After the success of last year’s competition – with three winning companies awarded substantial funding – Youngstown Business Incubator and America Makes have once again announced the launch of the 2016 AMPED competition.
Cultivating additive manufacturing success
This year’s competition opened on July 1 and participants have until 5:00 PM EST on October 17 to submit applications. Just as last year, YBI and America Makes are working together to cultivate small 3D printing start ups into successful, innovative businesses in the northeastern Ohio area. By competing in this competition, participants will have a chance to win up $100,000 in funding. Sponsored by the Burton D. Morgan Foundation (BDMF), the monetary prizes will be awarded to “team(s) that display strong business and technical skills and have a business model that presents a viable market opportunity.” President and CEO of BDMF, Deborah Hoover, was quoted saying:
“Burton D. Morgan Foundation supports programs that champion the entrepreneurial spirit and contribute to building a more robust economy in Northeast Ohio. We believe AMPED aligns with our mission by providing entrepreneurs with the resources they need to create that next great idea.”
How to win
Director of Operations at America Makes, Rob Gorham hailed the upcoming competition, saying, “This is another great example of integrating additive manufacturing technology startups and their innovative solutions to the national additive manufacturing ecosystem.” Company submissions will be judged on a rubric scale based on the America Makes Technology Roadmap. The Roadmap outlines five specific areas to which submissions should adhere:
- Design: Ideas that avoid constraints from fundamental limitations associated with current design tools or practices that were originally developed for conventional manufacturing processes.
- Material: Creating a paradigm shift away from controlling process parameters to controlling the underlying physics of the additive manufacturing to achieve consistent reproducible microstructures.
- Process: Driving technological advancements that enable faster, more accurate, and higher detail resolution additive manufacturing machines with larger build volumes and improved “asbuilt” part quality.
- Value Chain: Driving technological advancements that enable step change improvements in cost and time to market for additive manufacturing produced products.
- Additive Manufacturing Genome: Accelerating technological advancements that enable step change in the time and cost required to design, develop, and qualify new materials for additive manufacturing.
Companies must be located in (or willing to relocate to) a northeastern Ohio county in order to participate in the competition. A group of 5-7 finalists will be announced on October 28, and winning teams will be announced on November 11.
Featured Image courtesy of Youngstown Business Incubator
