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NCDMM to Hold Its Annual SUMMIT Event in Blairsville, Pa. on May 8th

May 02, 2019 | Categories: America Makes News

Conference Promotes Greater Collaboration and Information Sharing among Thought Leaders from Manufacturing, Government, Industry & Academia

Blairsville, Pa. — May 2, 2019. The National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM) proudly announces its annual SUMMIT event, to be held May 8 – 9, 2019, at the Chestnut Ridge Golf Resort and Conference Center in Blairsville, Pa. This year’s SUMMIT theme is “Preparing for the Next Manufacturing Revolution.”

“Whether your organization is a well-established large corporation, a startup, academic institution, or a government agency, SUMMIT offers something for everyone,” said newly appointed NCDMM President and Executive Director Dean L. Bartles, Ph.D. “Each year, SUMMIT brings together our industry with the goal of fostering an environment where information can be readily shared and networking can occur to spur new collaborations and partnerships that help to innovate and advance the manufacturing industry.”

“With today’s manufacturing breakthroughs and innovations evolving at a fairly rapid rate, we need to prepare for the next manufacturing revolution,” added Ralph Resnick, NCDMM Vice President of Strategy. “Each of our keynote speakers bring a unique perspective on this topic. We also need a skilled workforce to lead the way, which is why I’m particularly excited by the addition of the Young Professionals Panel to this year’s SUMMIT. I look forward to our panelists sharing their experiences and observations about the advanced manufacturing industry.”

SUMMIT is NCDMM’s premier annual event for encouraging collaboration among government, industry, and academia to advance manufacturing technologies in support of the warfighter. For SUMMIT 2019, NCDMM is pleased to announce GE Research and Tronix3D as its Diamond Sponsors.

On the value that an event like SUMMIT brings to the industry, particularly a large organization like GE Research, Prabhjot Singh, Additive Product Breakout Leader at GE Research, said, “GE Research is proud to be a major sponsor of NCDMM’s 2019 SUMMIT event, which is bringing together top thought leaders to discuss the future of manufacturing. Through our involvement in America Makes, we have greatly valued NCDMM’s stewardship in accelerating new technologies and building a strong ecosystem of partners to scale and grow the additive industry. SUMMIT will provide an ideal opportunity to bring key stakeholders together to see where manufacturing is today and where we can take it next.”

Buck Helfferich, President of Tronix3D, a newly founded company and greater Pittsburgh’s first high-volume 3D/additive contract manufacturer and innovation center, similarly describes the impact that the NCDMM has made on his organization. “Tronix3D is a startup company that aspires to be a reliable, trustworthy, highly advanced additive contract manufacturer for commercial and military markets,” said Mr. Helfferich. “Since Tronix3D opened its doors last year, the NCDMM has been an invaluable resource, offering guidance and providing best practices on how to organize our business systems and infrastructure to best serve U.S. defense manufacturers. We intend to document what we learn and share our experiences with NCDMM and America Makes members to support the next generation of additive manufacturers. It is our honor to be a Diamond Sponsor of this year’s NCDMM SUMMIT and support the organization’s vision of enhancing our nation’s workforce and economic competitiveness.”

SUMMIT 2019 will kick off on Wednesday, May 8^th with opening remarks from Mr. Resnick. Presentations by these keynote speakers will immediately follow:

• Bill Harris, Technical Fellow, Lockheed Martin
• Pat McGibbon, Chief Knowledge Officer, AMT—Association For Manufacturing Technology
• LTC John Schmitt, Product Manager for CH-47 Modernization, Cargo Helicopters PMO
• Petra Mitchell, President & CEO, Catalyst Connection

New this year to SUMMIT 2019 is the addition of a Young Professionals Panel to be moderated by Michael D. Packer, Director of Manufacturing for Advanced Production Programs at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works^® and NCDMM Chairman of the Board. This year’s inaugural panel will include four young professionals who have recently started their careers in the manufacturing industry. Each panelists will introduce themselves and give a background on their chosen career path including experiences from schooling through securing a position. The Young Professionals Panel will include:

• Jeffrey Gaddes, U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command-Aviation & Missile Center
• Rebecca Kurfess, Oak Ridge National Lab
• Tyler Rigby, Nucor Steel
• Jessica Sisk, U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command-Aviation & Missile Center

