Hardware Podcasts

3D printing a housing revolution with Jason Ballard of ICON

How I Built This · 1 Feb 2024 · 42m

What this episode covers

Jason Ballard, co-founder and CEO of ICON, explains how he pivoted from his building supply company, Treehouse, to develop 3D-printed concrete homes to address the global housing crisis. Ballard details the technical challenges of formulating non-Newtonian concrete that flows yet sets quickly, and the self-funded prototyping of the Vulcan printer with partners Evan Loomis and Alex LaRue. He describes the company's journey from garage-stage R&D to scaling production, including a major setback from a facility fire and a subsequent NASA contract to develop lunar construction systems.

Most relevant to

founders before launch, early-stage companies and companies scaling up

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
ICON, Treehouse, New Story, Community 1st Village, Three Strands, NASA
Products
Vulcan, House Zero
Also
Artemis

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