Greetings from ASTRO America! 👋🏼
In our January recap:
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- Honoring Exceptional Service: Ryan Ash
- ASTRO in Action
- ASTRO in the News
- Annual Report Teaser
- Upcoming Events
Honoring Exceptional Service: Ryan Ash Recognized by the U.S. Army 🇺🇸
ASTRO is proud to congratulate Ryan Ash, Director of Partnerships and Alliances, on receiving the Army Civilian Service Commendation Medal, recognizing his exceptional efforts to further the Army’s advanced manufacturing mission.
Ryan was honored for his work as Supervisory Logistics Management Specialist in the Integrated Logistics Support Center, where he provided “outstanding technical leadership through the development and implementation” of the Battle Damage Repair and Fabrication Process. Both his steadfast commitment and work ethic helped strengthen the Army’s ability to rapidly repair, fabricate, and sustain critical capabilities at the point of need.
As noted in the award citation, Ryan’s contributions “culminate a distinguished 16‑year career” and “reflect the highest standards of government service, bringing great credit to himself, the Command, the U.S. Army Materiel Command, and the U.S. Army.”
We are incredibly grateful for Ryan’s years of service and leadership, and proud to have his experience, mission‑driven mindset, and commitment to innovation shaping ASTRO’s work today.
ASTRO in Action 🎤
Join us for an exciting reveal at MILAM 2026!
Building on the success of last year’s Actionable In-Situ Awareness Challenge, ASTRO is thrilled to announce the topic of this year’s Tech Challenge at the Defense Strategies Institute’s Military Additive Manufacturing Summit this week! Want to be the first to know? Come to Dr. Abdalla Nassar’s presentation to hear all about it.
Dr. Nassar will reveal the topic for this year’s challenge, an opportunity for innovators and industry to solve real-world problems facing the defense industrial base. If you’re working at the cutting edge of AM and related software solutions, this is a session you won’t want to miss.
Register here.
ASTRO in the News đź“°
Congratulations to the University of Guam (UOG), which celebrated an official ribbon-cutting for its School of Engineering this month! As UOG President Anita Borja Enriquez said at the ceremony, “Students from Guam, the region, and even abroad can earn a competitive U.S.-accredited engineering degree without leaving the island.”
Credit: UOG Flickr
In December, we announced a landmark partnership with UOG and Colorado School of Mines to bring a four-year mechanical engineering degree to Guam for the first time in the island’s history, and we are pleased to be working with the Navy and our sponsors to bring new laboratory capabilities to Guam’s premier higher education institution.
Part of the Guam Additive Materials & Manufacturing Accelerator (GAMMA), the program takes place entirely in Guam, with students doing coursework for the first two years with UOG faculty and the second two years finishing with Mines faculty on the UOG campus. Students will receive a degree from Mines, under the instruction of some of the nation’s top additive manufacturing and advanced production scholars.
- For the Pacific Daily News‘ coverage of the event (including an ASTRO mention!) click here.
For more on the School of Engineering from UOG’s website, click here.
Annual Report Teaser: Charting New Frontiers with Col. Pam Melroy 👩🏻‍🚀
In a candid Q&A, ASTRO’s newest board member, former NASA Deputy Administrator, astronaut, and retired Air Force officer Col. Pam Melroy, shares her reflections on leading complex organizations, lessons from spaceflight, and the role of public-private partnerships in advancing U.S. manufacturing.
“The government can play several roles: convening experts to solve problems, funding infrastructure with long-term, sustainable outcomes in mind, and investing in foundational technologies like DARPA did. You need all three: the brains, the buildings, and the breakthroughs,” she tells ASTRO.
For her full insights, check out the 2025 Annual Report, dropping later this month.