ANNOUNCER: Major funding for "Made in Maryland" is provided by... Offering big bank capabilities and boutique bank care, CFG Bank supports businesses of all sizes and industries, including manufacturing, across Maryland.

We are CFG Bank, your success is our business.

This program is in part made possible through a partnership with Kaiser Permanente, which has been serving the Maryland community with high-quality healthcare for over 35 years.

The Maryland Marketing Partnership amplifies all that makes Maryland a great place to live, work, and do business in, including our bright minds, diverse population, and connectivity.

Learn more at business.maryland.gov.

Chesapeake Employers Insurance, proud to support "Made in Maryland" and the exciting future for manufacturing in Maryland.

And by... NARRATOR: Artistic expression is fundamental to human nature.

Since the dawn of time, we've used tools to express ourselves and share stories.

As the tools have changed, so have the mediums available to conceive and create art.

Today, digital design, three-dimensional imaging, and additive manufacturing are blurring the lines between art and industry, making the impossible possible.

In Maryland, industrial artists and mechanical engineers are using innovative tools to design and create complex, beautiful works of art.

And collaborative efforts between companies like Direct Dimensions... MICHAEL RAPHAEL: We go all over the industrial world and manufacture digital data, that's then used to go and make things.

NARRATOR: And Magma Build Studios.

ARIC WANVEER: Coming up with those things that totally didn't exist before, change the state-of-the-art.

NARRATOR: Are forging new paths using digital technology and design to bridge industry and art.

(theme music plays).

NARRATOR: The diversity of Maryland's economy, from manufacturing to cybersecurity to life sciences, is one of the state's greatest assets.

In 2023, the US Department of Commerce recognized Maryland as a center of creativity and innovation by designating the Greater Baltimore area as a federal Tech Hub.

Investment in technology has transformed manufacturing.

And Maryland's creative visionaries see opportunity in the adoption of new means of creation.

When art and industry work together, they drive the development of new tools, techniques, and technologies.

Harnessing these developments has led to the creation of new-collar jobs in all sectors of Maryland's economy.

In Baltimore County, Direct Dimensions has developed pioneering 3D-imaging technologies used by clients as diverse as Hollywood studios and the US military.

MICHAEL: Most of what we do is all about taking things from the real world and putting them into the computer.

We manufacture this digital set of data from the physical world to be used for reproductions, making new copies of things, physically.

We create 3D files for enlargements or reductions.

It could be for preservation, repair things, analyze things, or simply document things.

So it's one thing to go out, take measurements.

That's the way we used to do it.

Today, we use lasers and scanners, and drones, and we go out and do this very quickly, very accurately.

We do all kinds of projects, and historic preservation is one of our, one of our favorites, and there's so many reasons to, to document our heritage that, that is all over Maryland and beyond.

What was a train station here in Baltimore County, and it's being transformed into a nonprofit center to help people.

And it's a special place and we're proud to be able to document that facility and, and help make that process of transformation digital and faster.

The best part of this, I think, is that we get to touch and see so many different things, across so many worlds, from architecture to aerospace, to working with some of the best artists in the planet, and reproducing art of that nature or the Smithsonian Museum.

NARRATOR: The technologies developed by companies like Direct Dimensions are helping artists explore new avenues of creative expression.

One such artist is Joseph Sulkowski, acclaimed for his works of poetic realism, depicting the companionship of man's best friend.

MICHAEL: Why is it so important?

Well, it's art, number one.

And you know we can't explain that.

That's not our role.

We're here to make it, to help the artist make that piece.

NARRATOR: Direct Dimensions collaborated with Magma Build Studios, an industrial art fabricator in Baltimore, to transform Sulkowski's "Three Graces" into a three-dimensional fine art piece.

Magma Build Studios utilizes cutting-edge technologies to fabricate lighting, faucets, furniture, and art with expertise and precision.

ARIC: What we do here is artistic industrial manufacturing.

