The Applied Research Laboratory at Penn State hosted a Shipyard Additive Manufacturing Summit (SAMS) in State College, Pennsylvania, on May 1-3.
SAMS was sponsored by Navy ManTech through the Institute for Manufacturing and Sustainment Technologies (IMAST). More than 100 stakeholders and decision makers came together to help accelerate the adoption of additive manufacturing in the shipyard production and maintenance communities.
The event organizers, Ted Reutzel, director of Penn State’s Center for Innovative Materials Processing through Direct Digital Deposition; Melissa Klingenberg, technical director of IMAST; and Barbra Belko, research project manager; reported positive feedback and numerous requests to conduct the summit annually, given the rapid pace of additive manufacturing development.
A keynote address provided by Timothy Barnard, the Naval Sea Systems Command Technology Office director, provided insight into the U.S. Navy’s vision for additive manufacturing. Other topics included the future of additive manufacturing in shipyard and allied industries; additive manufacturing processing technology and process qualification; impact on logistics; data rights issues; cybersecurity; and data management.
Students from Penn State presented posters on a variety of related subjects during an evening event sponsored by 3D Systems.