ASTRO Recap – May
Greetings from ASTRO! 👋
In this month’s issue:
- ASTRO in Action
- ASTRO in the News
- Coming Up
ASTRO in Action 
ASTRO America was represented by our Vice President of Strategy Debbie Holton at the 16th Annual Midwest Government Contracting Symposium in Moline, IL last week. Debbie discussed ASTRO’s mission, partnerships, and current initiatives, as well as provided details on the current Other Transaction Authority (OTA) contract with Rock Island Arsenal focused on the development and qualification of Additive Friction Stir Deposition and ASTRO’s efforts to increase the utilization of multiple additive technologies at the arsenal.
The audience included government contractors, manufacturers, and representatives from the Department of Defense’s Joint Munitions Command, Army Sustainment Command, Army Contracting Command, and the Rock Island Arsenal Joint Manufacturing Technology Center (RIA-JMTC).
Thank you, National Defense Industrial Association – it’s always great to speak about our work in the Quad Cities!
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Additionally, ASTRO was represented by Junior Engineer Jacob Swanson and the ASTRO Midwest team at AeroMat 2025! Jacob presented on a major defense-focused R&D effort: advancing Additive Friction Stir Deposition (AFSD) for high-strength aerospace aluminum parts.
Under a contract with U.S. Army DEVCOM Ground Vehicle Systems Center and in collaboration with Rock Island Arsenal-Joint Manufacturing and Technology Center, our team is working to qualify AFSD for critical defense components – reducing lead times, cutting costs, and helping keep military vehicles and aircraft mission-ready.
This work represents a collaborative effort between ASTRO, the U.S. Army,universities, and research labs, all working together to accelerate AFSD adoption at scale.
Thank you, ASM International, for having us in Vancouver!
ASTRO in the News 
ASTRO’s Actionable In-Situ Awareness Challenge featured in 3D Printing Industry!
Launched by ASTRO, the ASTM Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence, and FSU InSPIRE, this targeted initiative supports real-time monitoring technologies that can transform quality control in metal additive manufacturing.
Selected companies will get the chance to install and test their systems on ASTRO’s industrial printers at Maritech Machine Shop – helping advance defect detection, process stability, and build reliability at scale.
Stay tuned for an announcement on our finalists!
Read the full article here.
Read more about the Challenge here.
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Congratulations to our summer fellow, Ratul Rauniar Pradhan, on his selection as Gettysburg College’s 2025 Commencement Speaker! We’re proud to see Ratul recognized for his leadership and impact — both on campus and beyond.
Read the full article from Gettysburg College here.
Coming Up 
- AWS Welding Summit – (August 6-8 – The Woodlands, TX)
- SFF Symposium – (August 10-13 – Austin, TX)
- Actionable In-Situ Awareness Showcase – (August 26-27, Panama City, FL)
- FABTECH – (September 8-11 – Chicago, IL)
- CAMX – (September 8-11 – Orlando, FL)
- J-DAMMIT – (September 9-11 – Harrisburg, PA)
- IMTS – (September 15 – Chicago, IL)
- ICAM – (October 6-10 – Las Vegas, NV)
- Defense Manufacturing Conference (DMC) – (November 17-20 – Orlando, FL)