More Than Efficiency: How Skilled Brains Brings Purpose to Digital Manufacturing – Interview with Founder Juan David George

Skilled Brains, based in the Netherlands, began as a side project by mechanical engineer Juan David George during the COVID-19 pandemic. The idea emerged from a simple but meaningful challenge: creating a cover that would allow people with disabilities to enjoy using tablets safely and independently. Traditional manufacturing methods made small-scale production prohibitively expensive, prompting Juan to explore rapid prototyping and 3D printing as viable alternatives.

What started as an accessibility project evolved into a broader exploration of low-volume, high-quality product development. Skilled Brains now investigates a range of rapid prototyping technologies, aiming to produce durable and affordable products for niche applications. The company emphasizes experimentation and iteration—finding the balance between functionality, manufacturability, and cost.

Juan, who runs Skilled Brains alongside his main engineering job, collaborates with partners abroad to continue projects beyond regular hours. The approach reflects both flexibility and technical curiosity: using digital manufacturing tools not only for efficiency, but to make thoughtful, human-centered design accessible to smaller markets.

Interview with Juan David George

In the following interview with 3Druck.com, founder Juan David George discusses the challenges of aligning client expectations with the realities of additive manufacturing, the value of experimentation, and how Skilled Brains integrates different prototyping technologies to create practical, human-centered products.

Skilled Brains operates at the crossroads of 3D printing, product development, and engineering services. What are the biggest challenges you face when turning a client’s concept into a working prototype, and how do you typically address them?

The biggest challenge is trying to get the client’s perception of the 3D-printed product in line with the reality of how the product will perform. People often don’t have knowledge of material science and tend to idealize a model just because it’s tangible. Then, during use, if it fails, this ideal shatters because they expected so much more.

Over the last couple of years, we’ve seen an explosion in new materials for 3D printing, but it is very important to be fair and honest with the client, showing and explaining the reality of what they can expect. That involves a lot of testing but also a lot of experimentation.

Looking back, which manufacturing processes, materials, or technological innovations have proven most valuable for Skilled Brains and had the greatest impact on your work?

The democratization of manufacturing as a whole has been a very beautiful development. Being able to hack a process that would otherwise have been a very costly and arduous product development path is what makes digital manufacturing so interesting.

As an engineer focused on product development, all tools are important and should be used according to the demands. But the development in FDM and SLA materials and printers is undoubtedly remarkable. It is what has catapulted my other brand, Mookl, producing the toe ramps for snowboard bindings, and Hubs, the tablet cover for people with disabilities.

You also offer 3D scanning and reverse engineering. In what kinds of projects do these technologies create the most value for your clients?

When it comes to reverse engineering, the main thing to keep in mind and to find out is the design intent and references of the actual product. 3D scanning is just another tool, and while I do use it, many of the products I have reverse-engineered have been done by measuring them the old-school way.

3D scanning becomes crucial when there are products with very complex geometry and with more than one reference point or surface. Getting them right is very important. But in order to define this, it is important to first determine the design intent.

Looking ahead, which developments or trends in digital manufacturing do you find most promising, and how is Skilled Brains preparing to leverage them?

To me, the most important thing is to see how the development of new materials and advancements in technology will lead to more interesting products being produced and new markets being created. This is where Skilled Brains is focused.

3D printing is a great tool in the digital manufacturing world, but the main focus should be on creating great and honest products. Having a good understanding and knowledge of other technologies is equally important. Bringing all of them together in order to create fast iterations so that the time to market is shorter, niche markets can actually shape the product as they use it, and all of this at high quality — that is what excites me.

Find out more about Skilled Brains on the company’s website.