AMUG Newsletter May 2013

President’s Report

Bret Bordner
President

Our 25th anniversary Conference is in the books. We saw our president of two years, Gary Rabinovitz, step down and take on the past president role. I have some big shoes to fill – Gary did an outstanding job at leading this organization. While he passes the credit for success on to his board, I know that his hard work and fantastic leadership made all the difference. I look forward to building on the momentum he has generated.

I welcome our two newest members to the Board: secretary, Kim Killoran of Stratasys and vice president, Derek Ellis of CATI. Derek was elected by the Board, not by member votes, since we did not have candidates at the time of the business meeting held during the conference.

We saw record growth over the last two years and many changes resulting from suggestion given to us by you, the users. That progress starts with strategic planning. For your 2014 Conference, we will have our strategic planning meeting in Pittsburgh, Penn., the weekend prior to the RAPID show. Kicking off our meeting agenda will be sincere consideration of all of the suggestions that our members have shared.

If you have any suggestions to add, please forward them to me (president@am-ug.com).

Respectfully yours,

Bret Bordner
AMUG President
president@am-ug.com

Our Mission: Additive Manufacturing Users Group (AMUG) educates and advances the uses and applications of additive manufacturing technologies.

Past President’s Report

Gary Rabinovitz
President

Wow, it is hard to imagine that my two-year term as your AMUG president has come to an end. These have been two of the most rewarding years of my additive manufacturing career. We have worked very hard over that time to provide everyone with the best quality conference on the planet. I hope we fulfilled this mission.

Yet, we have by no means arrived at our final destination. In 2013 we added a new registration process that we believe was very successful. We made on-site registration a painless process. And we adjusted our focus to “Education and Training”. Yes, we have a long way to go, but we are heading in the right direction.

The Thursday morning feedback session has given us some very good information about the direction that all of you would like to see the agenda heading. Bret Bordner, as your new president, has the complete support of his board and will surely move the AMUG to new heights.

Respectfully yours,

Gary Rabinovitz
Past President
pastpresident@am-ug.com

President’s Award

Tim Gornet of the University of Louisville received the President’s Award. Gornet, the fifth to receive this prestigious award, is manager – rapid prototyping center operations at the university’s J.B. Speed School of Engineering and the users group’s past president.

Gary Rabinovitz, past president, said, “AMUG presented Tim this award in recognition of his exemplary vision, leadership and tireless years of service for the advancement of the users group.” In his presentation, Gary cited service, perseverance, passion, selflessness, professionalism and friendship as the qualities for which Tim deserved the President’s Award.

“I was very humbled, and this award was totally unexpected. I have been very lucky to be involved in AM for such a long time. I truly enjoy all the technologies, the AMUG and especially all the people I have been able to meet over the years through AM. I appreciate the honor and hope to continue to contribute back to the AM community,” said Tim.

Tim served as the AMUG president from 2011 to 2012, which was a critical transition period when we expanded to include all users from the additive manufacturing industry. Tim also served as chairman for the SLS users group prior to its merger with that for SLA.

Past recipients of the President’s Award are Thomas Sorovetz (2000), Patti Brown (2006), Guy Bourdeau (2007) and Bob Zubrickie (2010).

New DINOs

Congratulation to our five new DINO (Distinguished INnovator Operator) Award recipients. This prestigious award is well deserved by all.

• Chuck Alexander, Solid Concepts
• Brian Bauman, Linked In 3D
• Paul Bordner, Laser Reproductions
• Terry Hoppe, Stratasys
• Todd Grimm, T. A. Grimm & Associates

Technical Competitions

Once again, we’ve recognized excellence in additive manufacturing applications and skill in finishing additive manufacturing parts.

A panel of DINOs selected Carl Dekker, president of Met-L-Flo, as the winner for both categories. Carl’s entry was a prototype shifter assembly that used multiple additive manufacturing technologies. Runner ups included Danice Chou, Biomedical Modeling Inc., Joe Holland, Christie Digital Systems/Hyphen, and Steve Kossett, Northern Lights Technology Center.

Sponsor News – Stratasys

Orange County Choppers 3D Prints Bike Parts

Stratasys recently released a behind-the-scenes video and case study on Orange County Choppers (OCC), the custom motorcycle shop behind the long-running Discovery Channel series “American Chopper.” The shop found that parts printed on its Fortus 400mc 3D Production System are tough enough for many end-use applications, including a lifelike, angry Chinese dragon head that breathes life into a client’s dream bike.

OCC designer Jason Pohl took advantage of additive manufacturing’s design freedom and ability to print tough thermoplastics. “The Fortus machine captured every detail down to the ribs on the roof of the dragon’s mouth,” Pohl said.

See the video and read the case study here: stratasys.com/resources/case-studies/automotive/orange-county-choppers.

Secretary’s Report

Kim Killoran
Secretary

Our 25th Silver Anniversary AMUG Conference was an overwhelming success. This year’s conference was packed with presentations, training and people.

It was great to see old friends and make new ones. Out of the 338 attendees, almost half (161) came for the first time! The chart shows the wealth of AM experience assembled at the conference.

The Sorovetz Report

Tom Sorovetz
Event Manager

Well, the 2013 AMUG Conference and Exhibition is a lot like Christmas (or Hanukkah, for Gary). You spend months planning for it; your adrenaline is pumping in anticipation; you can’t wait for the day to finally arrive; and it seems like in a “blink of the eye” it’s over. To me, and I am sure a lot of us, this is exactly what happened. Now we look forward to 2014.

From the comments I heard, it was an overwhelming success (with 338 attendees, of which 161 were first time attendees). Everyone was very positive, and the air was electrified with excitement. Some of the telltale signs I use to gauge the success are the number of attendees that participate in the evening functions, how long everyone stays and the amount of conversations that are taking place. The Thursday night BBQ had over 150 attendees, and a big majority (at least 120 people) stayed until midnight, well after the function ended. This speaks volumes about how successful the conference was as well as what a great, tight-knit family we have developed over the years.

Well, enough of the past. It is now time to start focusing on the 2014 conference and ways that we can make it even better. One way is to get more vendors, attendees and sponsors. So please start making phone calls today to help achieve this goal. If there are specific presentations you would like to have, please contact Bret so he can add it to the agenda.

I am sure everyone is wondering where the 2014 AMUG Conference will take place. We should be ready to announce it in the June newsletter, which should give everyone plenty of time to plan for it.

See you next year in ?????,

Thomas A. Sorovetz
Event Manager