We work in a lot of materials, blown glass, all the different metals.

We do a lot of architectural features and built-ins working with interior designers and architects on all kinds of different design projects around the country.

The most exciting parts of the job is to see some new art project or some new sculpture that we have to figure out how to build and, and create.

Magma Build Studios is a fabrication shop at its core.

So that's CNC machining, all kinds of press, vacuum forming, laser cutting, water jet, CAD work, the file work, the G code.

One of the other things that we really get into is different lighting technologies.

LEDs, fiber optics, lasers, and then being able to put these different materials together is what's allowed us to be able to create some things that otherwise you'd need huge teams of people to do.

NARRATOR: Every project, including their collaboration with Direct Dimensions and Joseph Sulkowski, requires innovative solutions.

ARIC: We make a really good team when we come together because it goes so smoothly.

That's one of the benefits of, of having partners like Direct Dimensions.

This big sculpture behind me here has just about every 21st-century technology you could cram into it.

There's 3D printing, 3D scanning, electroplating, vacuum forming, lasers, CNC rolling, milling.

And then all of the hand work, you know, it still has to come together at the end, and a human has to put it all together.

And so there's tons of hours of TIG welding and grinding and buffing and all of the work to make it look seamless, like it was just, you know, cast out of a mold.

The batteries, we're doing our own battery system from scratch for it, starting with the lithium-ion cells and doing the battery management control systems.

MICHAEL: It brings together the challenges of manufacturing, of design, of additive manufacturing.

Additive manufacturing, the technical or professional term.

Is all about taking things from digital files using layer, typically layering technology to layer the material layer by layer and build up a part.

As opposed to what is known as traditional manufacturing or subtractive manufacturing, where we start with big chunks of metal or plastic and machine away the material that we don't need, and we're left with the part.

We're grateful that our team was able to utilize all of the skills that we have and work with some amazing people, here in Maryland, to build these pieces.

NARRATOR: Direct Dimensions' Harry Abramson oversees the team of engineers, technicians, designers, and fabricators, crafting "The Three Graces".

HARRY ABRAMSON: As the Director of Art and Digital Fabrication, I work with, typically artists, museums, conservators, and fabricators.

I like to say I'm the expert at knowing who the expert is.

Don't let me touch the art.

"Three Graces" project, which is actually titled "Apokalupsis", is really special.

It's one where we were able to, not just do work, but collaborate with the artist, and he had a big idea.

NARRATOR: Sulkowski's original painting is being reimagined as a three-dimensional sculpture.

HARRY: Intersection of those two circles, is the acorn, or the almond.

And as you go from one circle to the other, you transform from mortality to immortality.

And we developed what is now two large spheres about 70 inches.

And the three dogs, this is one of them, this is the one that's in the state of transformation, are walking through these spheres.

My job was not only to pull the, the vision from the artist, hone it in to what they ultimately want.

From there I had to go out to other resources, including Magma, they were the first ones to call, because they did design for manufacturing, but they're experts in lighting and electric and steel fabrication.

So they took our design that was conceptual, and then broke it down to the individual pieces.

From the structural perspective that were made, I was responsible for making all these dogs from the 3D data they were responsible for making and fabricating the sculpture itself that houses all the dogs.

ARIC: Most of the time, people are coming to us because they've got these wonderful, amazing ideas, and can't figure out how to make them and how to execute them.

NARRATOR: Aric's interest in art, design, and fabrication developed at a young age.

ARIC: I had always looked up to people that created things and had an impact and built things that lasted a long time.

My mom took me to Monticello when I was young and I, knew who Thomas Jefferson was, but standing in his house I was more impressed by the fact that he made all the furniture, and he built this house from scratch.

He built the clocks in Monticello himself and, and, and at his time that was all cutting-edge technology.

And I was like, that's what I want to do.

I want to live in a house that I created everything in, you know, and people think about the, the Declaration of Independence, which is great.

But, but that's not what I identify with.

