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AMUG Newsletter April 2017

By April 20, 2017May 15th, 2017
 

APRIL 2017

President’s Report

Whew! The hard work paid off. The 2017 AMUG Conference in Chicago was a great success with over 300 presentations, workshops and panel discussions. I hope you enjoyed our four keynote speakers, each accomplished in their own AM applications, and the experience of hearing from this year’s Innovators Showcase honoree, Carl Deckard, inventor of Selective Laser Sintering.

Personally, I did not see half of what the conference offered; no one could.  That’s a good problem to have. With 20 concurrent sessions at any given time, there were too many compelling topics and too little time! I hope you had a similar experience.

Year over year, AMUG attendance growth was 50%, with a total of 1600 conference registrants. For the first time, we had to stop accepting registrations because we could not exceed the seating capacity of the hotel’s main ballroom. There’s something exciting about 1600 people in one place — all owners and operators of additive manufacturing equipment — sharing their experiences and best practices.

Collectively, the 2017 AMUG attendees had 10,557 years of AM experience!  Nowhere else could you tap that deep of a pool of AM experience and expertise.

Feedback thus far for the 2017 conference has included words like “inclusive,” “amazing” and “energizing.” We will be assessing what went right and where we can improve for the 2018 AMUG Conference. You’ll have a chance to give us your opinions through the attendee survey that was emailed a week ago. Please completed it soon since the survey closes April 28. If you did not receive it, look in your spam filter.

You should have also received an email containing your link to the conference proceedings (if not, check your spam filter). For those that used the mobile app at the conference, the presentations are also accessible there.

It was great to meet many of you at the 2017 AMUG Conference!  Thank you for being a part of the record-setting event.

Steve Deak

Steve Deak
AMUG President

First-Time Attendees

The 2017 AMUG Conference was a huge success. With over 50% of attendees being first timers, they contributed to that success in a big way.

With the conclusion of this year’s conference, our first-time attendees are now veterans that recognize that it is hard to describe, in a brochure or on a website, what make the event different. That is why AMUG relies heavily on word of mouth to drive attendance for the upcoming year.

I ask that all of the newly initiated veterans share their experiences with co-workers and colleagues to help make the 2018 conference another top-notch, record-setting event that is “For users, by the users.”

Derek Ellis
Deputy VP – New Members

Your New Board

Congratulations to the new AMUG board, elected by our members in the business meeting held during the AMUG Conference. Effective July 1, 2017, our new president, Paul Bates, will be leading the charge for building the 2018 conference. The elected officers have also announced the names of those appointed to fill positions on the board and those that support the board’s activities.

Your 2017 – 2018 team is:

  • President: Paul Bates, UL
  • Past President: Steve Deak, GE Aviation
  • Vice President: Carl Dekker, Met-L-Flo
  • Vice President: Jamie Cone, BD
  • Event Manager: Tom Sorovetz, FCA
  • Secretary: Kim Killoran, Stratasys
  • Chairman: Gary Rabinovitz, Reebok
  • Treasurer: Vince Anewenter, Milwaukee School of Engineering
  • AM Industry Advisor: Todd Grimm, T. A. Grimm & Associates
  • Deputy Vice President: Derek Ellis, Computer Aided Technology, Inc.
  • Deputy Vice President: Mark Wynn, Yazaki North America
  • Deputy Vice President: Dana McCallum, Carbon
  • Deputy Vice President: Mark Barfoot, University of Waterloo
  • Deputy Vice President: Jay Dinsmore, Dinsmore & Associates
  • Deputy Secretary: Leslie Frost, Arcam
  • Registrar: Kevin Zaras, DSM Functional Materials
AMUG's 2017-2018 Board

Front row (L to R): Steve Deak, Paul Bates, Gary Rabinovitz and Vince Anewenter. Back row (L to R): Derek Ellis, Mark Abshire, Carl Dekker, Tom Sorovetz, Jamie Cone, Kim Killoran, Todd Grimm, Mark Wynn, Dana McCallum, Jay Dinsmore and Mark Barfoot. Missing: Leslie Frost, Kevin Zaras.

