Additive Manufacturing Users Group doles out awards for technical skill
Chatsworth, CA - The Additive Manufacturing Users Group (AMUG) has named the recipients of its awards for technical skill, which were presented at the 26th annual users group conference (Tucson, AZ).
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During the annual Awards Banquet, the association named the winners of the 2014 Technical Competition, which recognizes excellence in additive manufacturing applications and skill in finishing additive manufacturing parts.
A panel of industry veterans selected Carlos Bolanos and Gary Rabinovitz, both of Reebok International, as the winners in the advanced applications category. Their submission demonstrated the application of additive manufacturing throughout the five-year development effort for Reebok CHECKLIGHT—a wearable technology that visually indicates cranial impacts that may have caused concussions.
The same panel selected Mike Littrell, president of C.ideas, as the winner in the advanced finishing category. Littrell’s submission, titled The Perfect Choice, was a two-fifths-scale 1927 Miller 91 race car created entirely from additive manufacturing parts that were painted, textured, plated, vacuum-metalized, and decorated to match designer Bill Gould’s vision. Littrell’s company used four technologies to make the components: fused deposition modeling (FDM), selective laser sintering (SLS), stereolithography (SLA), and PolyJet. Littrell has also published a http://youtu.be/K1zV8JMwrvs video that documents the Miller 91’s construction.
Eric Mutchler, project engineer at Solid Concepts, took the runner-up award in both categories for its 3D-printed metal gun. Mathew Olney, on behalf of the Nike Rapid Prototyping Lab, accepted the third-place award in advanced finishing for the full-size, anatomically correct human leg and foot. Littrell also received the third-place award in advanced concepts for the 1927 Miller 91 race car.
The five judges were Steve Deak, Larry Monahan, Gideon Levy, Graham Tromans, and Bob Dzugan. Each was a past recipient of AMUG’s Distinguished Innovator Operator (DINO) Award.