On every subsequent film, Ducey has been involved in the further development and expansion of the process, which received a Scientific and Engineering Award from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences in 2016. This technique is known as replacement animation. For that film, the team pioneered additive manufacturing for the facial animations of main characters in a stop-motion production, which demanded thousands of printed parts. His work with additive manufacturing began with LAIKA’s first feature film, Coraline. Robert Ducey, technical supervisor for the Rapid Prototyping department at LAIKA, has over 25 years of experience in visual effects and animation. The key to a great innovation might be sitting right next to you. They continued, “Throughout our talk, we hope to inspire people to think outside the silos of their fields and search for new ideas through untraditional collaborations. We have leveraged our unique workflows and toolsets from that connection to develop new and exciting applications for 3D bitmap printing in medicine.” In a joint statement, Ducey and Jacobson said, “We connected over a little-known 3D modeling and printing technique called bitmap printing. On the other hand, we will hear how a connection made during the 2019 AMUG Conference prompted an unlikely collaboration.” On the one hand, we will hear about innovation fueled by additive manufacturing. Jordan Weston, AMUG director, education & conference, said, “This keynote presentation illustrates what the AMUG Conference is all about. In their presentation, they will discuss the unique collaboration, provide a history of individual methods, dive into the innovations, and share their vision for future explorations. The co-presenters note that new ideas emerge daily. AMUG 2023 keynote speakers (from left) Robert Ducey (LAIKA), Nicholas Jacobson (University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus), and Max Haot (Launcher).ĭucey and Jacobson will present “Collaborations Between an Animator, an Architect, and a Surgeon: The Keys to Impactful Innovation in Medicine.” This collaboration has resulted in innovative designs for pediatric epilepsy, cardiology, and cleft palate.

Keynote presenters