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NCDMM and NAMII are Making an Impact in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
May 29, 2013 | Categories: America Makes News
NCDMM to Highlight and Review Key Projects and Initiatives at the Showcase for Commerce Press Conference on Friday, May 31st
Blairsville, Pa.— May 29, 2013. The National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM) is pleased to announce that it will participate in a press conference on Friday, May 31st, the concluding day of the 23rd annual Showcase for Commerce event, at the Johnstown War Memorial in Johnstown, Pa. At this press conference, NCDMM will review the projects and initiatives that it and the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute (NAMII) have completed or are underway that are making an impact in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
“Without a doubt, the last nine months have been extraordinary for NCDMM, NAMII, and the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” said Ralph Resnick, NCDMM President and Executive Director, and Founding Director of NAMII. “Within the industry and in government, additive manufacturing is viewed as a transformative technology. When the award of NAMII to NCDMM came on August 16, 2012, I’m not sure that any of us at NCDMM could have fully imagined just how incredibly transformative these next nine months would be and the impact it would have on our organization, our state, and our country.
“NAMII, driven by NCDMM, has attracted great industry interest and has added members to this public-private partnership to successfully create a highly collaborative infrastructure for the open exchange of additive manufacturing information and research,” continued Mr. Resnick. “We have conducted, awarded, and kicked off our first Call for Projects. We have conducted our first Program Management Review. NAMII has achieved much in a very short amount of time and has become a center of excellence for additive manufacturing that has brought a national spotlight to the TechBelt region, most notably Pennsylvania’s manufacturing sector, our academic community, and our talented and skilled workforce.”
Within hours of the official award announcement of NAMII to NCDMM, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) announced it would hold its 2013 RAPID Additive Manufacturing Solutions Event, North America’s definitive conference and exposition featuring 3D printing and 3D imaging technologies, in Pittsburgh to build on the momentum of NAMII’s founding in the TechBelt region.
The 2013 RAPID Conference and Exposition is now less than two weeks away, beginning on June 10th and concluding on the 13th, at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. NAMII, along with NCDMM, will be playing a prominent role at the three-day event. In fact, NCDMM Vice President and NAMII Director Ed Morris will be one of three opening keynote speakers.
On Tuesday, June 11th, Mr. Morris will speak on “The Future of Additive Manufacturing and an Introduction to NAMII,” along with Brett Lambert, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manufacturing and Industrial Base Policy, U.S. Department of Defense; and Michael F. Molnar, Chief Manufacturing Officer for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). NAMII Deputy Director of Technology Rob Gorham will also present the “NAMII Overview Roadmap.” Throughout the entire event NAMII and NCDMM representatives will be available at Booth 902 and heavy traffic at the exhibit is expected.
Upon the conclusion of RAPID, a group of NAMII university members will turn their focus to hosting a series of “University Regional Workshops in Additive Manufacturing” to showcase the assets of these partner universities and to further develop collaboration in additive manufacturing among the university, industry, and government members. The first workshop will be held on September 10, 2013, at Lehigh University, in Bethlehem, Pa. The regional group of universities includes Penn State, the University of Pittsburgh, Robert Morris, Lehigh, Carnegie Mellon, Philadelphia University, Youngstown State, Kent State, the University of Toledo, the University of Akron, Case Western Reserve, and the Robert C. Byrd Institute.
“RAPID, along with the University Workshops, represent significant opportunities for NAMII, NCDMM, and Pennsylvania in the coming weeks,” added Mr. Resnick. “As we’ve summarized what lies ahead of us, we need to take a look back at some of the other notable events and milestones that were achieved in the months that directly followed NAMII’s founding.”
On December 4, 2012, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett attended a NAMII-organized special event that was hosted by NAMII proposal member, Acutronic USA, Inc., in which the winners of the first Research for Advanced Manufacturing in Pennsylvania (RAMP) program awards were announced and recognition was given to the ongoing support that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has provided to NAMII. The three Pennsylvania companies awarded for their respective innovative work in additive manufacturing included ExOne in Irwin, Paramount Industries in Langhorne, and Acutronic USA, Inc. in Pittsburgh.
The RAMP program, which was in place prior to NCDMM’s federal award of NAMII, highlights both Pennsylvania’s foresight and commitment to advancing additive manufacturing technologies and the state’s role in bringing NAMII to the “Tech Belt” region of Western Pennsylvania, Eastern Ohio, and West Virginia. The RAMP program is managed by two of the Commonwealth’s leading research universities and NAMII members, Carnegie Mellon University and Lehigh University, working with the technology-rich Pennsylvania manufacturing sector. RAMP is funded through the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development’s Discovered in PA, Developed in PA (D2PA) program, which was created by the Corbett Administration. The D2PA program is devoted to increasing economic opportunity in the commonwealth by seeding innovative ideas that promote entrepreneurship, technology transfer, business outreach, and increased capacity.
On January 9th, 2013, Mr. Resnick traveled to University Park, Pa., to support NAMII member, Penn State University, and take part in the Center for Innovative Materials Processing through Direct Digital Deposition’s (CIMP-3D) “Technology Exchange on Additive Manufacturing” Conference.