DINOs Awarded at Conference

Ten deserving individuals received one of AMUG’s most coveted awards, the Distinguished INovator Operator (DINO). Steve Deak, AMUG president, said, “To me, the DINO Award is reserved for those that make a difference over many years. And it is about making a difference without seeking glory, praise or profit for their efforts. This year’s class of DINOs embodies that selfless, giving nature, which ironically is what makes them deserving of recognition for all that they have done.”

The 2017 DINOs are:

  • Ted Anderson, GE Additive
  • Bruce Bradshaw, Arcam AB
  • Carl Deckard, Structured Polymers
  • Joerg Griessbach, The SL Pro
  • Jim Harrison, The Solid Experts
  • Kim Killoran, Stratasys
  • Peter Liacouras, Walter Reed Military Medical Center
  • Steve Murray, Hoosier Pattern
  • Shannon VanDeren, Layered Manufacturing and Consulting
  • Kevin Zaras, DSM Functional Materials

Congratulations to all of you. Well done!

2017 AMUG DINOs

Front row (left to right): Kim Killoran, Peter Liacouras, Carl Deckard, Joerg Griessbach, Steve Murray, and Ted Anderson. Back row (Left to right): Bruce Bradshaw, Jim Harrison, Shannon VanDeren, and Kevin Zaras.

Technical Competition Winners

We had some amazing entries in this year’s Technical Competition, and the judges had a very hard time selecting the winners. But after much deliberation, the judges selected Mike Littrell of CIDEAS, Inc. and Vince Anewenter of Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) for the top spots.

Mike Littrell won the Advanced Finishing category for his spectacular 1931 Cord Series L-29 Cabriolet. CIDEAS brought this car to life using Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) and Stereolithography (SLA). According to Littrell, 99.9% of the car is 3D printed; the only exceptions are fabric and leather coverings, brass spokes, and brass nuts.

Vince Anewenter won the Advanced Concepts category with “Tamper Proof Gages.” This gage allows shop-floor personnel to quickly perform several quality control measurements on two versions of a stamped part. The ingenious aspect is that Anewenter’s team elected to use a ceramic-filled SLA resin that would fracture if struck or dropped. Fracturing prevents a common problem of unreported gage damage, which can lead to unnecessary scrap and rework.

Advanced Concepts

  • 1st place: Vince Anewenter, MSOE
  • 2nd place: Ryan Van Deest, Caterpillar Inc.
  • 3rd place: Richard Smeenk, Agile Manufacturing

Advanced Finishing

  • 1st place: Mike Littrell, CIDEAS, INc.
  • 2nd place: Patrick Walls, Laser Prototypes Europe Ltd.
  • 3rd place: Mike Scianna and John Warner, DSM Functional Materials

Photo Gallery – Relive the 2017 Conference

Take a break from your daily activities and relive the 2017 conference by scrolling through the recently posted photo gallery. There are nearly 600 pictures, covering everything from keynotes to evening festivities, for you to see.

If you have any photos that you think should be added, contact Todd Grimm at amadvisor@am-ug.com. Please note that we need good resolution (1024 x 683) and that we won’t be able to cite any copyright or source.

SPONSOR NEWS

Carbon Launches SpeedCell, Announces First Mass-produced 3D-printed Shoe with adidas

For anyone paying attention, Carbon has clearly been building up a lot of momentum over the last few weeks. Just before the AMUG Conference, Carbon launched the SpeedCell, an expanding system of securely connected manufacturing unit operations that enable repeatable production of end-use parts at any scale. At the conference, Carbon unveiled two new SpeedCell unit operations:

  • M2 printer: an industrial-grade 3D printer with double the build volume of its predecessor, the M1
  • Smart Part Washer: an automated system that delivers simple, repeatable part washing at production scale.

Last week, Carbon announced a partnership with adidas and unveiled the first mass-produced 3D printed shoe, Futurecraft 4D. The shoe is the first application of 3D printing at scale using Carbon’s Digital Light Synthesis technology.

