America Makes

• (1) Design
• (2) Process
• (3) Material
• (4) Value Chain
• (5) AM Genome

America Makes hosts a number of projects that have upcoming Request for Proposal deadlines.

For more information on membership, please visit here

June 29th - America Makes continues to fulfill its mission of building an additive manufacturing (AM) talent pipeline across the state of Ohio with the announcement of the Ohio Secondary Education Additive Manufacturing Training Network.

Created in collaboration with and support from the Ohio Development Services Agency (OSDA), this network will provide formal education and training of AM technologies to high school students and their educators to ensure the next generation of Ohio workers are equipped with the skills to fill advanced manufacturing jobs. Initially, 10 high schools statewide, including those in both urban and rural settings and representing public, charter, and career and technical schools are participating in the network.

Read more here

May 20th - America Makes continues to advance its mission to train the future additive workforce with the announcement of a recently completed pilot program designed to expose middle school students to 3D printing and future career opportunities. The virtual program allows students to earn mini-badges in additive manufacturing (AM). It was funded by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act through the Manufacturing USA National Emergency Assistance Program.

The America Makes middle school program is designed to build the career pathways and talent pipelines necessary for the highly skilled positions within the AM industry, and aligns directly to previously developed programs that target high school students, post-secondary education students, and incumbent workers.

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May 6th - America Makes reflects on the Institutes response to the U.S. pandemic. Through the National Institutes of Health’s 3D Print Exchange (owned and operated by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases), America Makes connects manufacturers with free PPE designs that manufacturers can download. As of February, 624 published designs were available on the exchange — 34 designs were optimized for clinical use and 28 were optimized for community use. The designs have been downloaded more than 200,000 times. Through the effort, America Makes assisted front-line workers in obtaining hundreds of thousands of pieces of critical PPE supplies from quality manufacturers across the country.

As a result of America Makes’ proactive support in energizing its U.S. community, the DOD subsequently awarded $4.7 million to the institute to enhance and expand its design innovation program, increasing the DOD’s ability to rapidly vet, certify and field PPE designs to quickly match supply with demand and recommend improvements. This is one of 13 MII COVID-19 response projects that the DOD sponsored through $60.7 million in funding through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, and is a prominent example of how the MIIs provide innovative and accelerated production approaches.

Read more about the response to the COVID-19 pandemic here

March 24th - America Makes recently announced five awardees of two recent Rapid Innovation Calls worth $285K in funding from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Manufacturing, and Industrial Base Technology Division with $85.5K in matching funds from awarded project teams for total funding worth $370,500. The RICs seek to optimize materials data to foster analytics and advance additive manufacturing (AM) qualification and certification (Q&C).  

Read more about the awardees here

January 21st - America Makes announces two new Rapid Innovation Calls (RICs) worth $100K in total funding from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Manufacturing and Industrial Base Technology Division to optimize additive manufacturing (AM) materials data and accelerate qualification/certification efforts within the supply chain.

“Our RIC project model provides a vehicle to leverage direct and actionable input from our membership community, enabling the Institute to pivot quickly to the evolving challenges of the supply chain and address critical needs within our industry,” said Brandon D. Ribic, Ph.D., America Makes Technology Director. “Both of today’s RIC topics address distinct areas focused on leveraging data to facilitate a more expansive and broader understanding of AM materials, processes, and qualification, which will lead to the creation of critical reference standards for AM products.” read more here

January 12th - The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has awarded nearly $4 million in grants to help accelerate the adoption of new measurement methods and standards to advance U.S. competitiveness in metals-based additive manufacturing.

“By addressing important measurement challenges, these projects will improve U.S. manufacturers’ ability to use metals-based additive manufacturing to make high-quality, innovative and complex products at high volume,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Walter G. Copan. “We look forward to working with these organizations to further leverage NIST experience and expertise in this key area of advanced manufacturing.”

Read more regarding this initiative here

December 7th - America Makes, announces a three-month extension of the submission deadline for the Open Source-Additive Scanning Implementation Strategy (OASIS) Challenge, worth $68K in total funding. Submissions are now due on March 1, 2021.

“The decision to grant a three-month extension was an easy one given the unique dynamics of the year,” said America Makes Executive Director John Wilczynski. “The focus area of this challenge is of great interest and importance to AFRL and the industry at large. With the additional time, we look forward to receiving submissions with even more innovative and synthesized approaches.”

The OASIS Challenge seeks the submission of open-source computer codes and algorithms to help advance laser-based powder bed additive manufacturing (AM).