Mr. Resnick gave an overview of NAMII and the work of the pilot institute to date. Pennsylvania State University along with its partners Battelle Memorial Institute and Sciaky Corporation operate the CIMP-3D as a world-class resource for advancing and deploying additive manufacturing technology for critical applications. The scientific and engineering expertise present within CIMP-3D is unparalleled and has been assembled to channel these formidable technical capabilities into providing global leadership in additive manufacturing technology. Additionally, CIMP-3D also serves as the Metals Node of NAMII.
On January 18th, NAMII was named as one of the top ten most innovative economic development initiatives in the United States by The Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program and The Rockefeller Foundation as part of the Brookings-Rockefeller Project on State and Metropolitan Innovation, which presents fiscally-responsible state policies and practical metropolitan-led solutions that leaders can use to move toward the next economy.
This year’s list of “Innovations to Watch” represents the most forward-thinking and effective solutions that are now being implemented by America’s states and metropolitan areas. All ten initiatives embrace a vision of economic growth that is productive, sustainable, inclusive, and globally oriented. They are imaginative in design; advanced by networks of leaders who cross jurisdictional, ideological and political lines; and can be easily replicated in other jurisdictions. They show the most promise for creating jobs, growing regional economies, and boosting global competitiveness in 2013.
NAMII’s inclusion on the prestigious list was even more meaningful as it was cited just five months after its inception and brought more recognition to the TechBelt region. At the time, Mr. Resnick stated that “It is particularly rewarding to know that NAMII’s efforts to promote entrepreneurialism within additive manufacturing and to accelerate those technologies to the mainstream U.S. manufacturing sector since August have warranted such great recognition by the Brookings/Rockefeller Project.”
On March 20th, NAMII proudly announced the awardees of its initial call for additive manufacturing (AM) applied research and development projects from NAMII members in which NAMII would provide $4.5 million in funding toward these projects with the matching cost share from the awarded project teams totaling $5 million.
NCDMM and NAMII selected seven projects that best integrated with the four NAMII thrust areas of technology development, technology transition, advanced manufacturing enterprise, and education/workforce outreach. Among the awarded projects are quite a few team members from Pennsylvania, including Carnegie Mellon University, Penn State University’s Applied Research Laboratory (ARL), Penn State University’s Center for Innovative Materials Processing through Direct Digital Deposition (CIMP-3D), Bayer, and Kennametal Inc. This initial award of projects marked the beginning of additional awards to come that will certainly enable the additive manufacturing sector to revolutionize the U.S. manufacturing industry.
On April 2nd – 3rd, NAMII conducted its first Program Management Review and Project Kickoff Meetings. Much was accomplished during the two-day event, which was attended by more than 100 representatives from NAMII members.
NAMII’s Governance Board, Executive Committee, and Technical Advisory Board convened their first joint meeting. Our new Deputy Directors were officially introduced. NAMII’s first project call award teams made presentations, detailing the objectives, scope, and anticipated outcomes of the projects.
NCDMM also announced its strategic partnership with MAYA Design, a Pittsburgh-based design consultancy and technology research lab that will consult with NAMII on developing the Additive Manufacturing Roadmap.
On April 24th – 27th, NAMII’s Deputy Director of Technology Transition Bill Macy traveled to St. Louis, Missouri, where NAMII sponsored and exhibited at the 2013 FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Championship. The FIRST® Championship is the preeminent celebration of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) for youths to put their engineering skills to the test. NAMII was a sponsor of the event in conjunction with the Department of Energy – Oak Ridge National Labs’ Manufacturing Demonstration Facility.
With the FIRST Championship, NAMII had the opportunity to interface with, educate, and encourage students who are not only interested in the STEM fields of study, but are also passionate about applying those principals to create sophisticated robots that achieve amazing tasks. This year, more than 10,000 students, comprising of 650 teams from 37 countries participated in the event, including teams from Pennsylvania. Beyond its exceptional management of NAMII, NCDMM in its own right is promoting the advancement of additive manufacturing technologies in Pennsylvania.
On May 8th – 9th, NCDMM held its eighth annual SUMMIT event, which was at the Chestnut Ridge Golf Resort and Conference Center in Blairsville, Pa. SUMMIT is NCDMM’s premier annual, two-day event for encouraging collaboration among government, industry, and academia. This year’s SUMMIT event also coincided with NCDMM’s 10th anniversary since start up as such the theme of the event was ‘Celebrating a Decade and Innovating the Future.’ NAMII and the industry opportunities for additive manufacturing were discussed at length throughout the two-day event.
NCDMM is also participating in the Agile Innovation in Manufacturing (AIM) initiative to promote sustainable manufacturing practices within three of southwestern Pennsylvania’s leading industries: energy, life sciences, and advanced electronics. AIM is a joint initiative of NCDMM, Catalyst Connection, Innovation Works, and the Westmoreland/Fayette Workforce Investment Board, providing business development, workforce training, and energy reduction services to manufacturing companies in southwestern Pennsylvania.
Drawing on its extensive background in sustainable manufacturing, NCDMM’s focus area within the AIM initiative is to develop new manufacturing best practices to reduce energy consumption and raw materials usage. NCDMM has teamed with the Department of Energy in this effort. NCDMM is looking to partner with local companies involved in additive manufacturing or metals manufacturing, or that manufacture electrical equipment for the energy, advanced electronics, and/or life sciences industries.