ASTM International, a world-renowned standards and related-services organization, has announced winners of a global competition for its first-ever Center of Excellence (CoE), which will focus on additive manufacturing (AM), also known as 3D printing. From a pool of dozens of proposals submitted in December, EWI and Auburn University-NASA were co-selected to run the cutting-edge CoE. The organizations and their partners will work to create a global innovation hub that advances technical standards, related R&D, education and training, and more.
“This game-changing collaboration will build a strong foundation for the future of additive manufacturing,” said Katharine Morgan, president of ASTM International. “The synergy among Auburn, NASA, and EWI – combined with the trailblazing work of ASTM’s additive manufacturing committee – will help fill industry gaps and accelerate innovation. It’s clear that this new center has the potential to shape the future of industries like aerospace, auto, medical, and more.”
With funding, in-kind, and other support from ASTM International, the organizations involved in the Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence will focus on bridging standards development with R&D. As part of the program, EWI will work to build industry consortia, leveraging its track record of developing, testing, and implementing advanced manufacturing technologies.
Dr. Frank Medina, AM technology leader at EWI, said, “We are thrilled to be helping lead this new center of excellence with ASTM International, Auburn University, and NASA. We look forward to bringing AM industry leaders to the table and working with them to identify challenges, advance groundbreaking standards, and drive innovation in this fast-growing area.”
In addition to its research activities, part of Auburn University’s role will be to develop education and training resources and tools. “Our college has made major investments in faculty, laboratories, and equipment to achieve a leadership position in additive manufacturing,” said Christopher Roberts, dean of Auburn University’s Samuel Ginn College of Engineering. “To be recognized by ASTM International is quite an honor and we look forward to a productive, collaborative relationship with ASTM and EWI.” John Vickers, NASA’s principal technologist in advanced manufacturing, added, “NASA and ASTM International have had a decades-long relationship in developing aerospace and aviation standards that benefit NASA’s mission and the industry as a whole. We look forward to working with Auburn and EWI to link R&D and standardization efforts that will uncover the vast potential of additive manufacturing applications.”
ASTM International’s committee on additive manufacturing technologies (F42) was formed in 2009. The committee, in conjunction with the International Organization for Standardization’s (ISO) Technical Committee 261, has worked and continues to work closely with the Additive Manufacturing Standards Collaborative to identify and fill a variety of gaps across multiple industry sectors. For an overview of ASTM International’s leadership in AM standardization, click here.
Stakeholders interested in the Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence can contact Mohsen Seifi, director of global additive manufacturing programs at ASTM International at [email protected], or Michael Ulbrich, President of EWI-New York at [email protected].