Oqton wins ASTRO-InSPIRE Inconel 718 PBF-LB challenge
The Applied Science and Technology Research Organization of America (ASTRO America) and Florida State University’s Institute for Strategic Partnerships, Innovation, Research, & Education (InSPIRE) hosted the 2nd Annual ASTRO-InSPIRE Tech Showcase on Wednesday, August 12, at the Emerald Grande in Destin, Florida.
The event opened with a keynote address from Rep Jimmy Patronis (R-FL), along with opening remarks from leaders representing ASTRO America, FSU InSPIRE, Florida State University Research, and Triumph Gulf Coast, Inc.
“Northwest Florida has always played an outsized role in defending our nation, and now we have an opportunity to lead the next generation of American manufacturing as well,” said US Rep Jimmy Patronis (R-FL). “The work ASTRO America, FSU InSPIRE, Triumph Gulf Coast, and our industry partners are doing is bringing cutting-edge technology out of the lab and into production right here in Northwest Florida. That means a stronger defence industrial base, more American-made technology, and new opportunities for our workforce and local economy. I’m proud to support the partnerships and investments that are making Northwest Florida a national hub for aerospace, defence, and advanced manufacturing.”
This year’s showcase, ‘Distortion Prediction & Compensation in Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF),’ focused on what the organisers describe as one of the most persistent barriers to scaling Additive Manufacturing: predicting and compensating for distortion in Laser Beam Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-LB). While tools exist to help address distortion, ASTRO America stated that clear benchmarking is needed to evaluate how these solutions perform across real-world applications.
The showcase brought together advanced manufacturing leaders, technical evaluators, solution providers, and industry stakeholders to review competing approaches, discuss challenge results, and explore how improved distortion prediction and compensation can help make Additive Manufacturing more reliable, repeatable, and production-ready.
Dr Abdalla R Nassar, Vice President and General Manager of ASTRO South, shared, “Congratulations to Oqton for leading the way in this year’s Tech Showcase. This competition is about more than selecting a winner. It is about identifying the tools, data, and technical confidence needed to scale Additive Manufacturing for critical, domestic production. We were honoured to have Rep Patronis join us to recognise each competitor’s contribution and to celebrate Northwest Florida’s emergence as a serious aerospace and defence manufacturing hub, with important support from FSU InSPIRE and Triumph Gulf Coast as well as Florida’s Great Northwest.”
During the challenge, participating solution providers presented approaches designed to predict and compensate for distortion in PBF-LB. Technical evaluators assessed the solutions against challenge criteria designed to benchmark performance and inform future approaches to improving AM predictability.
Other competitors included Ansys, Siemens, Dassault, Autodesk, and Cadence, with Oqton announced as this year’s winner.
Sridharan Hariharan, Global VP of Sales and Customer Success at Oqton, added, “ASTRO America designed this challenge to separate research-stage tools from production-ready ones, using real parts of interest rather than simple test articles.”
“That’s exactly the bar our customers hold us to every day. We’re proud that Oqton’s approach to distortion prediction and compensation in LPBF Inconel 718 came out on top. We’re grateful to ASTRO America and FSU InSPIRE for building the kind of rigorous, independent benchmark this industry needs, and for the opportunity to be part of it,” Hariharan continued.
Florida State University’s participation in the showcase forms part of InSPIRE’s work in aerospace, defence, and advanced manufacturing innovation in Northwest Florida.
Drew Allen, Executive Director, FSU InSPIRE, said, “It’s a real honour to present these Tech Challenges alongside our strategic partner, ASTRO America. By bringing major players within aerospace and other key industries together with academia, government, and entrepreneurs we can help fast track the production of up-and-coming solutions, which can then jumpstart the upscaling of advanced manufacturing not only in our region, but nationwide. This will become even more crucial as we build out our own applied research capability in solving real industrial challenges.”
The showcase forms part of broader efforts by ASTRO America and FSU InSPIRE to accelerate the transition of advanced manufacturing technologies from research and demonstration into practical, production-ready applications. By focusing on distortion prediction and compensation, this year’s challenge targeted a technical problem that directly affects part accuracy, repeatability, cost, and qualification pathways.