NARRATOR: Aric's creative awakening led to the pursuit of a career in the arts.

ARIC: I've been working out of my garage going at this for 12 years now.

I taught myself for the most part.

I majored in college in philosophy, which I think has served me really well, it taught me how to learn.

After that, I spent a number of years with a fine artist in his shop learning how to sculpt and work with metal, and decided at that point, hey, it was time to go out on my own and build it all one project at a time.

NARRATOR: In the 1980s, Michael Raphael was using computer-aided design, or CAD, to create virtual prototypes and modify existing products.

But the technology was still in its infancy.

MICHAEL: CAD, 3D CAD that was exciting back in those days, but this was early.

We were making parts.

Some of these parts didn't look exactly like they did on the computer screen, and we needed better ways to, to measure those parts.

And I helped develop a, a technology for 3D measurement.

A few years later, I started Direct Dimensions and launched a company to go off and measure things for people.

Fast forward almost 30 years, we have close to 30 people here in Baltimore County and we measure things very broadly.

NARRATOR: Technologies like 3D scanning and additive manufacturing allow these Maryland-based companies to make creative use of digital data.

MICHAEL: The idea of making things in the digital world that represent things in the physical world, is the idea of digital twins.

So if we can model, or simulate, the physics, the strengths, the components, the sizes, the complexities of the real-world things that we need to build, if we can design that in the computer, and represent it as a digital twin, we can solve those problems well before we make those items.

NARRATOR: Additive manufacturing provides new opportunities in every industry.

MICHAEL: It's super exciting.

3D printing is coming at us in other worlds too.

One example is 3D printing food.

Sugars, and confectionery materials, to put decorative things on cupcakes, for example.

It sounds silly, but it's the beginnings of 3D-printing real food.

Harnessing this technology for computerized manufacturing, for things that we've never been able to make before, 3D printing enables that, manufacturing locally.

NARRATOR: Direct Dimensions continues to develop pioneering techniques and technologies.

MICHAEL: We've developed unique solutions that aren't available commercially, and one of those is a series of cameras that we form into a camera structure and it's in this case, used for capturing people.

People move.

People can't hold still.

So the idea is to get them instantly captured into the computer in 3D.

So we do that with a series of cameras that we've developed over the years and we've evolved this structure of cameras, from four cameras to now 160 cameras and they all pop and fire at one single second and we capture you, in any pose, in any costume, in the computer and that technology, that capability is the core of Direct Dimensions.

We developed that ourselves and built this structure to bring this capability to Hollywood, to action movie productions all over the country.

Some of the biggest productions you can name, including some of the biggest Marvel movies ever made.

NARRATOR: Direct Dimensions puts the world at our fingertips from big blockbusters to small parts.

MICHAEL: Most recently, we've been able to bring some of our capabilities with the idea of metrology, of measurement of lasers and cameras and scanners, to the idea of building a solution that can scan parts automatically.

So literally, you can put a small object on a turntable, it'll turn around, capture with the camera all of these shapes and facets of the object, and turn that into a 3D model almost instantly and automatically to digitize your entire collection of components.

NARRATOR: Magma Build Studios is also a pioneer in their field, developing new methods of fabrication.

ARIC: The thing that really got me started was the invention of the MMI, and the development and the patenting of this metal mounting insert, this technology that allows us to structurally fuse glass and metal.

We initially use to make light bulbs, it's waterproof, we use it to make glass faucets.

We use it for attachment purposes.

Most of our glass sculpture utilizes it.

It's patented and proprietary, and it's something that only we have.

There's expertise involved in being a good glass blower.

It's very durable and you can do all kinds of stuff with it, but that was just one of the things we could do.

Started putting glass into architectural features or glass into railings or lighting up railings or lighting up bars or lighting up walls as a sculptural installation.

So that the wall itself is the light source as well as a, a glowing art piece in a home.

Coming up with those things that totally didn't exist before that changed the state-of-the-art.

