America Makes names winners of $5M project to improve AM inspection
America Makes, Youngstown, Ohio, and the National Center for Defense Manufacturing (NCDMM) have announced the winners of a recent project call funded by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense, Manufacturing Technology Office (OSD ManTech), worth a total of $5M. The Quality Test and Inspection Methods Expediency (QTIME) project call focused on advancing non-destructive inspection (NDI) techniques for Additive Manufacturing processes, specifically Laser Beam Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-LB) and Directed Energy Deposition (DED), aiming to evaluate both in-situ and ex-situ NDI technologies for large, complex AM parts. Released in May 2025, the proposal consisted of three topic areas, and five awards were anticipated.
Barriers remain in AM around reliably assessing the quality of large, complex parts. Rapid, affordable inspection and qualification are vital elements to addressing this challenge. Using advanced analytics and automated NDI tools can cut costs, shorten lead times, and increase confidence in performance. This project call sought mature, near-commercial NDI technologies ready for real-world deployment.
“Projects like QTIME highlight the invaluable contributions of our members, who steadily advance and mature Additive Manufacturing,” said Ben DiMarco, Technology Transition Director at America Makes. “We are honoured to collaborate with them and confident that their work will enable future innovations in both in-situ and ex-situ monitoring and inspection, accelerating AM progress across the Department of Defense, the Federal Aviation Administration, and NASA.”
The winners are as follows:
Topic 1: Rapid, Cost-effective Methods for Non-destructive Inspection of Large AM Parts
- Awardee 1 – Team Lead: Honeywell International, Inc.
- Awardee 2 – Team Lead: Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation
- Project Team: GE Aerospace, Pinnacle Industrial X-Ray Laboratory
Topic 2: Rapid, Cost-effective Methods for Inspection and Qualification of Complex AM Parts
- Awardee 1 – Team Lead: Applied Science & Technology Research Organization of America
- Project Team: Applied Optimization, Inc., The Pennsylvania State University – Applied Research Laboratory, Florida State University, Colorado School of Mines, Honeywell Aerospace, Lockheed Martin
- Awardee 2 – Team Lead: RTX Technology Research Center
- Project Team: Pratt & Whitney, Intact Solutions, Velo3D
Topic 3: Industry Transition Team (ITT)
- Team Lead: ASTM International Advanced Manufacturing Division
- Project Team: The Boeing Company, Lockheed Martin, SAE International, Baker Hughes, Wohlers Associates
Project teams will report on their progress at the America Makes Technical Review and Exchange and other industry events during the execution phase of the programme.
