America Makes, has announced the newly elected members of its Executive Committee for the 2026-28 term.
The Executive Committee sets strategy, policy, and advocacy priorities for the organization, whose mission is to accelerate adoption of additive manufacturing (AM) and strengthen the country’s global manufacturing competitiveness. Members advise on data management and IP policy, technical scope, membership value, ecosystem development, workforce education, and strategic growth. The committee includes eight representatives elected from the non-profit, academic, and industry sectors of its membership, alongside three appointed government representatives; elected members serve two-year terms.
The elected members are Brett Connor, Chief Manufacturing Officer at SME; Sandra DeVincent Wolf, Executive Director of Carnegie Mellon University‘s Manufacturing Futures Institute (MFI); Brian Fisher, Technical Fellow for Additive Manufacturing at RTX; Jonaaron Jones, President and General Manager of Beehive Industries‘ Additive Manufacturing Division; Mark Norfolk, Director of Government Programs at the Edison Welding Institute (EWI); Hector Sandoval, Technical Fellow for Additive Manufacturing at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control (MFC); Mark Shaw, Chief Engineer of Defense Industrial Base Strategy at the National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR); and Mike Vasquez, Founder and CEO of 3Degrees.
The three government representatives are Paul Gradl, Principal Engineer at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center; Laura Macht, engineer and project manager at the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command’s Aviation & Missile Center (AvMC); and Paul Witherell, Associate Program Manager for the Measurement Science for AM Program, Engineering Laboratory, at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
“The strength of America Makes has always been our ability to bring together leaders with diverse expertise to help shape the future of additive manufacturing,” said John Wilczynski, Executive Director of America Makes. “This Executive Committee represents a cross-section of the nation’s manufacturing ecosystem, and their leadership will help ensure our strategies, investments, and collaborations continue to accelerate technology adoption, strengthen the industrial base, and deliver lasting value to our members.”
The committee’s first task will be to elect a chairperson and secretary.
Structuring Leadership Across a Distributed Institute
America Makes runs its governance through several overlapping bodies rather than one central leadership track; the Executive Committee sits alongside a separate Roadmap Advisory Group (RMAG), which steers technical direction. Rotating elected seats across industry, academia, and government sectors every two years ties the institute’s direction to shifts within its own membership rather than a fixed leadership.
America Makes filled its top leadership posts just over a year ago. The institute named Andrew Thompson as chair of RMAG and Rick Russell as chairperson of the Executive Committee, tasking each with keeping their respective body’s priorities aligned with the institute’s mission. That appointment put single individuals in charge of directing each body, a contrast to the current slate, which expands the Executive Committee’s elected base to eight members spread across three membership sectors.
The shift signals a move toward distributing authority across sectors, rather than concentrating it in one appointed leader per body.
3D Printing Industry is inviting speakers for its 2026 Additive Manufacturing Applications (AMA) series, covering Energy, Healthcare, Automotive and Mobility, Aerospace, Space and Defense, and Software. Each online event focuses on real production deployments, qualification, and supply chain integration. Practitioners interested in contributing can complete the call for speakers form here.
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Featured image shows America Makes logo. Image via America Makes.
