AMUG names 2022 DINOs recipients and Technical Competition winners
April 28, 2022
The Additive Manufacturing Users Group (AMUG) has presented its annual DINO (Distinguished INnovator Operator) Award for Additive Manufacturing expertise and service to three recipients. AMUG also announced the winners of its annual Technical Competition. The awards were presented at the 2022 edition of the AMUG conference which took place in Chicago, Illinois, USA, on April 3–7.
The DINO Award recognises those that have contributed to the Additive Manufacturing industry with the intent to advance the industry as a whole or to advance the skills and knowledge of individuals. Over its thirty-five year history, AMUG has awarded only 177 DINOs.
AMUG representatives presented the DINO Awards in recognition of tenure in the Additive Manufacturing industry, years of service, contributions to the industry, and active support of the users’ group. Gary Rabinovitz, DINO Selection Committee Chair and Director at Large, stated, “This award recognises not only experience but also character and passion. Following a lengthy nomination and review process, the committee selected three deserving individuals from over 1,800 attendees of the AMUG Conference.”
The recipients of the 2022 DINO Award are:
- Ben Arnold, Massivit 3D
- Matthew Donovan, Vulcan Form
- Nick Licari, Computer Aided Technology
The new DINOs’ efforts behind the scenes and in public forums have advanced the technology and the applications that leverage its capabilities. Through direct contributions of time and energy, all have played a role in making the AMUG Conference a positive experience for those seeking insights and information.
Gary Rabinovitz, Shannon VanDeren, a member of the DINO Selection Committee, Derek Ellis, Chair of the New Member Committee, and Mark Abshire, incoming president, presented the DINOs to Arnold, Donovan and Licari.
Rabinovitz commented, “Ben Arnold is well known in the Additive Manufacturing industry and often described as a mentor, educator or coach brimming with passion. And he is always ready to step up to help out, as he did last year when we needed to fill a last-minute gap in our presentation agenda.”
VanDeren noted the same of Matthew Donovan, “He has been willing to participate as a speaker when things don’t go to plan. Matt has been a consistent presenter and panellist over the years. And when he participates in other industry events, he is quick to speak out on the value of AMUG.” Donovan also contributes to the industry by serving on the ASTM F42 committee, which works to standardise Additive Manufacturing.
Ellis, a former co-worker of Nick Licari, said, “Nick has been on the New Member Committee since the beginning. He strives to keep the committee fresh by introducing new ideas. As chair of that committee, Nick will be my righthand man moving forward.” Ellis also cited Licari’s work ethic and willingness to share.
Carl Dekker, AMUG President, added, “AMUG’s tenet is ‘For Users, By Users,’ and its success comes from a community where individuals share their experiences to help one another. Our three DINOs have actively participated in the sharing and have volunteered for activities that build the foundation of the community and the AMUG Conference experience.”
Nominations for the 2023 DINO candidates will be accepted from October 1, 2022.
AMUG Technical Competition
The AMUG Technical Competition recognises excellence in Additive Manufacturing applications and finishing techniques. A panel of industry veterans selected Bill Braune of Dinsmore, Inc. and Nanci Hardwick of MELD Manufacturing as winners in the Advanced Finishing and Advanced Concepts categories. AMUG members selected Jung Kyu Im and Daniel Goncalves of Custom Prototypes Inc. for the first-ever Member’s Choice Award.
The Technical Competition also took place at the AMUG conference and was stated to be the largest ever held. Bonnie Meyer, Chair of the Technical Competition Committee, stated, “With thirty-two entries, this was the largest AMUG Technical Competition we have ever held. I received many comments from the competitors and from the AMUG Members praising the high quality of the entries.”
For the Members’ Choice Award, Jung Kyu Im’s and Daniel Goncalves’ entry titled ‘Metal 3D Printed Bathroom Faucet’ was selected. The custom design, which had floral inspirations, incorporates water channels within the organically shaped ‘stems’ that twist as they rise to connect with the ‘flower’ that discharges the flow of water.
The faucet and the accompanying handles were manufactured in stainless steel using Laser Beam Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-LB) technology from Renishaw. In their entry description, Im and Goncalves said, “The complex shape could only be produced with powder bed metal 3D printing. We had to design the water channels in a way that would avoid internal supports.”
Bill Braune won the entry in the Advanced Finishing category for ‘Mars Attacks’, a detailed homage to 1996 film.
Nanci Hardwick received first place in the Advanced Concepts category for ‘Metal 3-D Printing Raises the Bar for the Army’s Jointless Hull Program’. The entry was a representation of what the US Army plans to do with MELD Manufacturing’s technology, which was chosen to be a part of the world’s largest metal Additive Manufacturing machine for the Jointless Hull Program.
The patented MELD® method is a solid-state process that ‘stirs’ plastically deformed metal. The Army’s programme plans to have an AM machine with a build envelope of 6 x 9 x 3.7 m, which is big enough to manufacture a monolithic hull. Hardwick’s entry was a section of a hull made from aluminium and weighing over 91 Kg.
Meyer commented, “Fascinating, novel AM technology that enables large-scale manufacturing. Maybe the most impressive new AM technology here.”
For Advanced Finishing, Mark Abshire took second place with his work titled ‘Adding a Colorful 3rd Dimension’. Third place was awarded to Brent Wright of LifeNabled for ‘Curiosity Revealing and Animating Gears’.
Andreas Vlahinos of Advanced Engineering Solutions received the second-place award for ‘Avionics Heat Exchanger’ in the Advanced Concepts category. Third place went to Jason Jones of Hybrid Manufacturing Technologies for his entry ‘Using PBF to Enable DED in a CNC’.
Each winner of the Technical Competition receives complimentary admission to the 2023 AMUG conference so that they can elaborate, from the stage, on the project details and processes that were used.
The Technical Competition judging panel was comprised of nine AMUG DINOs. These judges were Ron Belknap, Rey Chu, Jeff DeGrange, Jason Dickman, Dave Flynn, Sheku Kamara, Bruce LeMaster, Bob Markley and Robin Van Bragt.