As the partnership with adidas shows, the evolution of manufacturing is happening now. Gone are the days when companies had to use the same old manufacturing model: Design → Make a model → Make a tool → Make final parts at volume. Now, businesses can stop prototyping and start producing. Learn more at www.carbon3d.com.

Futurecraft 4D midsole on M1 printer.

Great to See You in Chicago

It was a very busy week for everyone. We learned a lot and saw a lot of new things—and met new people—at the AMUG Conference.

A special thanks to all those that stopped by to see the unveiling of our latest material, Somos® Taurus, on Sunday evening at the AMUGexpo. Somos Taurus is the first of several high-performance SLA materials to come from Somos that combines the toughness and temperature resistance that is required for end-use applications. With a heat deflection temperature (HDT) of 95°C (203°F), fully functional parts can be created for applications that have more stringent high-heat requirements for prototyping or low-volume end-use parts. We are excited to see what applications it will open up for the industry. Learn more.

We hope you enjoyed the festivities with Benny the Bull and the LuvABulls, along with seeing the amazing large parts at our booth.

We would also like to congratulate our newest DINO (Distinguished INnovator Operator) Award recipient, Kevin Zaras. It is a great honor to say we have three DINO’s on our team.

Thanks for the great memories, and we look forward to seeing you again soon!

Somos® Taurus unveiled at AMUGexpo.

SLM Solutions www.slm-solutions.us

SLM Solutions, Divergent 3D Announce Strategic Partnership at AMUG Conference

Metallurgical presentations, experience with tooling applications and a customer users group weren’t the only happenings last month at the AMUG Conference for SLM Solutions. Kevin Czinger, CEO of Divergent 3D, presented the future of additive manufacturing for transportation, and the packed room was the first to hear the announcement of a strategic partnership with SLM Solutions aimed at producing more profitable, innovative and environmentally sustainable vehicles.

Already a user of SLM 500 quad laser selective laser melting systems, Divergent 3D also recently partnered with Peugeot to develop metal printing processes for the mass production of vehicle structures based on the model of the California 3D printing startup. Divergent 3D’s goal is to develop a manufacturing platform that reduces the number of chassis structure parts through additive manufacturing, thus leading to more environmental friendly production utilizing selective laser melting from SLM Solutions.

For more information and video of production, click here.

Divergent 3D’s Blade supercar.

Here’s to Those Behind a Great Conference

We extend a sincere “Thank You” to everyone who made AMUG Conference successful and impactful for all who attended! We were proud to be a leading sponsor of the AMUG Conference—the best true AM user group in the world.

EOS also congratulates the newly elected AMUG Board, with a special congratulation to Paul Bates who will be assuming the role of AMUG president this year. Paul is also a large part of the successful AM training and education provided by UL, which has the EOS M 290 onsite—delivering training on the most installed and trusted metal 3D printer in the industry. All AMUG members can learn more about the UL training here.

EOS M 290 is at the heart of UL’s training.

Excited to be Part of the AMUG Family!

This was BASF’s first year as a Diamond sponsor. Participating in a ‘for users – by users’ event proved to be the right venue to meet, learn, and collaborate with experts in the additive manufacturing industry. We are all looking forward to continuing our engagement with the AMUG community and together creating the unexpected.

We hope you had the opportunity to visit our booth and attend our track sessions. During our sessions, we focused on sharing some of our exciting advancements in 3D-printing technology, simulation tools, services and materials. We also launched the Design Contest on ‘How to use BASF Materials for Functional Parts’ where the winner will take a one-week trip to Heidelberg, Germany, to work with our experts at our Application Technology Center. You have until July 1, 2017, to submit your design.

Moving forward, please be on the lookout for BASF’s 3D-Printing Webinar Series. In the meantime, don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you have any questions: 3d-printing@basf.com.

Finally, we invite you to take ~90 seconds to watch the video below—a recap of the 2017 AMUG event and a few thoughts from our team. More to come…

Video recapping the AMUG Conference experience.

Video recapping the AMUG Conference experience.

