Speedy Liquid Print (RLP) turned heads earlier this yr with a futuristic silicone purse made for trend home Coperni, printed utilizing the corporate’s 3D know-how. However for co-founder and CEO Schendy Kernizan, this high-profile collaboration was solely probably the most seen a part of an extended journey, one which began within the analysis labs of MIT and has grown into one of the quietly modern startups within the additive manufacturing (AM) world.
“There’s by no means a boring second,” Kernizan mirrored throughout my go to to RLP headquarters in Boston. “Constructing a enterprise is sort of a rollercoaster. However with the correct crew, you begin having fun with each milestone, even the small ones. The power is completely different from a lab, however simply as artistic. As a substitute of testing new concepts each week, you give attention to constructing one massive concept and bringing it to life.”
RLP’s Coperni baggage on show at RLP headquarters in Boston. Picture courtesy of 3DPrint.com
Certainly, A Playground for Concepts
The seeds for RLP had been planted at MIT’s Self-Meeting Lab, the place Kernizan labored alongside co-founders Bjorn Sparrman, Skylar Tibbits, and Jared Laucks. The lab was, as Kernizan places it, “a playground” the place educational exploration met design challenges from the true world. When Steelcase, a serious workplace furnishings firm, approached the lab with a query about the way forward for furnishings manufacturing, it sparked one thing surprising, he mentioned.
The crew realized that AM was battling three main obstacles: supplies weren’t robust or versatile sufficient, printing massive elements took too lengthy, and scalability was restricted by molds and helps. So that they started to experiment. One concept specifically concerned drawing straight within a gel, letting the gel droop the printed materials in house with out gravity or helps.
It labored.
“That early prototype laid the inspiration for what would develop into RLP’s signature course of, the Speedy Liquid Printing, and after sharing it publicly, the suggestions was instant and overwhelming. There was a lot pleasure,” Kernizan recalled. “We realized this was greater than a analysis challenge. We needed to begin an organization.”
3D printed elements at RLP’s headquarters in Boston. Picture courtesy of 3DPrint.com.
We Needed to Begin a Firm
Whereas Tibbits and Laucks remained at MIT to proceed lab work, Kernizan and Sparrman took the leap. They launched RLP in 2020 and rapidly discovered that turning lab tech right into a enterprise would require extra than simply their analysis.
“It’s a very completely different problem,” Kernizan mentioned. “You’re not simply desirous about the science anymore, you’re desirous about the crew, the supplies, the software program, and the enterprise mannequin. Each piece issues if you wish to flip a good suggestion into one thing actual.”
Somewhat than speeding to promote machines, the crew made a strategic transfer; they might act as a service bureau first. By printing elements for others, they might “stress-test the know-how, uncover what markets had been most promising, and refine the method earlier than ever placing a printer available on the market.”
This strategy gave them helpful perception. They discovered early traction in healthcare by printing custom-made prosthetic liners and orthotic elements from medical-grade silicone. In addition they explored functions in footwear, aerospace, automotive, and even house analysis. In a single MIT-linked challenge, they assisted a analysis crew in growing versatile silicone buildings designed to assist development experiments in house. The elements had been printed on quick discover and despatched into orbit for testing as a part of a broader NASA-affiliated collaboration.
“We needed to construct one thing actual,” mentioned Kernizan. “We didn’t wish to overpromise. A number of firms made massive claims early on, and it harm investor confidence within the business. We knew we had one thing highly effective, however we additionally knew we needed to show it first, by delivering, not simply speaking.”
RLP’s gravity free 3D printing at work. Picture courtesy of 3DPrint.com
Show It First
Immediately, RLP operates out of about 4,000 sq. ft in Charlestown, Massachusetts. The core crew of 11 full-timers has stayed small on function, says Kernizan, and is supported by interns and co-ops from close by colleges like Northeastern, MIT, and Wentworth.
