Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Fabian Alefeld hosts Pan Michaleris, founder of PanOptimization (PanX), and Erik Denlinger, co-founder and chief engineer, to discuss the evolution and role of simulation and finite element analysis (FEA) in additive manufacturing. Pan shares his background as a Penn State professor and entrepreneur (including a prior company acquired by Autodesk) and explains how simulation helps reduce costly trial-and-error builds by predicting distortion, temperature, stress, buckling, cracking, and recoater risks, while moving toward closed-loop manufacturing-to-design workflows and property prediction. Erik outlines PanX’s commercial capabilities - fast thermo-mechanical simulation for very large parts, distortion compensation, and dwell-time optimization - and describes proof-of-concept work on controlling melt quality and hardness via parameter modulation. They cover adoption in aerospace/defense and new space, qualification implications, integration with build-prep workflows (e.g., EOS/Velosis), and cautious, validation-focused views on AI surrogate models.
00:00 Welcome and Episode Preview
01:13 Meet Pan and Erik
01:59 Pan’s Journey to PanX
03:59 Erik’s Origin Story
05:10 FEA History and the Elephant Test
08:32 Why Additive Needs Simulation
10:23 Closing the Design Manufacturing Loop
14:33 PanX Today Core Capabilities
17:30 From Distortion to Material Properties
20:25 Making Simulation Usable for Engineers
27:06 Workflow Integration and Automation
29:44 From Failures to Design
30:41 Who Uses PanX Today
32:41 Simulation for Qualification
35:17 Layerwise Parameter Control
38:51 Why FEA Is Hard
41:38 AI and Surrogate Models
46:53 Future Material Tailoring
48:37 Roadmap Workflow Integration
52:27 Closing Thoughts and Wrap
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Fabian Alefeld hosts Pan Michaleris, founder of PanOptimization (PanX), and Erik Denlinger, co-founder and chief engineer, to discuss the evolution and role of simulation and finite element analysis (FEA) in additive manufacturing. Pan shares his background as a Penn State professor and entrepreneur (including a prior company acquired by Autodesk) and explains how simulation helps reduce costly trial-and-error builds by predicting distortion, temperature, stress, buckling, cracking, and recoater risks, while moving toward closed-loop manufacturing-to-design workflows and property prediction. Erik outlines PanX’s commercial capabilities - fast thermo-mechanical simulation for very large parts, distortion compensation, and dwell-time optimization - and describes proof-of-concept work on controlling melt quality and hardness via parameter modulation. They cover adoption in aerospace/defense and new space, qualification implications, integration with build-prep workflows (e.g., EOS/Velosis), and cautious, validation-focused views on AI surrogate models.
00:00 Welcome and Episode Preview
01:13 Meet Pan and Erik
01:59 Pan’s Journey to PanX
03:59 Erik’s Origin Story
05:10 FEA History and the Elephant Test
08:32 Why Additive Needs Simulation
10:23 Closing the Design Manufacturing Loop
14:33 PanX Today Core Capabilities
17:30 From Distortion to Material Properties
20:25 Making Simulation Usable for Engineers
27:06 Workflow Integration and Automation
29:44 From Failures to Design
30:41 Who Uses PanX Today
32:41 Simulation for Qualification
35:17 Layerwise Parameter Control
38:51 Why FEA Is Hard
41:38 AI and Surrogate Models
46:53 Future Material Tailoring
48:37 Roadmap Workflow Integration
52:27 Closing Thoughts and Wrap
____________________
Subscribe to our YouTube channel:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/eosgmbh?sub_c...
Follow us:
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/eos
Twitter: twitter.com/eos3dprinting
Instagram: instagram.com/eos3dprinting
____________________
Imprint: eos.info/en/footer/imprint
Privacy Policy: https://www.eos.info/en/footer/privac...
____________________
