 400 pounds and sell for $100,000 to $400,000, depending on the machine's efficiencies and the cost of the components it produces. Katon says he is talking to partners to test and use the printer and hopes to have someone lined up in the next few months. He says every major shoe company is exploring faster, better and cheaper ways to make shoes. e stakes are high. Transparency Market Research of Albany, N.Y., has pegged the overall value of the global footwear market at $209 billion in 2014, rising to $258 billion by the end of 2023. Ultimately, Katon says, he'd like to be able to print an entire shoe. He also wants to target other markets Andrew Katon, CEO and president of L&K (dba Cobbler Technologies) of Bangor, stands before a hobby 3D printer that is making parts for his prototype commercial 3D printer in the background (metal frame). P H O T O / L O R I VA L I G R A Bangor's 'sole man' New 3-D printer can change materials on the fly, make sneaker parts faster B y L o r i V a l i g r a L&K Manufacturing Inc. (dba Cobbler Technologies) 40 Johnson St., Bangor Products: Multi-material, 3-D printers for the footwear industry Founded: June 2014 CEO/President: Andrew Katon Employees: 2 full-time, 3 part-time Funding: $350,000 raised via angel investors, with a $65,000 CEI/FAME loan Contact: cobblertechnologies.com akaton@cobblertechnologies.com 286-5306

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