Renishaw www.renishaw.com

Renishaw QuantAM Dental Software Creating Smiles

Last month, during the AMUG Conference, Diamond sponsor Renishaw was busy demonstrating its QuantAM build preparation software for Renishaw high-performance, industrial metal AM systems. Meanwhile, in Germany, Renishaw was also exhibiting at the International Dental Show at (IDS) where it previewed QuantAM Dental, a new software package, which increases automation in the production of dental products.

Removing the need for multiple software subscriptions, QuantAM Dental offers time-saving operations in several areas, including part orientation, and ID tagging of frameworks for the easy identification of custom parts. In addition, the software is capable of auto-fixing STLs, automatic support strategy optimized for dental frameworks and auto part nesting with the option to group by framework type.

These innovations help to streamline a complex process that encompasses the daily production of 100s or even 1000s of frameworks designed in disparate and uncontrolled CAD systems, translating into significant labor reduction.

Renishaw has worked with a number of dental laboratories to integrate additive manufacturing, including UK-based Swift Dental Laboratory who said, “Not only is the company’s technology on the cutting edge of the global manufacturing industry, but its technical support and customer service is first class.”

For more information, visit www.renishaw.com/additive.

Dental build plate on a Renishaw metal AM system.

Stratasys www.stratasys.com

Additive Manufacturing in 2017 and Beyond

This year at the AMUG Conference, Stratasys organized an hour-long discussion with expert panelists, all thought-leaders in the industry. Moderated by Todd Grimm, the panel discussed how the industry got to where it is today, and it then turned to advancements in 3D printing processes, materials and software.

The discussion, which was very well attended and had standing room only, offered insight and guidance to help companies map out their 3D printing strategies by covering key challenges, developments and opportunities for growth in manufacturing.

Panelists included:

  • David Dreyer, Solution Principal, Digital Manufacturing Center of Excellence at SAP
  • Aaron Frankel, Senior Director of Marketing at Siemens PLM Software
  • Tim Gornet, Manager of Rapid Prototyping Center at University of Louisville
  • Dr. Phil Reeves, VP of Consulting at Stratasys

For more on our advancements in manufacturing, visit Stratasys.com.

ssys_april17

Additive Manufacturing in 2017 and Beyond panel discussion at AMUG Conference.

Thank You for Joining HP at the AMUG Conference!

The HP team really enjoyed sharing in your excitement over HP Multi Jet Fusion technology and showcasing the speed, productivity and efficiency achieved by the HP Jet Fusion 3D Printing Solution during our live 3D-printing, post-processing and fast-cooling demos. We had a full house at the HP Conference sessions and will repeat some of these sessions online for those who were not able to get a seat during the conference. Stay tuned!

We would like to extend a special thanks to our customers and partners who participated  in presentations and joined us on stage to share their visions for and experiences with HP Multi Jet Fusion. Thanks to BASF, BMW, Evonik, Jabil, Siemens PLM and SigmaDesign for your cooperation.

HP news highlights from the AMUG Conference included:

  • New 3D printing materials development innovations with global leaders BASF and Evonik, including availability of Evonik VESTOSINT 3D Z2773 (PA-12 based) for the HP Jet Fusion 3D Printing Solution.

It was a real pleasure to exchange expertise, ideas, challenges and best practices with you, the additive manufacturing community, at this year’s AMUG Conference!

Moments in HP’s suite captured at the conference.

3D Systems www.3dsystems.com

3D Systems Unveils Scalable, Fully-Integrated Additive Manufacturing Platform

3D Systems introduced AMUG Conference attendees to the industry’s first modular, scalable and fully-integrated additive manufacturing platform based on the company’s revolutionary Figure 4 technology. The new platform produces plastic parts more than 50 times faster than current systems, delivering precision, productivity and a compelling total cost of operations to customers across healthcare, aerospace, automotive, dental and durable goods industries. The platform is configurable to customers’ specific applications and can scale from a single print engine machine to a high-volume production system made up of 16 or more print engines.

3D Systems also expanded capabilities in other core technologies, launching four new LaserForm® materials for direct metal printing as well as the new ProJet® MJP 2500W for 100% real wax printing for applications in jewelry and investment casting. The company also added new plastic materials to the ProJet MJP 2500 Series to advance applications requiring rigid properties, such as snap-fit assemblies.

