Oleg Kireev: “3D printing will qualitatively improve the educational level of future specialists”

3D printing industry is just starting to develop in Ukraine. The press service of the 3D Print Conference Kiev met the authorized representative of Ultimaker and founder of Extrusion in Motion Oleg Kireev to discuss the future of the industry and the entrance of the famous Dutch company to Ukrainian market.

Interviewer: Diana Korol (D.K.)

Expert: Oleg Kireev (O.K.)

D.K.: Oleg, please tell about your company Extrusion in Motion and how you became the authorized distributor of Ultimaker.

O.K.: The route towards the opening of Extrusion in Motion was quite long. At first, we started working on qualitative, interesting and new formula of polymer fiber produced in Ukraine. For some time, all members of the team were working solely on their own initiative and sometimes invested their own money in the project. Everything was built on enthusiasm.

In fact, we have a young team of 10 people; the average age is 30-35 years old. We set two goals for ourselves:

• to learn our target audience well;
• to create the best customer experience for it.

At this point our ideas coincided with the ideas of Ultimaker’s founders. But they had one more goal: to provide the market with the best quality of FDM printing (fused deposition modeling technology) in the category of semi-professional printers.

How we began working with Ultimaker? By coincidence, one of their technical specialists is a good friend of mine. And just then the company was discussing the possibility of opening an office in Ukraine. At that moment, our engineering team completely satisfied the requirements of Ultimaker’s representatives. All our employees underwent specific stages of testing for us to be able to consequently provide fully-fledged technical support of Dutch printers on the territory of Ukraine. Now we can offer any kind of comprehensive support if the customer faces some difficulties when using the equipment.

After certain negotiations our company Extrusion in Motion announced itself a premium partner of Ultimaker. On their official website, in the Buy section, there is a list of all countries that sell their printers. And when you find Ukraine, you will see that it is represented by our company. We are very glad to become the first national company that represents this big brand.

D.K.: In your opinion, will the 3D printing industry develop in our country?

O.K.: 3D printing is the technology that can be used everywhere from the production of toys for children to the creation of jewelry and designer goods. Western countries actively use 3D printing capabilities in medicine, building industry, engineering, etc. I believe that this technology is one of the few that will remain up-front in the nearest 10 years. But to make it happen on the territory of our country, we need to popularize the benefits of 3D printing. It will qualitatively improve the educational level of future engineers, IT specialists and allow them to use advanced developments in professional activities. Therefore, one of our company’s mottos, which you will find on the official website, says: “Company created by engineers for engineers”. Today we manufacture products that will allow fulfilling complex engineering challenges.

Today, all western mass media state that Ukraine has the potential to develop solely as an agricultural state. I do not want to agree with that. I think that we have a huge intellectual, scientific and engineering potential that simply cannot be lost. 3D printing is the area that will facilitate the development of our country. IT specialists from Ukraine are recognized as the best in the whole world.

D.K.: I know that you are organizing a number of educational workshops for students of technical higher institutions. Please tell us more about it.

O.K.: We made our last visit to Kharkiv National University of Radioelectronics. I believe that Kharkiv is the hub of IT industry, and see huge potential there. It was a great honour for us to be on the territory of this university. We were glad to run a workshop for students, dedicated to application areas of 3D printing.  Although I can ensure you that many of them are perfectly savvy and understand what 3D printing is used for. The only important thing was to provide a number of interesting visual illustrations that could inspire students to create something at home, in the garage, on the territory of university, in the office, making something beautiful, valuable, and to produce high-quality products.

We closely interact with the department of Automated design systems and robotics, where 3D printing is used quite actively.

We are just beginning to organize such kind of workshops. We are trying to visit specific higher institutions approximately 2 times a month in order to inform students about 3D printing capabilities. Our meetings take place in the form of a seminar that lasts not longer than an hour and a half, where we show the main aspects of using this technology. We do not advertise our product and do not talk about the prices. It seems to me that it is unnecessary here. Our goal here is not to sell products. Primarily, we want to teach and communicate the significance of this product. And people will decide for themselves to what extent it interests them. We clearly understand that this technology is needed for solution of important tasks. If a person is inspired by a specific example, such developments will help him. 

During the interview Oleg Kireev told about the company’s latest product – Ultimaker 3, which was presented on October 18. Read the review of this device here: Rewiev of the new proffecional 3D printer Ultimaker 3