So there's all kinds of stuff that we can do, all of this stemming from the early development of the MMI and the, and the glass-blowing technology there.

NARRATOR: Magma's renown as an innovative studio, and their experience creating complex art installations, made them ideal partners on the "Three Graces" project.

But the entire process started with the simplest of mediums, clay.

HARRY: We started with three clay dogs and an idea of how we wanted to present them.

We scanned the dogs and then took that data and then worked with it in the 3D space to design the artist's vision.

This dog is unique.

You won't see many things like it, developing this form with the words as the skin.

The text are two phrases, "all is one" and "an uncovering".

3D printing it and then the surface you see is actually an electroformed nickel.

MICHAEL: The idea is, is that most of this design work.

Most of this manufacturing work is done with computer digital information.

So the real problem here is how do you start when you're starting with a physical object?

A building, an airplane, a sculpted dog?

How do you take these items that are physical, that we can touch and turn them into digital information for the designers, the engineers, the manufacturers to convert this into physical items again?

There's lots of scanners that solve different problems.

There's scanners for very big objects like buildings and airplanes and ships and subs.

We have scanners for very small things like jewelry or small body parts.

And we have scanners for, you know, average parts, parts that might sit on a table, automotive parts, maybe an airplane part, maybe a power generation part.

We have all these different tools to put them into the computer very accurately.

NARRATOR: The tools of creativity continue to evolve.

ARIC: Manufacturing today, to me is all about flexibility and efficiency.

Being able to have the right equipment, the right knowledge base, and the right partners who have the right equipment.

When I first got started, I was still doing everything old school, pen, pen and paper, pencil and paper, drafting blueprints on paper and then gradually learning to get into CAD software and learning how to do the coding and learning how to work with the different CNC machinery.

Which has been around for a long time, but for it to proliferate into where almost anyone can get a little CNC machine.

So that's been where we really thrive is learning all these new technologies and integrating them with the old ways of doing things because some of the old ways are still the best and being able to meld them together has been able to allow us to produce pieces and artworks and and architectural creations that otherwise would have just been near impossible to do.

We've got an exciting New York bakery project for a new bakery that's all stainless steel, solid, gorgeous Art Deco display piece for this bakery, which we're really excited about.

So it's, it's big.

And it's, it's fun when you get to do an all-stainless steel piece, so it's, it's one of those pieces that'll last forever, it has lighting in it and curved glass.

NARRATOR: The expertise of Maryland manufacturers is unparalleled.

MICHAEL: All of these things that are made here in Maryland can be represented through the concept of digital twins, and analyzed in the computer well ahead of the problems that we face.

And so hence the idea of Maryland being a leader in this capability, so that we can be the, the master of the digital capabilities to solve more problems.

Moving into this digital world means strength, means capability, it means expansion.

And I mean of economic expansion as well as employment expansion.

Digital transformation is very important in all areas of the world, but especially here in Maryland.

Maryland is a diverse community.

And the idea of working in the digital realm is super important for what jobs and all kinds of manufacturing will be.

NARRATOR: The network of artisans in Maryland makes projects like "The Three Graces" possible.

HARRY: We're very fortunate here in Baltimore that we have a community that is involved in the arts, and manufacturing, and engineering and I feel that it's about the work.

This project had many technically difficult elements.

From concept to where we are now, we've spent at least two years, it may even be three.

And I like to say we can't rush perfection.

Getting this dog to look like this digitally took a lot of time and effort.

All three dogs are made by different methods, and those three different pieces all have a different team working on them.

All those pieces are going to come together.

At the end of the day, we're going to have an artwork with a remote that turns the lights on or off.

It's on wheels, so we can roll into a gallery or a museum.

ARIC: All they'll have to do is plug it in and flip a switch.

NARRATOR: Manufacturing's many fields present tremendous opportunities.

MICHAEL: What manufacturing needs is way beyond actually pushing buttons on a machine.

There's whole ecosystems related to manufacturing.

