Greetings from ASTRO America! 👋🏼
In our February recap:
- 2025 Annual Report
- ASTRO, FSU InSPIRE Launch Second Additive Manufacturing Tech Challenge
- ASTRO in Action
- ASTRO in the News
- Upcoming Events
2025 Year in Review: Manufacturing Accelerators for a Strong Industrial Base 🗓️
Partners and Friends,
We are pleased to share with you ASTRO America’s latest Annual Report, celebrating 2025, marking a pivotal year for our advanced manufacturing accelerators and partners operating all across America, especially for those in northwest Illinois, northwest Florida, and Guam.
Click on the image to flip through the interactive report.
In this report, you will find updates on some of these efforts as well as summaries of what may lie ahead in 2026. We are also truly inspired by our new Board Member the Honorable Pamela Melroy – former NASA Deputy Administrator, astronaut, and Air Force pilot. We hope you enjoy her incisive commentary captured in a wide-ranging interview included in this report.
Of course, all of our success in 2025 was due to the best team of engineers, program managers and research fellows in the manufacturing science & technology space. Their dedication has led to ASTRO’s exponential growth, but has also driven meaningful innovations for our country’s defense economy and production infrastructure.
Thank you for your continued interest and support of ASTRO America. We are looking forward to another productive year!
Very Respectfully,
Neal Orringer
President
Jason Gorey
Executive Director
Mick Maher
Chief Technology Officer
ASTRO America, FSU InSPIRE Launch Second Additive Manufacturing Tech Challenge ⚙️
At last month’s MILAM Summit, Dr. Abdalla Nassar announced ASTRO America and FSU InSPIRE’s second, national AM Tech Challenge, with this year’s competition focused on distortion prediction and compensation for LPBF Inconel 718, a critical barrier to producing precision aerospace and defense parts at scale.
Participants will use a calibration build of their choice to predict as-built distortion for a complex geometry and submit a compensated model, with finalists demonstrating solutions on industrial-scale systems and presenting to evaluators from the defense, aerospace, and investment communities.
Key dates include an RFP deadline of March 9, selection on March 13, an evaluation period running March 16–June 30, and a showcase and winner announcement in July/August; selected teams will receive a $1,000 stipend, and ASTRO anticipates at least one license purchase of the winning software.
ASTRO in Action 🎤
Last month, GAMMA Director and General Manager Alex Benham spoke at the Guam Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE)’s CTE Summit 2026.
Alex led a 45-minute workshop session, “What Advanced Manufacturing Looks Like Today,” at GCA Trades Academy, sharing a practical look at emerging innovations in manufacturing and related industries, the skills and competencies that will define the future workforce, and ways educators can better prepare students for evolving career pathways.
Additionally, he joined a stacked panel of experts to discuss “Current and Emerging Industries: Implications for Guam’s Economy and Schools,” which focused on how shifting economic and industry trends are shaping the opportunities available to students and the priorities facing schools on-island.
It was a strong weekend of learning and collaboration for Guam’s future workforce and Alex was honored to participate! 🇬🇺
Later in the month, ASTRO was glad to be in New York for Additive Manufacturing Strategies and to be part of two conversations that get to the heart of where the industry is heading: how it gets financed and how it gets understood.
ASTRO’s Executive Director Jason Gorey moderated the Private Markets: Debt & Equity panel, bringing together Hank Holland (Amaero), Aaron Birt (Solvus Global), James Lloyd (Mears Machine), and Sergio Rodriguera Jr. (General Radar Corp. and Straylight Systems) for a practical discussion on what investors and operators are looking for right now, and what it takes to scale advanced manufacturing companies in a disciplined way.
Additionally, ASTRO’s Vice President of Strategic Partnerships Debbie Holtonmoderated “Perception is Reality: The Public Markets Narrative” with Brian Drab (William Blair), Stephen Butkow (Cantor Fitzgerald), and Aaron Muller (Canaccord Genuity), focusing on how AM companies tell their story to the market, what narratives resonate, and where communications and performance need to align.
It’s conversations like these that help turn momentum into durable growth for the AM ecosystem, and we’re proud to be a part of them.
ASTRO in the News đź“°
The announcement of ASTRO’s second, national AM Tech Challenge is already generating strong attention across the advanced manufacturing and defense industry, with several outlets highlighting the 2026 focus and what it signals about the industry’s push toward more predictable, production-ready metal AM.
Last month’s coverage includes:
Additionally, The Guam Daily Post covered the Guam Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE)’s CTE Summit 2026 (with an Alex Benham shoutout!) here.