The Institute to Showcase “Game Day” Experience at Its Newly Reimagined Exhibit Booth

Youngstown, Ohio — May 16, 2019. America Makes and the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM) proudly announce its participation and exhibition at North America's influential and respected additive manufacturing event, RAPID + TCT 2019, to be held next week, May 20 - 23, 2019, at Cobo Center in Detroit, Mich. RAPID + TCT 2019 is produced by SME and Rapid News Publications LTD. Join America Makes for its "Game Day" experience at its newly reimagined booth #965, which is located near the SME ZONE at booth #465 and the TCT Group at booth #865.

At this year's RAPID + TCT event, attendees can anticipate engaging with more than 6,000 industry peers and 400+ exhibiting companies, four keynote addresses, eight workshops, 110 conference presentations, and three networking receptions. RAPID + TCT is returning to its birthplace: Detroit. Not only is the "Comeback City" home to the highest concentration of engineering talent in the U.S., but the city is enjoying huge startup growth and has experienced more than $13 billion in new investments across more than 200 projects since 2006.
"Each year, all of us at America Makes and NCDMM look forward to participating and exhibiting at RAPID + TCT as the event is by far one of the most exciting for our industry," said NCDMM's Executive Director of America Makes Rob Gorham. "From the opportunities for engagement and information sharing to the debut of groundbreaking technologies and direct access to industry leaders and experts, RAPID + TCT is beyond compare. We are also incredibly excited to present our ‘Game Day' experience and unveil our new booth design, which will serve as platform for what America Makes does best—engage with the additive manufacturing industry as a convener, coordinator, and catalyzer of people, knowledge, and projects within our industry. I encourage attendees to visit us at booth #965."
Taking a play from the coverage that precedes a day of college football, the America Makes and NCDMM team is structuring its "Game Day" experience similarly. Each morning of RAPID + TCT 2019 beginning on Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 10:20 a.m., Mr. Gorham and Ralph Resnick, America Makes Founding Director, will recap and have play-by-play discussions of the keynote speeches. These "Game Day" segments will be videoed and posted to social medial channels. Additionally, America Makes and NCDMM scouts will be recruiting RAPID + TCT attendees to come to the booth and discuss, on camera, their reasons for attending the event.
Also central to the America Makes and NCDMM "Game Day" experience as part of the new exhibition booth is an information station, which includes a large video display, where RAPID + TCT attendees can call their own plays to discover just how easy it is to become an America Makes member. Through the "Build Your Membership" tool, RAPID + TCT 2019 attendees can take a self-guided tour with no false starts and customize the America Makes cost-share menu to leverage the benefits of the America Makes @Program to score a membership level that's best for their organizations.
Of the "Build Your Membership" tool Tiffany Westbay, America Makes Membership Director, said "Membership in America Makes is far more affordable than organizations realize, particularly for smaller organizations. By interacting with the ‘Build Your Membership' tool, in five, easy interactive steps, non-members can tailor our @Program cost-share menu to maximize benefits and essentially going from the sidelines to the end zone by scoring a membership. This is really an important membership benefit that we are focused on making more people aware. The America Makes @Program was specifically designed to encourage and promote more engagement for new members, as well as existing ones. The @Program offers cost share credits in lieu of the annual membership dues for those activities in which members are likely already working on and that align to the mission objectives of America Makes. To RAPID + TCT attendees, be more than a fan of America Makes, be a member of America Makes."
America Makes' presence at RAPID + TCT 2019 extends beyond its booth to the SME ZONE Theater & Grand Ballroom.
On Tuesday, May 21st from 11:30 a.m. to 12:20 p.m. in the SME ZONE Theater, Rob Gorham, NCDMM's Executive Director of America Makes will be participating on a panel on "Implementing Additive Manufacturing - Challenges and Opportunities in AM Case Studies." The panel discussion will entail how AM has moved beyond just prototyping and increasingly finds a space on the production floor as diverse and flexible technology that supports production in a direct or indirect sense. The panelists will discuss their experience implementing AM parts into a production environment. Joining Mr. Gorham on the panel, which will be moderated by John E. Barnes, Founder & Managing Director, The Barnes Group Advisors (TBGA) and CEO, TBG Training, are Dr. Jonathan Morris, Neuroradiologist, Mayo Clinic; Alison Park, AM Integration Program Manager, Aerojet Rocketdyne; Jennifer Coyne, Engineering Manager - Additive Manufacturing, GE Transportation; and Brad Keselowski, Owner/Founder, Keselowski Advanced Manufacturing.
In the Grand Ballroom from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m., Terry Wohlers, Principal Consultant and President, Wohlers Associates, Inc., will moderate the first of three RAPID + TCT 2019 Thought Leadership Panels, titled "Trends that Will Impact Your Future." These panel discussions will bring together some of the most well-known names in additive manufacturing to discuss industry trends, the impact of marketplace demands on AM, and AM advancements in automotive and aerospace. Panel discussions are complimentary to all RAPID + TCT attendees.
On Tuesday afternoon back at the SME Zone Theater from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., America Makes Technology Director and RAPID + TCT 2019 Conference Advisor John Wilczynski will host a discussion titled, "The Defense Supply Chain and AM," on the subject of how AM is impacting the defense supply chain. From how AM is being used in sustainment activity to training the nation's warfighters in the use of this amazing technology, America Makes will explore how the benefits of AM are being realized by our military. This discussion will also include input from Luis Antonio (Tony) Delgado, Program Manager at Defense Logistics Agency, focusing on his agency's view of how AM can support the warfighter, and Dennis Butcher, Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Program Manager of America Makes, providing an overview of the Maturation of Advanced Manufacturing for Low-Cost Sustainment (MAMLS) project.
Additionally, AMNOW, a new program from NCDMM, America Makes and Catalyst Connection, in conjunction with TBGA and the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), designed to support AM technology insertion into the existing U.S. Army supply chain will also be covered as part of this discussion. Structured as a potentially multi-phase, multi-year contract, AMNOW is funded by the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC) - Aviation & Missile Center through the U.S. Army Manufacturing Science and Technology (MS&T) Division under the newly formed U.S. Army Futures Command. The initial phase of AMNOW will serve as the foundational work for the pursuit and implementation of subsequent phases. Specifically, this initial phase will prepare to integrate and accelerate the dissemination, transition, and use of innovative, cross-cutting AM technologies for the Army to enhance operations. By enabling a robust AM supply chain and clear technology AM transition path, AMNOW will be poised to help increase the U.S. Army's readiness and facilitate on-demand production of materials in support of warfighters and commanders on the battlefield.
On Wednesday, May 22nd from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the SME ZONE Theater, in partnership with SME's AM Technical Community, there will be a #3Dtalk panel, titled "Women in AM/3D Perspectives," focusing on process and quality control, as well as other automation and data-driven tools required for AM to level up with or even exceed existing manufacturing processes in terms of industrial use. Moderated by former AFRL America Makes Program Manager and current AFRL Section Chief, Composite Performance and Applications, Jennifer Fielding, Ph.D., the panel is comprised of Ellen Lee, Ph.D., Technical Leader, Additive Manufacturing, Research & Advanced Engineering, Ford Motor Company; Tracy Albers, Ph.D., President and CTO, Rapid Prototype and Manufacturing LLC (rp+m); Barbara Hanna, Ph.D., Cyant, Co-founder, Women in 3D Printing; and Amy Alexander, BME, MS, Biomedical Engineer, Anatomic Modeling Lab, Mayo Clinic. These panelists have decades of experience in aerospace, automotive and healthcare, and they will share their perspectives, insights, and expertise working with application areas that need to meet strict compliance, quality, and safety standards.
Get your "Game Day" on at RAPID + TCT 2019 with America Makes at booth #965. For more information about America Makes, visit https://americamakes.us and follow the Institute on Twitter @AmericaMakes.

