ASTRO America July 2023 Newsletter

Greetings from ASTRO!

In today’s issue:

ASTRO America Awards Four Teams over $1.5m to Support the Adoption of Large-Scale 3D Metal Printing
ASTRO Hosting Business Model Workshop
Workforce Development Meeting Next Month
Advancing Additive Manufacturing Technologies Workshop #1: Expanding the Northern Florida Ecosystem
National Defence Magazine: Additive Technology Revolutionizes Defense Manufacturing

ASTRO America Awards Four Teams over $1.5m to Support the Adoption of Large-Scale 3D Metal Printing

Boeing, General Dynamics, Corvid & BAE Systems team, and Virginia Tech & John Deere team to develop first parts that will be built on world’s largest metal 3d printer

ASTRO announced the winners of its first major subaward of its Other Transaction Agreement (OTA) to develop additive and advanced manufacturing technologies for the U.S. Army. Four teams – Boeing, General Dynamics, Corvid & BAE Systems team, and Virginia Tech & John Deere teams – will receive awards totaling over $1.5m. They will be the first to demonstrate the effectiveness of the world’s largest metal 3d printer in developing parts useful to their supply chains.

Each awardee will submit an Initial Part Summary of 1 – 5 components that they propose to have fabricated on a large format additive friction stir deposition system. ASTRO America, in coordination with Army GVSC, will select one of the components for further development to a final digital design that will be printed on the world’s largest 3d metal printer, which was moved to Rock Island in Q2 of 2023.

In addition, awardees will contribute to the following:

a Business Case and Plan Report for the selected component;
a Technology Qualification Report for the large scale machine that will address specific issues and requirements related to qualifying the large scale machine and parts that it produces; and
a Technology Insertion Report for the large scale machine that will address pathways to incorporate large scale metal additive production, specifically the friction stir welding machine at Rock Island, into the Army and larger DoD supply chains.

ASTRO America will continue to announce workshops, industry days, and funding opportunities available through the ASTRO OTA as information becomes available.

For more information on the ASTRO OTA, click here.

For more information on Project Order 01, click here.

ASTRO Hosting Business Model Workshop

Online Workshop to be Held TOMORROW

ASTRO America has announced it will host a Business Model Workshop tomorrow, July 26, to examine large-scale additive as an alternative to conventionally produced components. Speakers will provide an update on the Jointless Hull Large Format Printer, AFSD technology, and business model presentations on Supply Chain and Economic Impact.

Click here to see the full agenda.

This is the third workshop to be carried out under the first project order under the $95 million ASTRO OTA to develop additive and advanced manufacturing technologies for the U.S. Army. The OTA is being carried out under the direction of the United States Army Contracting Command – Detroit Arsenal (ACC-DTA) on behalf of the Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC) Ground Vehicle Systems Center (GVSC).

If you’re interested in attending, sign up here today!

ASTRO Hosting Workforce Development Meeting

ASTRO America will host a Workforce Development Meeting at Wichita State University on September 27-28.

Stay tuned for more information.

Advancing Additive Manufacturing Technologies Workshop #1: Expanding the Northern Florida Ecosystem

Workshop to be Held at Florida State University October 2-3

ASTRO America is proud to invite local businesses and stakeholders to Florida State University’s Panama City campus on October 2-3 for a workshop on how to expand 3D printing capabilities and grow local innovation ecosystems.

Topics will include the Future of Advanced Manufacturing (AM), Workforce of the Future for the Jobs of the Future and Paving the Path to Innovation.

See a flier for the event here.

This is the first of three participant workshops to be held across the state to discern the best orientation of Florida’s manufacturing innovation ecosystem. In these workshops and throughout this pilot project we will also address current challenges and opportunities in the state’s additive manufacturing supplier-base as outlined in further detail, here.

A full schedule of events can be found here.

Read more about AM Forward Florida here.

National Defence Magazine: Additive Technology Revolutionizes Defense Manufacturing

A piece penned by ASTRO’s Chief Manufacturing Officer, LJ Holmes titled “Additive Technology Revolutionizes Defense Manufacturing” talks about the military’s efforts to integrate 3D printing:

“…over the past three decades, the military has worked consistently to integrate [AM] into its research-and-development functions. As each branch explored new ways to incorporate additive technology into its processes, researchers and engineers identified spaces where additive manufacturing could fill gaps and address challenges. At first, these were primarily use cases where the technology could complement conventional manufacturing techniques — for instance, printing tooling guides, jigs and fixtures.

A turning point came in early 2016 when the Defense Department initiated a series of workshops exploring the use of 3D printing in the military. Those findings grew into a report that provided a roadmap for the military’s widespread utilization of the techniques.

Today, every branch of the military has additive manufacturing represented in its research-and-development portfolios — from the Army Research Laboratory’s advanced manufacturing community of practice to the Navy Additive Manufacturing Technical Interchange. Over the past decade, these organizational branches have increasingly leaned on additive manufacturing to enhance production efforts on the base and in the field.

Read the entire piece here.

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