Project R3D
Passion for hobby prints out foundation for new career path
Joseph Podgorski’s sideline turned into his main gig when he needed more out of his 3D printing hobby.
“As a hobbyist, I found that hardware wasn’t advancing as fast as I would like. I started designing my own hardware to push the bounds of desktop additive,” he said. “I quickly found that people were looking for similar solutions, and I realized the designing and manufacturing side that I loved could become my job.”
He left behind his EMT career and founded Project R3D in 2017 in his garage. His business provides 3D printers, services and consulting rooted in design, mechanical and electrical engineering expertise in the additive manufacturing field. AM builds 3D objects by adding layer by layer of material.
“I enjoy solving problems and being able to be the decision maker on the easy problems but strangely even more on the more challenging problems,” he said.
In 2024, the team spun off a new company, Chicago Additive, specifically to handle Department of Defense and government clients. Joseph has two facilities and also contracts with universities.
The innovative printers are drilling down areas of improvement on 3D printers, such as rigidity, immaculate printing, security and ease of maintenance. The Talos model is capable of printing car parts, and the AMOS model is being manufactured for use on deployed Navy ships.
“I hope we are able to show that Northwest Indiana can be more to the manufacturing landscape than legacy steel production. While steel has built much of the region, digital manufacturing is shaping the world, and NWI can play a major part in that,” he said. “I also hope to help students and other entrepreneurs utilize digital manufacturing to accomplish their goals here at home.”
Joseph is continuing to connect with early-stage entrepreneurs through his collaboration with Vidette Makes, ISBDC and SCORE on the NWI Launch Pad project. The program was awarded a grant to help emerging entrepreneurs develop prototypes and provide small volume production.
Based on his own journey, he encourages entrepreneurs just starting out to dive into business ownership headfirst.
“Fail fast, fail hard. Do the hard things, fail, and most importantly, learn,” he said. “You will never know what you can do until you try.”