3Degrees receives funding from America Makes and Air Force Research Lab to develop database for AM
May 19, 2021
3Degrees, an Additive Manufacturing consultancy company based in Chicago, Illinois, USA, has been awarded funding as part of America Makes’ Rapid Innovation Project Call, which is supported by a $50,000 grant from the US Air Force Research Laboratory.
Led by 3Degrees, in collaboration with Senvol, Northrop Grumman Corporation, EOS, and Deloitte, the project will develop a searchable, scalable database built using 3Degrees’ traceAM software, which aims to revolutionise America Makes’ data management and analytics capabilities and further solidify its role as a hub for advanced AM research and technologies.
The project team brings together materials engineers, data specialists and leading consultants who will work together to customise the traceAM platform to fit the needs of America Makes’ members. Specifically, the team will deliver a robust system to collect and archive data, which will allow past and future projects to be sorted by key production and technical data. The tool is said to align to industry best practices and regulatory data requirements and has the benefit of enabling real-time updates to the information captured by the system the industry as standards evolve.
“Because of its unique role within the additive manufacturing ecosystem, America Makes possesses an unparalleled amount of data around materials performance, printing platforms and technical specifications,” stated Dr Mike Vasquez, founder of 3Degrees and principal investigator for the project. “With this work, we’ll deliver a tool that is simple to use and enables users to quickly search, analyse and compare this robust data with a click of a few buttons. We are confident this tool will produce insights that support manufacturing in the United States and benefit all 228 current and future America Makes members.”
Members of America Makes and the broader AM community can follow the progress of the project throughout 2021, including at upcoming member events such as the Technical Review Exchange in July and the Member Meeting Exchange in October. The project team will also appear on the 3Degrees Discussions podcast at the conclusion of the project to discuss key learnings, existing challenges within the additive manufacturing space and what they see as the next opportunity to advance the industry.
