NCDMM to Host Its Annual SUMMIT Event

The National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM) announces its annual SUMMIT event, May 8-9, 2019, at the Chestnut Ridge Golf Resort and Conference Center in Blairsville, PA. This year’s SUMMIT theme is “Preparing for the Next Manufacturing Revolution.”

“Whether your organization is a well-established large corporation, a startup, academic institution, or a government agency, SUMMIT offers something for everyone,” says newly appointed NCDMM president and executive director Dean L. Bartles, Ph.D. “Each year, SUMMIT brings together our industry with the goal of fostering an environment where information can be readily shared and networking can occur to spur new collaborations and partnerships that help to innovate and advance the manufacturing industry.”

“With today’s manufacturing breakthroughs and innovations evolving at a fairly rapid rate, we need to prepare for the next manufacturing revolution,” adds Ralph Resnick, NCDMM vice president of Strategy. “Each of our keynote speakers bring a unique perspective on this topic. We also need a skilled workforce to lead the way, which is why I’m particularly excited by the addition of the Young Professionals Panel to this year’s SUMMIT.”

SUMMIT is NCDMM’s premier annual event for encouraging collaboration among government, industry and academia to advance manufacturing technologies. For SUMMIT 2019, NCDMM announces GE Research and Tronix3D as its Diamond Sponsors.

“GE Research is proud to be a major sponsor of NCDMM’s 2019 SUMMIT event, which is bringing together top thought leaders to discuss the future of manufacturing. Through our involvement in America Makes, we have greatly valued NCDMM’s stewardship in accelerating new technologies and building a strong ecosystem of partners to scale and grow the additive industry,” says Prabhjot Singh, additive product breakout leader at GE Research.

Buck Helfferich, President of Tronix3D, a newly founded company and greater Pittsburgh’s first high-volume 3D/additive contract manufacturer and innovation center, similarly describes the impact of NCDMM on his organization.

“Tronix3D is a startup company that aspires to be a reliable, trustworthy, highly advanced additive contract manufacturer for commercial and military markets,” says Helfferich. “Since Tronix3D opened its doors last year, the NCDMM has been an invaluable resource, offering guidance and providing best practices on how to organize our business systems and infrastructure to best serve U.S. defense manufacturers. It is our honor to be a Diamond Sponsor of this year’s NCDMM SUMMIT and support the organization’s vision of enhancing our nation’s workforce and economic competitiveness.”

SUMMIT 2019 will kick off on Wednesday, May 8 with opening remarks from Resnick. Presentations by these keynote speakers will immediately follow: Bill Harris, technical fellow, Lockheed Martin; Pat McGibbon, chief knowledge officer, AMT—Association For Manufacturing Technology; LTC John Schmitt, product manager for CH-47 Modernization, Cargo Helicopters PMO; and Petra Mitchell, president & CEO, Catalyst Connection.

New to this year's SUMMIT 2019 is the addition of a Young Professionals Panel to be moderated by Michael D. Packer, director of Manufacturing for Advanced Production Programs at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works and NCDMM chairman of the board. This year’s inaugural panel will include four young professionals who recently started their careers in manufacturing.

The Young Professionals Panel will include: Jeffrey Gaddes, U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command-Aviation & Missile Center; Rebecca Kurfess, Oak Ridge National Lab; Tyler Rigby, Nucor Steel; and Jessica Sisk, U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command-Aviation & Missile Center.

SUMMIT will feature four project areas—or pods. Each pod will focus on a specific project currently managed by NCDMM. Within the pods NCDMM will showcase project partners, project artifacts and video presentations featuring the challenges and objectives of each specific project along with NCDMM’s approach and achievements. The four NCDMM project areas showcased at SUMMIT 2019 are:

Advanced Automation for Agile Aerospace Applications (A5)—The A5 Project seeks to create a foundational open-source software framework for adaptive robotic solutions in aerospace manufacturing and sustainment. 

America Makes, the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute—Managed by NCDMM, America Makes is the national accelerator for additive manufacturing (AM) with more than 220 member organizations. 

AMNOW—A new program managed by NCDMM with America Makes and Catalyst Connection to support AM technology insertion into the existing U.S. Army supply chain.

Maturation of Advanced Manufacturing for Low-Cost Sustainment (MAMLS)—The MAMLS Project is a three-phase project aimed at improving efficiency of the factory and/or AF Air Logistics Complexes for rapid part replacement for legacy and other aircraft. Specifically, the goal of MAMLS project is to enhance and improve U.S. Air Force sustainment operations through advanced manufacturing technologies.

The NCDMM also plans to present its highest honor, the Lawrence J. Rhoades Award, to this year’s recipient at SUMMIT. Rhoades was one of the founding fathers of the NCDMM, and an inaugural member of the Board of Directors where he served until his death in 2007.

Following the presentations, there will be a reception for attendees to continue networking.

To wrap up SUMMIT 2019, NCDMM will once again hold its annual SUMMIT Golf Outing, on Thurs., May 9. Proceeds from the outing will benefit the Troops First Foundation, which provides assistance to the men and women of the U.S. military wounded while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. The foundation spends time at hospitals visiting the wounded and their families, building relationships, and gaining trust to assist with their many stages of recovery.

The NCDMM acknowledges the support of the following SUMMIT 2019 sponsors:

• Diamond: GE Research and Tronix3D
• Platinum: American Additive Manufacturing, LLC; The ExOne Company; and Indiana County Center for Economic Operations
• Gold: AMT—The Association For Manufacturing Technology; Big Metal Additive, Inc.; Center Street Technologies; Quotient, Inc.; and Youngstown Business Incubator (YBI)
• Silver: Babst | Calland; Cimquest, Inc.; and Solutionsx, LLC
• Media: Digital Engineering and The TCT Group

To register or learn more, visit SUMMIT 2019.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.