Auburn Engineering showcases AM expertise with Army Additive Manufacturing Summit
Published: Jun 8, 2021 12:00 AM
By Jeremy Henderson
Auburn University strengthened its status as the nation's leading academic institution for additive manufacturing research last week during the Army Additive Manufacturing (AM) Summit hosted by the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering.
More than 100 researchers and officials, including those representing the U.S. Army, NASA, the FAA, General Electric, and ASTM International attended the all-day June 2 summit, which was designed to support the Army's exploration into integrating AM technology into its ground and air vehicles.
"The research being conducted here at Auburn is important to the Army because additive manufacturing is going to provide two different capabilities," said Maj. Gen. Darren L. Werner, commanding general of the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM). "It's going to give us capability in our organic industrial base to integrate advanced manufacturing techniques, and it's also going to provide deployability of advanced manufacturing capability that we can potentially move into a forward location to produce repair parts for our combat systems."
Werner was one of several who delivered presentations at the event. Others were Maj. Gen. K. Todd Royar, commanding general of U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command; Michael Cadieux, director for the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command’s Ground Vehicle Systems Center; Jeffrey Langhout, director of U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Aviation and Missile Center; Larry Leopard, associate director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center; Katharine E. Morgan, president of ASTM International; Cynthia Ashforth, senior technical specialist for the Federal Aviation Administration; Doug Wells, senior technical specialist at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center; Mark Shaw, director of Government Programs and Technology for GE Additive; Mohsen Seifi, ASTM director of global additive manufacturing programs; John Tomblin, Wichita State University’s senior vice president of industry and defense programs; and Nima Shamsaei, director of Auburn's National Center for Additive Manufacturing Excellence.
Auburn University President Jay Gogue, as well as engineering dean Christopher B. Roberts, also spoke. The event was moderated by Steve Taylor, associate dean for engineering research.
"After more than a year of Zoom meetings, it was great to sit down with AM industry leaders in person, roll up our sleeves and use Auburn’s expertise and resources to help the Army take the steps that will improve its readiness and ultimately better protect our nation," Taylor said.
In 2017, Auburn University established the National Center for Additive Manufacturing Excellence (NCAME) through a public-private partnership with NASA. The summit concluded with a tour of the center's state-of-the-art facilities located within the Gavin Engineering Research Laboratory, which underwent an $18 million renovation in 2018.
"This place is impressive. It's awesome," Werner said. "But not just the facilities — it's the faculty, like Dr. Shamsaei, and the students. It's just a great group doing great work."
Maj. Gen. Royar agreed.
“The summit hosted by Auburn,” he said, “was extremely beneficial in bringing together the government, industry, and the great work being done in academia, such as that at Auburn, to collectively advance the potential AM promises.”
Media Contact: , jdh0123@auburn.edu, 334-844-3591
Nima Shamsaei, director of Auburn's National Center for Additive Manufacturing Excellence, speaks on qualification for additively manufactured materials and parts at the recent Army Additive Manufacturing Summit. Seated, from left to right, are: Maj. Gen. K. Todd Royar, commanding general of U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command; Jeffrey Langhout, director of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Aviation & Missile Center; and Maj. Gen. Darren L. Werner, commanding general of the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command.