Revised challenge timeline, as well as further details, can be found here

October 13th - America Makes is proud to announce their 2020 class of America Makes Ambassadors. The Ambassador Program, launched in 2017, recognizes individuals who have continually demonstrated outstanding dedication to advancing America Makes and its mission.

“The additive manufacturing industry has been challenged like never before this year. This year’s class represents individuals who have continued to be at the forefront of pushing additive manufacturing to new heights” said America Makes Executive Director John Wilczynski. “Their important work is setting the trajectory for the industry’s future and we are honored to have them as part of the America Makes program.”

Check out the full list of honorees here

August 25th - America Makes has launched a new challenge with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and GE Research. The Open Source-Additive Scanning Implementation Strategy (OASIS) Challenge seeks the submission of open-source computer codes and algorithms to help advance laser-based powder bed additive manufacturing (AM).

“While tremendous progress has been made in this space there are still challenges with the proprietary nature of commercial scan strategies,” said America Makes Executive Director John Wilczynski. “This challenge seeks to address those issues head-on and create a body of work that can be utilized across the industry.”

Read More here

August 6th - AlphaSTAR Corporation (ASC), in collaboration with General Electric Global Research Center, University of Southern California (USC) Viterbi Center for Advanced Manufacturing, and University of Michigan (UoM) Aerospace Engineering, is pleased to announce a recent contract awarded by the Defense Logistics Agency, aimed at improving the mechanical properties and structural performance of AM fabricated metal parts.

AM technology is relatively new to manufacturing and has many hurdles to overcome before universal adoption as a replacement to traditional manufacturing. As such, there exists an ongoing challenge to provide out of production parts and maintain mission readiness of various weapons system platforms. “Grain Boundary Engineering can improve mechanical strain, crack growth and fatigue properties of the AM part compared to current equiaxed-grain-boundaries in ‘As-Built’ vs. ‘As-Is’ parts,” says Dr. Rashid Miraj, Director of Technical Operations at AlphaSTAR.

Read more here

July 31st - America Makes has announced four new projects aimed to accelerate the adoption of additive manufacturing (AM) and offer a new way for the supply chain to engage in the Institute. sonic applications.

Each project call has a unique set of topics and submission requirements. Further details on them can be found at  https://www.americamakes.us/project-calls/ and will be presented at the America Makes Technical Review Exchange (TRX), being held virtually August 4-5.

• The Open Project Call will leverage collaboration and perspectives from the existing America Makes membership, working groups, and Roadmap Advisory Group (RMAG). The goal for this project call is to create actionable focus areas to address the needs of the membership and its stakeholders.

• AM for Hypersonics Project Call will accelerate the maturation of additively manufactured high temperature metals which offer potential to impact cost, performance, and lead time for hypersonic capabilities. AM has been identified as key to timely fielding of hypersonic capabilities and addressing shortfalls of traditional manufacturing processes which are often costly, low-yield, and labor intensive.

• Member Driven Rapid Innovation Call will seek to address immediate and readily actionable needs identified by America Makes members. The Rapid Innovation Call will allow the Institute an agile framework to adapt to the evolving challenges of the supply chain via direct input from the membership. Full details will be available on August 4.

• Government Driven Rapid Innovation Call will follow the same process as the Member Driven Rapid Innovation Call, except it will gather needs from government stakeholders. Full details will be available on August 4.

Read More here  

July 17th - United States Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross was recently at the America Makes facility in Youngstown, Ohio to announce a new investive commitment. The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has awarded $3.4 million in grants to support high-impact projects for COVID-19 pandemic response.

The funding will be allocated amongst four Manufacturing USA® institutes, the following projects were chosen to receive grants through the competitive process, based on technical merit and impact related to the COVID-19 national emergency:

1. America Makes: Building Partnerships to Increase Production of Medical Equipment

2. LIFT: Operation Next Training for Pandemic Recovery

3. Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing: Collaborative Robots for COVID-19 Testing

4. BioFabUSA: Technology Roadmapping for Pandemic Response and Recovery

Read more here

July 3rd - To help combat the spread of COVID-19, America Makes has joined forces with the FDA, NIH, and VA to be the bridge connecting the need for medical PPE with manufacturers capable of 3D printing safe PPE for medical providers.  America Makes retains an online repository, actively collecting submissions from health care providers in need of medical PPE, manufacturers with 3D printing capabilities, and designers willing to share 3D print designs. Explore opportunities to get involved here