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About America Makes
America Makes is the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute. As the national accelerator for additive manufacturing (AM), America Makes is the nation's leading and collaborative partner in AM and 3DP technology research, discovery, creation, and innovation. Structured as a public-private partnership with member organizations from industry, academia, government, non-government agencies, and workforce and economic development resources, we are working together to innovate and accelerate AM to increase our nation's global manufacturing competitiveness. Based in Youngstown, Ohio, America Makes is the first Institute within the Manufacturing USA infrastructure and is driven by the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM). For more information about America Makes, visit https://americamakes.us and follow @AmericaMakes on Twitter.

About NCDMM
NCDMM delivers innovative and collaborative manufacturing solutions that enhance our nation's workforce and economic competitiveness. NCDMM has extensive knowledge and depth in manufacturing areas—both commercial and defense—to continually innovate, improve, and advance manufacturing technologies and methodologies. Our experienced team specializes in identifying the needs, the players, the technologies, and processes to attain optimal solutions for our customers. We connect the dots. That's the NCDMM methodology. NCDMM also manages the national accelerator for additive manufacturing (AM) and 3D printing (3DP), America Makes—the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute. For additional information, visit the NCDMM at https://ncdmm.org/ and follow @NCDMMnews on Twitter.

About RAPID + TCT
For more than 25 years, RAPID + TCT has defined the crucial role of additive manufacturing and empowered the establishment of an industry that continues to conceive, test, improve, and manufacture new products at a faster, more cost-efficient pace. The two industry leaders in 3D technology events, SME and The TCT Group, teamed up in 2016 to produce the annual RAPID + TCT event. For users and suppliers alike, the event is the premier destination for those who provide technology and for those who need to understand, explore and adopt 3D printing, additive manufacturing, 3D scanning, CAD/CAE, metrology and inspection technologies. For more information, please visit https://rapid3devent.com.

About SME
SME connects manufacturing professionals, academia and communities, sharing knowledge and resources to build inspired, educated and prosperous manufacturers and enterprises. With more than 85 years of experience and expertise in events, media, membership, training and development, and also through an education foundation, SME is committed to promoting manufacturing technology, developing a skilled workforce and attracting future generations to advance manufacturing. Learn more at http://sme.org, follow @SME_MFG on Twitter or http://facebook.com/SMEmfg.

About Rapid News Publications Ltd & TCT Group
Established in 1992, Rapid News Publications Ltd, the owner of the TCT Group, has been a leading authority in additive manufacturing, 3D printing, design and engineering technology for over 25 years. The group's events and media products now deliver business-critical insights, intelligence and inspiration across Europe, North America, and Asia on 3D printing, additive manufacturing, CAD/CAM/CAE, metrology, inspection and materials, as well as highlighting the latest developments in conventional manufacturing processes, such as molding, casting, and CNC machining. The TCT Group mission is to accelerate the adoption of technologies that power innovation in the design-to-manufacturing process chain. Enabling companies across the complete spectrum of industry to achieve the goal of world-class design and manufacturing functions within their organisations. The TCT Group (www.thetctgroup.com) is owned by Rapid News Publications Ltd (www.rapidnews.com) a member of the AEO (Association of Event Organisers) and BPA Worldwide.