These advancements, among others, are part of 3D Systems’ commitment to deliver productivity, repeatability, durability and improved total cost of operations to drive real 3D production for its customers.

3D Systems’ Figure 4 fully automated, high-volume 16-print engine production solution.

Additive Manufacturing Magazine www.additivemanufacturing.media

Additive Alongside Subtractive in Fourth-Generation Machine

Congratulations to incoming AMUG President Paul Bates! Paul was a speaker at our most recent Additive Manufacturing Conference. More than that, Paul has appeared on the cover of Additive Manufacturing’s most recent issue (distributed at the AMUG Conference). Paul was one of the models wearing protective gear in the photo we staged for our article on safety. The other person is his UL colleague, Ed Tackett.

Like practically everyone who attended the AMUG Conference, the event was a busy one for us. We are still working through the conversations and interviews we had that will lead to stories we’ll share.

Just after the event closed, we posted some impressions of this year’s conference. One of those impressions related to the primacy given to 3D printing as an option for part production. Leading sponsors focused on this and showed technology aimed at production. For a picture of a business now oriented toward this application of 3D printing, see this profile of a fourth-generation machine shop embracing metal additive manufacturing that is now using AM in synergy with its CNC machine tools. Indeed, this small firm is striking for the extent to which it is committed to the promise of AM for ongoing production.

3D Metal Printing Magazine www.3dmpmag.com

News and Technology Tidbits Abound at AMUG Conference

3D Metal Printing made the rounds at the AMUG Conference last month in Chicago, our first time attending, and we learned quite a lot by visiting with exhibitors and listening to conference presenters. And, of course, the social events offered great opportunities to mingle and share industry knowledge.

Of particular interest were technology displays by metal-machine manufacturers, including SLM, EOS, XJet, 3DEO, BeAM Machines and others. And, we spoke with Ricoh and Underwriters Laboratories (UL) about their recent partnership, which aims to provide additional training resources to the AM industry. The goal: combine UL AM training with Ricoh’s proven training services and expertise. UL will use its AM train-the-trainer program to on-board Ricoh experts to deliver AM training to UL and Ricoh customers.

Not to overlook the dozens of informative tracks available for attendees, we particularly appreciated informative talks provided by Caterpillar, 3D Platform (on balancing speed, quality and cost) and a Stratasys panel discussion hosted by Todd Grimm.

Speaking of Caterpillar, don’t miss the upcoming spring issue of 3D Metal Printing, which includes an exclusive interview with Stacey DelVecchio, Caterpillar additive manufacturing (AM) product manager. She’ll spell out the company’s AM goals and objectives, and she’ll highlight activities in its new 4,500-sq.-ft. AM factory.

DelVecchio will also be a featured speaker at the 3D Metal Printing Experience and Tech Tour, August 16-17 in Schaumburg (Chicago), IL. Navigate here to learn more.

Caterpillar ball check valve—a 3D metal-printing application showcased in the Stacey DelVecchio’s upcoming interview.

TCT Magazine www.tctmagazine.com

TCT Hall of Fame Shortlist Announced – cast your vote!

The 2017 Additive Manufacturing User Group Conference concluded little more than a month ago, but at TCT Towers we’ve been reliving the highlights and launches for our AMUG Review coming up in the next issue of TCT North America. Subscribe for your free copy here.

Meanwhile, the TCT Expert Advisory Board has spoken, and the shortlist for the first TCT Hall of Fame induction has been announced—Group Editor, Daniel O’Connor explains how the process works here. Designed to recognize the figures behind the biggest innovations and applications in the 3D technologies industry, the shortlist is now open to a public vote, and the five nominees with the most votes will be inducted into the TCT Hall of Fame at the inaugural TCT Awards event during the annual TCT Show in Birmingham, UK. Who gets in is up to you. Voting will remain open until June 2nd, with the five inductees being announced on September 27th. Get voting!

Nominees for the TCT Hall of Fame.