To create an engaging experience for SUMMIT attendees we will feature four project areas – or ‘pods.’ Each pod will focus on a specific project currently managed by NCDMM. Within the pods we will showcase our project partners, project artifacts, and video presentations featuring the challenges and objectives of each specific project along with NCDMM’s approach and achievements. NCDMM program managers and project partners will be on hand to engage with attendees. The four NCDMM project areas showcased at SUMMIT 2019 are:

• Advanced Automation for Agile Aerospace Applications (A5) – The A5 Project seeks to create a foundational open-source software framework for adaptive robotic solutions in aerospace manufacturing and sustainment. The goal of A5 is to move away from traditional automation solutions that are tied directly to a specific component or aircraft toward a future state in which automation solutions adapt to part variations by using models that are combined with real-time sensor data to drive the automation process.
• America Makes, the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute – Managed by NCDMM, America Makes is the national accelerator for additive manufacturing (AM) with more than 220 member organizations and the nation’s leading and collaborative partner in AM technology research, discovery, creation, and innovation. As a public-private partnership, America Makes convenes leaders from industry, academia, and government; coordinates AM technical and workforce information and data; and catalyzes high-value, high-difficulty and high-impact research and development projects with the goal of increasing our nation’s global manufacturing and economic competitiveness.
• AMNOW – A new program managed by NCDMM with America Makes and Catalyst Connection to support AM technology insertion into the existing U.S. Army supply chain.
• Maturation of Advanced Manufacturing for Low-Cost Sustainment (MAMLS) – The MAMLS Project is a three-phase project aimed at improving efficiency of the factory and/or AF Air Logistics Complexes for rapid part replacement for legacy and other aircraft. Specifically, the goal of MAMLS project is to enhance and improve U.S. Air Force sustainment operations through the exploration, development, demonstration, and transition of advanced manufacturing technologies, including AM, reverse engineering & model generation, digital analysis and simulation, and others.

The NCDMM also plans to present its highest honor, the Lawrence J. Rhoades Award, to this year’s recipient at SUMMIT. The Rhoades Award was established to honor the memory of Mr. Rhoades whose entrepreneurial spirit and dedication to the advancement of manufacturing processes was known industry-wide. Mr. Rhoades was one of the founding fathers of the NCDMM, and an inaugural member of the Board of Directors where he served until his untimely death in 2007.

Following the day’s presentations, there will be a reception for attendees to continue networking, gain an understanding of project pod displays, and build mutually beneficial partnerships.

To wrap up SUMMIT 2019, NCDMM will once again hold its annual SUMMIT Golf Outing, on Thurs., May 9^th, for golfers to enjoy a fun-filled day of golf and a relaxed atmosphere for networking. Proceeds from the outing will benefit the Troops First Foundation, which provides meaningful assistance to the men and women of our military wounded while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. The foundation spends time at hospitals visiting the wounded and their families, building relationships, and gaining trust to assist with their many stages of recovery.

Golfers will play the Tom’s Run Golf Course at Chestnut Ridge Golf Resort & Conference Center. Tom’s Run was named one of the Best Golf Courses in Pennsylvania by Golf Digest and has earned a four and a half star rating. With its multiple tees and bent grass greens and fairways, Tom’s Run offers a truly memorable experience for golfers of all skill levels.

The NCDMM gratefully acknowledges the support of the following SUMMIT 2019 sponsors:

• Diamond: GE Research and Tronix3D
• Platinum: American Additive Manufacturing, LLC; The ExOne Company; and Indiana County Center for Economic Operations
• Gold: AMT—The Association For Manufacturing Technology; Big Metal Additive, Inc.; Center Street Technologies; Quotient, Inc.; and Youngstown Business Incubator (YBI)
• Silver: Babst | Calland; Cimquest, Inc.; and Solutionsx, LLC
• Media: Digital Engineering and The TCT Group

Join NCDMM at SUMMIT 2019. There’s still time to register! Don’t delay. For more information about SUMMIT 2019, visit www.ncdmmsummit.org.

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About NCDMM

NCDMM delivers optimized manufacturing solutions that enhance the quality, affordability, maintainability, and rapid deployment of existing and yet-to-be developed defense systems. This is accomplished through collaboration with government, industry, and academic organizations to promote the implementation of best practices to key stakeholders through the development and delivery of disciplined training, advanced technologies, and methodologies. NCDMM also manages the national accelerator for additive manufacturing (AM) and 3DP printing (3DP), America Makes—the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute. For additional information, visit NCDMM at ncdmm.org.