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Award-Winning Innovations in Additive Manufacturing

Jeff DeGrange
By Jeff DeGrange CC Chair, TCLC Past Chair, 2023 SME Industry Award Winner, SME Fellow, Bright Minds Mentor, Chief Commercial Officer, Impossible Objects Inc.
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I’m delighted to introduce this edition of Voices AMplified, which features two award-winning innovations solving big problems through additive manufacturing (AM).

The additive industry has seen technology acceleration over the past decade with advancements in equipment, materials and software driven by a number of new industrial applications. Various direct metal additive efforts for design, build, material, and process certification and qualification have opened the door to high-value, end-use parts. In addition to technology improvements, workforce development and training programs have helped large and small organizations train their future engineering and manufacturing staff on how to harvest the full design and build advantages of AM.

Just look at how certain additive systems have scaled in part size, build speeds with deposition rates of up to 500 pounds of material per hour, and open material systems that expand opportunities into building industry markets. In the first article, you’ll learn how researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Maine are addressing the low income housing crisis plaguing the United States with BioHome3D, the world’s first fully bio-based, recyclable and highly insulated 3D-printed house. By producing low-cost, affordable, eco-friendly and efficient homes for those who need them the most, they’re helping the millions of citizens in this country who are forced to live in tents and lean on the kindness of others to find safe shelter. The solution is so impressive, it won the SME Aubin Case Study Award that recognizes outstanding use cases of AM adoption and implementation, inspiring others in their journey of AM application. The capability to produce large, easy-to-assemble, modular home structures or place portable 3D-extrusion systems to build cost-effective housing will help address skilled worker shortages, provide cost-effective homes and fuel a new approach to construction.

The second article shines a light on Mantle Inc. and its co-founders Ted Sorom and Steve Connor. The duo spent years developing a hybrid 3D-printing and machining solution and just earned SME’s AM Start-Up Technology Award, recognizing entrepreneurs who develop unique technology or applications to solve problems. Mantle’s TrueShape process made H13 tool steel inserts for a $16 billion injection molding industry, and it is a great example of finding low-risk applications with significant market growth potential. Mantle’s focus on tooling rather than trying to capture end-use metal parts with taller part sizes and more demanding build requirements was a smart business move. 

Besides great industrial additive applications, I am most interested in the future of 3D bioprinting to help with drug treatment research or produce scaffolds that can be applied to bone, muscle tissue, ligaments and skin for faster healing times. With so much research in the 3D bioprinting field, the potential impact on quality of life for humanity is astounding. How exciting is that?

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