Additive Manufacturing Users Group announces keynote speakers for 2017 conference
The Additive Manufacturing Users Group (AMUG) has announced its featured keynote speakers for the 2017 AMUG Education & Training Conference, to be held in Chicago, Illinois, USA, from March 19 – 23, 2017. The keynote speakers, Stacey DelVecchio, Jason Lopes and Todd Grimm, will focus on Additive Manufacturing strategies, applications, trends and technologies.
Steve Deak, AMUG president, stated, “We have an exciting lineup of keynote speakers, including two perennial favourites. Once again, Jason Lopes and Todd Grimm will share their insights and experiences with their passionate, engaging and inspirational presentation styles. Caterpillars’ Stacey DelVecchio will join us, for the first time, to enlighten us on the strategic aspects of applying additive manufacturing in applications that go far beyond prototyping.”
Grimm, President of T. A. Grimm & Associates and AMUG’s AM industry advisor, will open the conference marking his seventh appearance as an AMUG keynote speaker. “Todd opens our conference by sharing valuable insights over a broad spectrum in a way that engages the audience and makes them comfortable with developments and issues that may challenge our members. His keynotes are perfectly aligned with AMUG’s intent – sharing information so that the right decisions can be made,” Deak added.
Stacey DelVecchio, AM product manager for Caterpillar, will step onto the AMUG stage on Tuesday, March 21, to discuss how Caterpillar’s strategy to bring 3D printing from prototype solution to manufacturing method has evolved. DelVecchio will also share how Caterpillar is leveraging its innovative incubator to “think big…start small…act fast”.
Jason Lopes, of Legacy Effects, returns for his fourth AMUG keynote appearance. Spanning film, TV, Broadway and character appearances, Lopes’ work pushes the limits of the technology to make amazing physical effects a reality. In his presentation, he will share the tools he has used, the creativity employed and the amazing results that were achieved. Lopes’ film credits include Avatar; Ironman 1, 2, 3; Avengers 1, 2 and the upcoming third; Pacific Rim and Jurassic World.
“For Jason’s keynote, we have a new twist this year. He will begin his visual journey of his use of additive manufacturing for special effects on Monday; continue with video shorts on the following days; and then wrap up on Thursday with a Q & A session. The goal is to illustrate the amazing things the company does and how it selects the right technology for the job,” stated Deak.
The AMUG Conference will also feature the Innovators Showcase, which is an on-stage conversation with Carl Deckard, inventor of Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) and chief technology officer for Structured Polymers. The conference will also include over 200 presentations, workshops and hands-on training sessions.
