DASI Solutions Appoints Annette Norris As New Education Business Development Manager

Brings over 20 years manufacturing and academic industry experience

November 26, 2013 – Pontiac, MI – DASI Solutions LLC announced today that Annette Norris has joined the company to further develop and partner with their educational accounts as its Business Development Manager for Education Technology, Academic Research and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) Consultant.

Annette Norris comes with a successful career in education and training for over 20 years, with a background ranging from K-12 to community colleges. Most recently, Annette served as the Director for the Jackson Area Manufacturers’ Association’s (JAMA) Academy for Manufacturing Careers (AMC), a licensed proprietary school with the State of Michigan and a registered Apprenticeship Program with the US Department of Labor. Annette was responsible for the development and management of the JAMA/AMC Apprenticeship Program, customized training and K-12 educational pipeline programming, which provides after-school and summer manufacturing career exploration and skilled trades training opportunities to area youth.

Annette has won the following awards:

• National Association of Manufacturing - The Manufacturing Institute - Women in Manufacturing STEP Award – 2013
• United States Department of Labor - Office of Apprenticeship Creative Innovators and Trailblazers Award – 2012
• Athena Award Nominee – 2010

Annette joins DASI Solutions as Business Development Manager to continue DASI’s charter of providing solutions to many of accredited schools in the Great Lakes Region. Annette comments, “While I had great success in developing the training and youth programs in Jackson, I am excited to be joining the DASI team to develop similar partnership and programs across the state of Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. I am looking forward to the opportunities this brings.”

David Darbyshire, co-founder and owner said, “We are pleased to have Annette on board. Her wealth of experience and industry knowledge will be a valuable asset and we are very fortunate that DASI Solutions was able to acquire someone of Annette’s caliber to fulfill this role. I’m confident that Annette will play a key role in providing and implementing high quality solutions for our STEM educational and academic research customers.”

About DASI Solutions
Founded in 1995, DASI Solutions assists emerging sector companies in the implementation of CAD, CAE, and PDM collaborative technologies used in the product development process by the designing engineer. DASI Solutions is a value-added reseller for SolidWorks 3D software solutions and dealer for Stratasys 3D printers. The company has authorized sales, training, and technical support facilities located throughout the Great Lakes Region.

Contacts

DASI Solutions
Val Townsend, Marketing Manager
248-333-2996
val@dasi-solutions.com

DASI Solutions
David Darbyshire, Owner & Co-founder
248-333-2996 x203
david@dasi-solutions.com

DASI Solutions Opens 3-D Printing Showroom in Downtown Pontiac as Technology Shifts Mainstream

Article Reprint from The Oakland Press & Automation Alley July E-Newsletter
Published: July 23, 2013

An old, rundown building in downtown Pontiac that once sat vacant is being renovated and was bustling with life earlier this month, as DASI Solutions employees scurried in carrying boxes, dusting off desktops and plugging in computers. The building is situated kitty-corner to the new Lafayette development — which includes lofts, a market, a deli and a café — and is part of the transformation taking place inside the Woodward Avenue loop.

“Today is moving day,” said David Darbyshire, owner of DASI Solutions, LLC, a local company that not only specializes in the sale of 3-D printers and 3-D printing software, but also provides support and training for this emerging technology that’s growing in popularity.

DASI Solutions, LLC owner David Darbyshire (right) and COO Rick Darbyshire show off some of the 3-D objects printed by their company from their new showroom in downtown Pontiac. DASI specializes in the sale of 3-D printers and 3-D printing software, and also provides technical support and training. 

Darbyshire plans to move about 15 of his 35 employees from Orchard Lake Road in Pontiac and other off-site locations to the new facility, which will serve as office space and a 3-D printing showroom.

3-D printing is a process of making a three-dimensional object of virtually any shape from a digital model, and is achieved using an additive process, where successive layers of material are laid down in different shapes.

This groundbreaking technology is used for both prototyping and limited distributed manufacturing. In recent years, 3-D printing has gone from a science fiction pipe dream to the mainstream, and is used every day by hobbyists and manufacturing companies alike.

Darbyshire said the sky is the limit for 3-D printing applications. “As the cost of 3-D printers decreases and the economy improves, more companies are warming up to the idea of using 3-D printing,” he said, standing in his showroom next to a display case filled with intricately shaped 3-D printed objects.

Industries using the technology include jewelry, footwear, industrial design, architecture, engineering, construction, automotive, aerospace, dental, medical, education, geographic information systems, civil engineering and many others.

“We’ve landed GM, Ford, Chrysler, Stryker Medical, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and several universities around the state, to name a few,” Darbyshire said. “But 3-D printing is now having the most impact on entrepreneurs.”

Darbyshire said at one time, only major companies had access to rapid prototype 3-D printing because they were the only ones that could afford the equipment. Now, DASI sells 3-D printers that range in price from the desktop Mojo printer for $9,900 to the high-end Fortus 900mc for $380,000.

“Today, the mainstream has easy access to 3-D CAD modeling data, like the SolidWorks software we sell. People can send their designs to a 3-D printer and get a part in their hands,” Darbyshire said, adding that not only is the equipment a lot less expensive today, but it’s also more versatile in what it can produce, and more importantly, there are many more service bureaus popping up that allow entrepreneurs and inventors to print objects on demand, without having to purchase the equipment.

3-D printing also saves time. Consider DASI customer Dart Container, maker of Solo Cups. Instead of creating a cup mold out of metal, which would have taken weeks, DASI 3-D printed the mold out of plastic in only a few hours.

“We were able to give them different versions of the mold for the next-generation drinking cup,” Darbyshire said.

In addition, 3-D printing is sparking innovation.

“There is a lot of innovation going on with the dental market, which we are targeting, hardcore,” Darbyshire said. “By taking 3-D scans of people’s bodies, we can create 3-D printed surgical tools for doing oral surgeries. There are other technologies coming down the pipe that will allow you to print bone scaffolding that the surgeon would insert. Your body would grow natural bone around the scaffolding.”

Darbyshire said advancements like these will only increase as more material options become available. Currently, the Stratasys 3-D printers DASI sells can print in more than 150 material types. The material cost for the Stratasys technology is about $5 per cubic inch, depending on the specific material type. Most models that are printed range in price from $150 to $1,200, depending on material selection and application characteristics.

“We guide customers through different material properties and engineering applications, and showcase what other people have done in the past to allow our customers to become creative and innovative with how they want to tackle the problem that they have,” Darbyshire said.

DASI Moves Headquarters Office to Downtown Pontiac

We are happy to announce that due to our growing business, DASI Solutions has moved to larger premises. We will continue to offer the same friendly and high quality service at our new address as we evolve alongside our customers and partners.

Effective Friday, July 5th you can find us at our new 20,000 square foot headquarters building in downtown Pontiac. Our new building includes a SolidWorks training facility, a Stratasys 3D printing studio, ample parking, as well as house administration, technical support and sales personnel.

Please update your records to show our new address:

DASI Solutions L.L.C.
31 Oakland Ave, Suite 100
Pontiac, MI 48342 

Our main phone and fax numbers stay the same:
(888) 327-2974 toll free
(248) 333-2996 phone
(248) 333-0632 fax

We appreciate you putting your trust in us and thank you for your support. Come visit us soon!