About MPW

Revolutionary Powder Production

MPW was founded in 2017 by John E. Barnes and Chris Aldridge, veterans of the aerospace and defense markets with profound knowledge of additive manufacturing and powder production. Their experience in the space drove them to think about powder production in a revolutionary new way resulting in the patented MPW DirectPowder™ Process, which produces tailorable powders in a wide variety of alloys. It represents the first true innovation of powder manufacturing in over 50 years.

Successful demonstrations of MPW’s DirectPowder™ have been completed in multiple additive manufacturing processes, including Directed Energy Deposition, Binder Jetting, Laser Powder Bed Fusion and Cold Spray technologies.

Meet the Founders

John has a 25+ year career in product development and aerospace with Honeywell, Lockheed Martin Skunk Works™, Australia’s CSIRO, and Arconic. He’s been involved in metal additive manufacturing (AM) throughout his career since the late 1990s when he was part of the Sandia National Labs LENS™ CRADA. Since then, he has been in and around AM, working on technical and business cases for implementation and development efforts in materials, powders, processing, and printing to mature the technology for applications. John is recognized internationally for contributions to additive manufacturing, product development, and leadership in engineering.

John is a Materials Engineer by background but has developed expertise in manufacturing, airframe structures, gas turbines, and low observables. He has over 14 patents or patents in application. In 2014, he was Purdue University’s Materials Engineer of the Year, where his team won the Silver Medal in the U.S. Air Force AM Olympics. In 2017, he was invited to join the Additive Manufacturing Technical Community as an SME Advisor based on his active industry contributions, reputation, and personal commitment to expand the use of additive manufacturing. In 2022, he was named vice-chair of SME’s AM Technical Leadership Committee.

FOUNDER & CEO

Chris has worked in advanced manufacturing process development and machine design for more than 15 years. During this time, he has led or managed projects in high precision machining, powder handling, and nearly all aspects of additive manufacturing (AM). Chris started his career at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, focusing on maturing AM from a prototyping tool to a production-capable technology. This early work created a foundational understanding of the challenges to overcome before the transformative promises of AM could be achieved. Chris' work in the Offshore Oil and Gas field provided valuable experience in safety-critical machine design and greater insight into AM challenges to help achieve widespread adoption. At Arconic, Chris had the opportunity to further progress the maturation of AM to a single qualified production process, but not before gaining hands-on experience in AM machine operation, powder handling, and process simulation.

Over the years, Chris has had the opportunity to experience the AM industry as a designer, machine operator, and customer. This experience provides a uniquely valuable perspective to his current role at MPW, where we believe we can address some of the final roadblocks to AM adoption: material cost, selection, and quality.

CO-FOUNDER & CTO

Greg Bartley

Vice President of Commercial Operations

Greg began his career at General Motors’ Delphi Chassis Systems, specializing in process engineering for automotive component manufacturing. He gained extensive experience in production and maintenance planning, supervision, and work design. Greg played a pivotal role in implementing the Toyota Production System’s single-part flow methodology at Delphi Chassis. As a Resident Engineer, Greg oversaw Delphi Chassis’ $750M annual program management and PPAP compliance for GM’s small car division, operating directly from the customer’s location. He later pioneered sales and strategy for electronic ride control and braking systems to non-GM customers, including Bosch, ITT, Volvo, and Mercedes-Benz, establishing a novel sales channel for the Delphi unit. Since the mid-1990s, Greg has focused on integrating specialty materials and applications, developing sales and marketing strategies to maximize the value of advanced technologies. Through roles at Alumax, Alcoa (in both automotive field sales and as Division Manager at the Alcoa Technical Center), and Allegheny Technologies (ATI), Greg leveraged mergers, acquisitions, and strategic relationships. He also transitioned to entrepreneurial ventures, leading sales commercialization for Continuum Powders (formerly MolyWorks). At ATI, Greg led sales process restructuring that boosted sales and margins of differentiated refractory alloys, including TiNb, NiTi, C-103, Ti6242 foil, hafnium crystal bar, and Zircaloy for nuclear applications, achieving contribution significant margin improvements. He also tackled corporate priorities at ATI’s $1.2B HRPF rolling mill in Brackenridge, PA, and its Ni-superalloy production facility in Monroe, NC. Greg holds a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from General Motors Institute (now Kettering University) and an M.S. in Manufacturing Systems Engineering from the University of Dayton.

Eric Rhodes

MATERIALS & PROCESS ENGINEER

Eric Rhodes joined Metal Powder Works (MPW) at the beginning of February 2024 as their Materials and Process Engineer. Eric brings a strong background in materials research and additive manufacturing to help tailor powder production for each specific application for optimum powder performance. After receiving his B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) from the University of Pittsburgh, Eric started his research in powder metallurgy and additive manufacturing in graduate school at Pitt in the Advanced Manufacturing and Magnetic Materials (AM3) Lab, focusing on porous metal media for filtration produced via Binder Jet Additive Manufacturing (BJAM). After receiving his M.S. in MSE, Eric started his industry career with ExOne/Desktop Metal in their Research and Development group working on BJAM of novel powder materials on their X-Series platforms (InnoventX, X25Pro, X160Pro). At ExOne, Eric worked closely with customers and government agencies on optimizing the printability and material properties of metal powder tailored to their application.

