America Makes, the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute, hosted its 12th Annual Members Meeting and Exchange (MMX), on August 6-7 in Canfield, OH. The two-day event, curated for and by stakeholders at the center of the United States additive manufacturing (AM) sector, convened over 350 members of the Institute’s community for collaboration, and broadening of the potential impact of advanced manufacturing technologies.
In addition to the America Makes leadership team, about two dozen speakers took to the stage during the event to share insights, updates, and calls to action regarding the means to accelerating the AM industry.
As in past years, MMX 2024 opened with America Makes Executive Director, John Wilczynski, offering the organization’s State of the Union. Together with Robyn Vialva, Ph.D., Government Program Manager, Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Wilczynski shared highlights from a remarkable year of growth for the industry and the Institute. America Makes has reached a record high of 294 members from industry, academia, and government who collectively contribute to shared goals for domestic AM. The current portfolio comprises an outstanding 325 projects with a total value of $509.4M.
“We have a strong focus on strategic communications, making sure our learnings are available to the community,” Wilczynski noted, highlighting a major theme of MMX 2024.
Dr. Vialva and Wilczynski also spoke about the recent evaluation process and recommendations by the Joint Defense Manufacturing Council (JDMC), which Wilczynski boiled down to two major questions: Have we performed well, and do we have a plan?
“In short, the answer is yes, the work should continue,” Dr. Vialva said, noting that the JDMC recommends a five-year strategy to tackle new challenges and expand satellite centers and regional models.