Konrad Malik

When Konrad Malik graduated from a high school in Toronto that specialized in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), he didn’t go down the traditional path like many of his teenage peers -- preparing for college.   Instead, at just 18 years old he hopped right into the still budding 3D-printing world, which, as a whole, was still evolving as a technology, with kinks yet to be worked out before being brought into the marketplace. But Konrad's foray into the innovation then was small in a manufacturing platform that would become a billion-dollar-plus industry.   Today, Konrad Malik works in Toronto at a business he founded called RapidMake 3D Printing. The company’s services cater to large-scale manufacturing companies, while also making printers small enough to be accessible to average home consumers.   While founding RapidMake 3D Printing, Konrad developed what his business associates and partners know to be his primary business acumen trait: an absolute need for guarded privacy when it comes to the evolution of his design iterations.   Becoming the chief executive of a company that brought a heavy-duty technology from factories and high-end corporations to the average consumer’s home office took about 10 years. He hit trade shows, demonstrating that his models could be easily transported while reducing production costs at the same time.   Konrad’s age and style during those early years, accompanied by a cool-kid personality to match his trademark penchant for expensive sneakers, custom-made jeans and French dress shirts, lured a core group of hip venture capitalists willing to take a risk on a relatively unknown inventor when funding rounds were announced. This gave Konrad the flexibility to design smaller, more efficient printers, patenting his technology along the way.   Today, RapidMake 3D Printing provides a range of drafting services while also pursuing engineering and additive-manufacturing contracts for corporate customers in Toronto. The business serves those also in manufacturing, along with other industries, like architecture, construction, advertising, medicine and even art.     Several years on, with his wife Sofia and their two daughters, Phoebe and Stephanie, he’s still designing and still wearing colorfully loud sneakers. But he’s as guarded as ever about what the next big thing is, only alluding that it will be unveiled shortly after the beginning of next year.

printing, entrepreneurship, travel, family,