Hello World!
Starting this blog has been on the bucket list for a long time. We hope to show case cool work examples as well as introduce different prototyping methods.
People often ask why I started Ember. As an engineer who has designed many products, one of my biggest gripes is the lack of rapid prototyping options within Vancouver, BC, Canada. The typical lead times at shops here can range from anywhere between 2-4 weeks, which can absolutely kill iteration. Other rapid prototyping shops, such as Protolabs, are expensive, not local, and do not provide immediate engineering & design expertise.
I had the luxury of working with a great mentor, Robin Coope, at the Genome Sciences Center (GSC) for ~5 years. At the GSC, we had an in-house machine shop with milling machines, lathes, 3D printers, waterjet cutters and other metal working tools. Being exposed to that environment caused a fundamental shift in the way that I prototype and develop products. It showed how quickly you could iterate, and how much better the end product was because of that.
I started Ember because I wanted to proliferate that kind of mentality. We want to enable other engineers by getting them parts fast. We also want to provide many types of prototyping methods so there are more tools in your toolbox. Simply offering 3D printing is great, but there are often complimentary technologies that allow you to iterate faster than ever before. Even if our clients end up buying internal tools for themselves, which has happened, we are entirely thrilled to have caused that event.
The second reason for starting Ember is because engineers prefer to deal with other engineers. Traditional shops and other prototyping services do great work, however, the person on the other side isn’t an experienced engineer and can’t offer deep, insightful advice on developing, testing, and manufacturing your product. In some instances you don’t even know exactly who or where your part is coming from.
We’ve had such positive experiences with all of our clients and strongly believe we are making a difference because of the above. Stay tuned for more cool posts coming up, and feel free to leave a comment below.