So this labor that we're talking about that we now need needs to be smarter, brighter, more capable, and learn so much more with the basis of computers, the basis of industrial manufacturing.

It's not actually running the machines as it used to be many, many years ago in dirty environments.

It is so much more than that.

And takes incredible skills.

ARIC: One of the, the joys of developing and growing a business is, is the team and what you're able to do with the right team of people.

And you know we have fun together.

EMIR: I'm a graduate of Maryland Institute College of Art.

My position has been a little bit of everything since we started in Aric's garage.

I've had my hands on almost every single project that's come through here, in one way or another.

For me, being a manufacturer and involved in that field, with what we do, has been a way to use it as a creative outlet.

We are, we do a lot of very different things.

But it still falls under that same vein of manufacturing.

Just our stuff has a bit more glitz and glam to it, but still, the same equipment you see here, you could see in any other shop like this, that you can produce whatever you want with.

ARIC: Industrial art, artists as manufacturers is, is a lot of what we kind of think as ourselves as, and we all are artists.

Many of the people here come out of art school.

I don't, but most everybody else did.

You get all these different synergies and different ideas come together and you end up with something that I wouldn't have come up with on my own, or they wouldn't have come up with on their own and you end up with a product that's just remarkable at the end.

So that's part of the fun of doing all this.

NARRATOR: And as the creative and manufacturing industries evolve, so do Maryland's companies.

ARIC: The buzzword right now is AI.

What I think is really exciting about it is how it's going to affect manufacturing, how it's going to affect design and in really positive ways.

What we're going to be able to produce.

It will also go to further democratization of ideas and getting concepts out there, and allowing more people to be able to have a say in the development and the production of the things that we use in our lives.

All of us here are really skilled with our hands and we value that, but it's going to put ever-increasing value on the intellectual, and what you can think.

Because now, all of us have brains, and it's going to all come down to getting what's in your head, into the computer or into the AI so that it can help you produce it.

We can all be Tony Stark.

Well, that robot, I mean, he never could have built that Iron Man suit without his robot.

That whole first movie, he's sitting in the basement and it's like, no, this is what I want.

MICHAEL: Advanced manufacturing in the state of Maryland has tremendous opportunity.

It takes investment, and there will need to be investment to grow these capabilities.

Maryland stands the chance to be a leader in digital manufacturing.

ARIC: So if you really love creating things and you really love art, then being an artist as a manufacturer, a manufacturing artist, is one of the most fulfilling things, I feel lucky.

♪ ♪ NATASHA BROWN-WAINTWRIGHT: My name is Natasha and I am the CEO of Natasha's Just Brittle, B'more Made with Pride.

We are local vendors from our state selling products that people create right here at home.

I'm actually the third licensed commercial kitchen in Baltimore City.

I am the only commercial kitchen that's also licensed as a dual-processing facility, so I'm a triple threat.

So Natasha's Just Brittle is one of the businesses that manufacture in B'more Made with Pride, along with 25 other food businesses who utilize my kitchen.

Having this kitchen, it gives people the opportunity just to even try, just to see if it's something that they could do.

I always use this motto, it's not about competition, but collaboration is key.

And that's what this kitchen does for me, and I hope for many of the other people that work out of here.

ANNOUNCER: Major funding for "Made in Maryland" is provided by... Offering big bank capabilities and boutique bank care, CFG Bank supports businesses of all sizes and industries, including manufacturing, across Maryland.

We are CFG Bank, your success is our business.

This program is in part made possible through a partnership with Kaiser Permanente, which has been serving the Maryland community with high-quality healthcare for over 35 years.

The Maryland Marketing Partnership amplifies all that makes Maryland a great place to live, work, and do business in, including our bright minds, diverse population, and connectivity.

Learn more at business.maryland.gov.

Chesapeake Employers Insurance, proud to support "Made in Maryland" and the exciting future for manufacturing in Maryland.

And by... ♪ ♪