Ben Waradzin

SENIOR MECHANICAL ENGINEER

Eric Rhodes joined Metal Powder Works (MPW) at the beginning of February 2024 as their Materials and Process Engineer. Eric brings a strong background in materials research and additive manufacturing to help tailor powder production for each specific application for optimum powder performance. After receiving his B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) from the University of Pittsburgh, Eric started his research in powder metallurgy and additive manufacturing in graduate school at Pitt in the Advanced Manufacturing and Magnetic Materials (AM3) Lab, focusing on porous metal media for filtration produced via Binder Jet Additive Manufacturing (BJAM). After receiving his M.S. in MSE, Eric started his industry career with ExOne/Desktop Metal in their Research and Development group working on BJAM of novel powder materials on their X-Series platforms (InnoventX, X25Pro, X160Pro). At ExOne, Eric worked closely with customers and government agencies on optimizing the printability and material properties of metal powder tailored to their application.

Jeff Bozic

SENIOR PROCESS TECHNICIAN

Eric Rhodes joined Metal Powder Works (MPW) at the beginning of February 2024 as Senior Process Technician. Eric brings a strong background in materials research and additive manufacturing to help tailor powder production for each specific application for optimum powder performance. After receiving his B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) from the University of Pittsburgh, Eric started his research in powder metallurgy and additive manufacturing in graduate school at Pitt in the Advanced Manufacturing and Magnetic Materials (AM3) Lab, focusing on porous metal media for filtration produced via Binder Jet Additive Manufacturing (BJAM). After receiving his M.S. in MSE, Eric started his industry career with ExOne/Desktop Metal in their Research and Development group working on BJAM of novel powder materials on their X-Series platforms (InnoventX, X25Pro, X160Pro). At ExOne, Eric worked closely with customers and government agencies on optimizing the printability and material properties of metal powder tailored to their application.

Mitchell Wendel

PROCESS ENGINEER

Eric Rhodes joined Metal Powder Works (MPW) at the beginning of February 2024 as their Materials and Process Engineer. Eric brings a strong background in materials research and additive manufacturing to help tailor powder production for each specific application for optimum powder performance. After receiving his B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) from the University of Pittsburgh, Eric started his research in powder metallurgy and additive manufacturing in graduate school at Pitt in the Advanced Manufacturing and Magnetic Materials (AM3) Lab, focusing on porous metal media for filtration produced via Binder Jet Additive Manufacturing (BJAM). After receiving his M.S. in MSE, Eric started his industry career with ExOne/Desktop Metal in their Research and Development group working on BJAM of novel powder materials on their X-Series platforms (InnoventX, X25Pro, X160Pro). At ExOne, Eric worked closely with customers and government agencies on optimizing the printability and material properties of metal powder tailored to their application.

Miranda Shones

BOOKKEEPER

Eric Rhodes joined Metal Powder Works (MPW) at the beginning of February 2024 as their Materials and Process Engineer. Eric brings a strong background in materials research and additive manufacturing to help tailor powder production for each specific application for optimum powder performance. After receiving his B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) from the University of Pittsburgh, Eric started his research in powder metallurgy and additive manufacturing in graduate school at Pitt in the Advanced Manufacturing and Magnetic Materials (AM3) Lab, focusing on porous metal media for filtration produced via Binder Jet Additive Manufacturing (BJAM). After receiving his M.S. in MSE, Eric started his industry career with ExOne/Desktop Metal in their Research and Development group working on BJAM of novel powder materials on their X-Series platforms (InnoventX, X25Pro, X160Pro). At ExOne, Eric worked closely with customers and government agencies on optimizing the printability and material properties of metal powder tailored to their application.

Board Members

  • John E. Barnes

    John E. Barnes

  • Chris Aldridge

    Chris Aldridge

  • Bruno Campisi

    Bruno Campisi

  • Leo Christodoulou Ph.D.

    Leo Christodoulou Ph.D.

  • Rob Gorham 

    Rob Gorham 

  • Kapil Talwar Ph.D.

    Kapil Talwar Ph.D.

Scientific Advisory Team

  • Kevin Slattery, DSc

    AM & METALS MANUFACTURING, QUALIFICATION & CERTIFICATION

  • Laura Ely

    Laura Ely

    STRATEGY, PEOPLE & DIRECTED ENERGY DEPOSITION

  • Robert Carter, PhD

    Robert Carter, PhD

    AM STRATEGY, DEFENSE & MEDICAL

  • Mihaela Vlasea, PhD

    Mihaela Vlasea, PhD

    AM SYSTEMS & PROCESSES

The MPW Journey

  • •  Initial feasibility assessment launched

    •  Company established

  • •  First powder produced and patents filed

  • •  Facility established in Austin, Texas for pilot production

  • • Project awards with UC Davis and Carnegie Mellon University for the Department of Energy

    • Successful printing trial of MPW 7075-T6 in Powder Bed Fusion and Cold Spray AM technologies

  • •  Commissioned 2nd production cell

  • •  Approved patents issued on DirectPowder™ process

  • • MPW officially opens global headquarters at Neighborhood 91

    • Made 2X the material than the previous year

    • Ran autonomously for 24+ hours

    • MPW’s Developer Network is established with Solvus Global as first to join

  • •  Issued two additional patents

    •  Expanded product offerings in Aluminum and Copper alloys

    •  Joined Qualloy marketplace

    •  Shipped the largest order to date - 200kg CuNi powder

    •  First-time exhibitor at Powdermet and RAPID

    •  Featured in AM Media with a profile of MPW

    •  Expanded team with the addition of 3 new individuals

    •  Hosted first summer interns