AI with X-rays: Why engineers are CT scanning everything

Mar 12, 2025

2:30pm – 3:30pm CT

Ever wished you had X-ray vision? Many of us are familiar with CT scans at hospitals, but the same technology is making its way into the world of product development and manufacturing. Engineers have started to CT scan everything from running shoes to brain implants, aiming to speed up product development, avoid wasteful recalls, and push the limits of design.

But there’s more: industrial X-ray CT is also the best new source of raw data for the AI revolution. It generates rich 3D data that encompasses both visible external elements and invisible internal features, along with information about material density.

Now that AI has already conquered every digital activity—from writing emails to DJing music—the physical world is next. AI can spot tiny defects before they become big catastrophes, and it can even suggest improved designs for complex physical products—but first it needs good data, and CT scanners have that covered.

In this session you’ll hear from Andreas Bastian, an engineering and manufacturing polymath who’s Co-Founder and Head of Product at Lumafield, and Alec Mehra, an Electrical Engineer at Paradromics whose brain-computer interfaces are pushing the frontiers of both electronics and medical devices. They’ll walk through CT scans that reveal hidden secrets in everyday manufactured objects and show how this 3D X-ray scanning technology is being used by engineers at the forefront of technology.

Programming descriptions are generated by participants and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of SXSW.

photo of Andreas Bastian
photo of Alec Mehra

Alec Mehra

Paradromics

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About
Format: Presentation
Type: Session
Track: Tech Industry
Level: Intermediate