With the correct crew in place, RLP was able to make its subsequent massive transfer. Earlier this yr, it debuted its first industrial printer, Levity™, on the RAPID + TCT present. Designed for quiet, clear, and gravity free printing of silicone elements, Levity™ marks a brand new section for RLP, bringing its once-secretive course of to market.
“Levity™ is our flagship industrial machine that we’ll be beginning to ship in 2026,” Kernizan confirmed. “We now have a waitlist open and a few early curiosity already. The truth is, we’re in conversations with people and corporations excited by buying the machine. A few of them we’d squeeze on this yr as early adopters to present us suggestions.”
The RLP crew with Levity™. Picture courtesy of RLP.
Early Curiosity Already
Really, it was its genuine strategy to AM that helped RLP land one among its most high-profile tasks: a collaboration with Coperni for a sequence of 3D printed purses. The partnership got here via connections at MIT, and whereas the preliminary purse design wasn’t optimized for RLP’s course of, the crew managed to tug it off anyway, printing shiny baggage that had been later laser-etched, cleaned, and shipped abroad.
“I didn’t count on to ever print a handbag,” Kernizan laughed. “However I believe that’s what makes this so enjoyable. You get requested to do issues that you simply’d by no means plan for, and it opens up totally new concepts.”
He sees trend as a rising market, particularly if designers begin creating with RLP’s course of in thoughts: “We’d like to co-develop one thing that’s really designed for gravity free printing.”
Vanesa Listek holding the Coperni bag at RLP’s headquarters in Boston. Picture courtesy of 3DPrint.com.
RLP isn’t simply altering the know-how; it’s additionally altering how we take into consideration 3D printing. Kernizan doesn’t even like utilizing the time period “3D printing,” as a substitute calling RLP a “platform for manufacturing.” That distinction issues, he says, as a result of “once you say ‘3D printing,’ folks have sure concepts, particularly about helps, layers, and post-processing. However that is one thing completely different.”
As a substitute of constructing assist buildings or losing extra materials, RLP lets customers “print what you want and nothing extra.” There’s no sanding, curing, or poisonous cleanup. Throughout my go to, one of many machines was printing reside in plain sight; it was clear, quiet, and surprisingly quick. Kernizan walked me via the half because it was printed, displaying how easy and streamlined it truly is. And since they use supplies already accredited for casting and molding, clients can skip the prolonged certification course of.
Nonetheless, the corporate isn’t speeding into each new materials or concept: “We’ve needed to keep targeted. Typically we’ll put an concept on the board and revisit it later, when the timing or accomplice is true. Proper now, RLP works primarily with platinum-cure RTV silicone, which is secure for pores and skin and broadly utilized in medical and shopper functions. However the long-term imaginative and prescient goes a lot additional.
“We began with medical, prosthetics, and orthotics,” he mentioned. “Finally, we wish to transfer towards implantables, or shopper items like footwear, the place RLP is already working with a couple of firms on efficiency and recovery-focused designs.”
Vanesa Listek subsequent to RLP’s prototype printer Vanesa Listek at RLP’s headquarters in Boston. Picture courtesy of 3DPrint.com.
On the extra industrial aspect, RLP is seeing demand for gaskets and seals in sectors like aerospace and automotive, particularly as their construct quantity (500 mm cubed) opens up new potentialities. And since the method is so quiet and open, watching it occur feels completely different than conventional machines.
“This one’s printing a prosthetic half proper now,” Kernizan informed me through the go to, pointing to a softly glowing tank behind him. “You’ll be capable of see the complete half earlier than you allow.” The half was printing reside, totally seen via the clear tank, backlit by RLP’s built-in show, and took
half-hour to print. Actual-time updates confirmed elapsed time, remaining print time, and materials utilization, turning the whole machine right into a type of manufacturing dashboard.
“Our spirit of openness and iteration is what makes the work thrilling. Much more fascinating is that we haven’t hit the ceiling of what this course of can do. Each new request, each new utility—it reveals us what’s potential,” he concluded. And in a subject typically crammed with noise, RLP’s quiet confidence stands out.
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