Gary Anderson of 3D Printing Stocks here presents his recent interview with Rob Gorham, Deputy Director of Technology Development at America Makes. With more than a decade of solid defense research and advanced manufacturing experience Rob is responsible for the development of the America Makes roadmap, technology investment strategy and program management.
America Makes is the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute with an active remit to accelerate additive manufacturing (AM) and 3D printing (3DP) across the US through public-private partnerships with member organizations from industry, academia, government, non-government agencies, and workforce and economic development resources. Based in Youngstown, Ohio, America Makes is the pilot institute for up to 15 National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI) institutes.
Gary Anderson (GA): Can you give a brief history of America Makes and describe the mission of the organization?
Rob Gorham (RG): America Makes was awarded to the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM) in 2012 as part of the President’s initiative to revitalize manufacturing in the United States. America Makes is a collaboration between industry, government and universities through public-private collaboration.
Our mission is accelerating the adoption of Additive Manufacturing and 3D Printing technologies within the United States manufacturing sector and increasing domestic manufacturing competitiveness. Our approach in answering this very important charge is to draw on the most advanced engineering schools and the most innovative manufacturers to collaborate on new ideas, new technology, new methods, and new processes.
GA: America Makes awards funding for additive manufacturing research via Applied Research Projects Calls. How does America Makes determine if funding should go to research in the development of new 3d printing materials, or if the funding should instead go toward process controls and part qualification for example?
RG: One of the first tasks that America Makes took on was kicking off an active ‘Voice of the Customer’ campaign that focuses on developing a very timely, accurate and forward-looking technology investment plan — A National Additive Manufacturing Roadmap. We are in this for the long run, and having the architecture in place that charts our route to success is paramount.
We drew inspiration from a TED talk by Simon Sinek that starts with 5 high level Why’s for Additive Manufacturing and 3D Printing: Shorter Lead Times, Mass Customization, Energy Reduction, Parts on Demand, and Enabling Complexity. The specific why’s that drive good economics within each of these topic areas will be defined by our Member network. The “How this will be accomplished” and the “What we are accomplishing” will be defined through project topics and solutions proposed by the membership.
The Technology Roadmap process that we have instituted here leverages Human-Centered Design. We partnered with MAYA Design who is technology design and innovation lab founded in Pittsburgh, PA in 1989. The name MAYA stands for Most Advanced Yet Acceptable and their tag line is “taming complexity”. We are leveraging their expertise in Human Centered Design that is now a core foundation in our workshops and Voice of Customer Activities.
The topics of Design, Materials, Process, Qualification, and Knowledgebase are now assigned as 5 swimlanes on our technology roadmap that integrate and link topics and sub-topics across the entire value chain.
GA: Additive Manufacturing has been around for 20+ years, why is it taking off now? What’s changed?
RG: Access! With 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing changing from a technology that had relatively large capital requirements to something that can now be operated by pretty much anyone, the opportunity to manufacture and produce goods has now reached an individual level.
GA: Most industrial 3D printing applications are currently in the aerospace, automotive and medical/dental industries. What industries and markets will we see 3D printing move into next?
RG: Those markets are still maturing and have a long way to go before we say they have fully embraced the technology. However, all markets are impacted with 3D printing and doing things right now with the technology. Aerospace, Automotive, Biomedical, Energy, Commercial Goods, Sporting, Fashion, Food, Art, Housing, Architecture to name just a few.
GA: What challenges are ahead for the 3D printing industry?
RG: Consistency with the process and materials. Characterization of materials and processes [supplied] with a pedigree that provides the users with confidence that the data is good. Faster and bigger machines that pull volume restrictions away from the users. The ability to exchange information amongst the community. Modelling and simulation, taking advantage of the design flexibility of the processes that is still not well understood.
GA: What new materials for 3D printing look promising right now? Is there any work being done on graphene as a potential material at America Makes?
RG: There are several new materials that look promising. However, as I stated earlier, charactierization of many current materials is of highest priority to our current membership. With that said, multifunctional materials are of great interest to our members. Also, the ability to grade or structure materials properties / performance is something we are constantly asked about investing in. As part of our Roadmap, we have identified member needs that align to those two topics. Regarding graphene, we are not explicitly funding any graphene projects, but wouldn’t be surprised to do so in the near future.
GA: Staying on materials, where do you believe the biggest growth will be in materials utilization over the next few years… ceramics, plastics, metals, something else?
RG: It’s hard to tell, plastics continue to mature and better, stronger, more durable plastics are coming out all the time. For end use / production insertions however, metal alloys are still favoured for many applications. We try to pull a materials bias off our member conversations and let the system problem define what materials to use. Also, green materials are something that we see continuing to gain momentum.
GA: President Obama envisioned up to 15 centers for manufacturing innovation located throughout the nation. Where are we in that rollout process?
RG: Well, just last week the president announced that North Carolina State was awarded to Powered Electronics Institute. That’s a very exciting opportunity and I am really looking forward to collaborating with the new institutes.
GA: Last question: What do you see as the single most exciting thing about 3D printing?
RG: That it’s part of the conversation to revitalize American Manufacturing. That we get to discuss with companies across America about innovation and collaborating amongst each other. 3D printing is a medium, like the cloud, that supports the building of connecting manufacturing supply chains. That is challenging the paradigm of dirty, old, dumb, manufacturing. And finally, that our kids, the next generation of American makers, are EXCITED about the technology. It’s amazing right now…being involved in this space and working with extremely talented people.
