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U.S. Army additive manufacturing team visits Auburn’s National Center for Additive Manufacturing Excellence, cites university as strategic partner

By Morgan Martin

Published: Mar 25, 2019 12:00:00 AM

Representatives from the Team Redstone Additive Manufacturing Integrated Product Team (IPT) pose with the staff of Auburn University’s National Center for Additive Manufacturing Excellence, or NCAME. Representatives from the Team Redstone Additive Manufacturing Integrated Product Team (IPT) pose with the staff of Auburn University’s National Center for Additive Manufacturing Excellence, or NCAME.

Representatives from the Team Redstone Additive Manufacturing Integrated Product Team (IPT) recently visited Auburn University’s National Center for Additive Manufacturing Excellence, or NCAME, to tour the center’s additive manufacturing facilities and continue discussions on current and future collaborations with Auburn.

Based at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, the Team Redstone Additive Manufacturing IPT is managed by the U.S. Army and NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. Both organizations have cited Auburn University as a strategic partner in additive manufacturing initiatives.

The Team Redstone Additive Manufacturing IPT was established in 2014 to increase knowledge and collaboration in additive manufacturing. The team’s membership consists of 38 organizations including government, academia and industry. Auburn University has been a member since 2017.

“I look forward to growing our working relationship with NASA and Auburn as strategic partners to advance additive manufacturing technology to improve our weapon and space systems,” said Dr. Amy Lawrence, manufacturing science and technology division chief at the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, Aviation and Missile Center. “By working together smartly and through collaboration, we can improve the productivity of all the organizations.”

Created through a partnership with NASA, NCAME aims to advance fundamental and applied additive manufacturing research through public and private partnerships and contribute to workforce development. The center is also one of the founding partners of the newly established ASTM Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence.

“Auburn University is keenly focused on research that supports our national security and space exploration sectors,” said Dr. Steve Taylor, associate dean for research in Auburn’s Samuel Ginn College of Engineering. “By developing this strategic partnership between the U.S. Army, NASA, and Auburn, we are providing yet another opportunity for our engineering students and faculty to provide technology solutions for the government and our manufacturing industries.”

NCAME is housed in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering’s state-of-the-art Gavin Engineering Research Laboratory, which opened in fall 2018 after undergoing an $18 million renovation.

“I have been impressed by how quickly Auburn has established a national presence in additive manufacturing research, and the Gavin Engineering Research Laboratory is an exemplary facility that displays the university’s capabilities and provides room for expansion over the next several years,” said Phil Farrington, facilitator for the Team Redstone Additive Manufacturing IPT. “I look forward to exploring partnership opportunities between Auburn and the organizations represented on the IPT.”

Media Contact: Morgan Martin, stashml@auburn.edu, 256-327-3129

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