ASTM International launches personnel certificate programme in Additive Manufacturing
January 9, 2020
The ASTM International Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence (AM CoE) has announced its Additive Manufacturing certificate programme will take place from March 10–12, 2020, at the National Center for Additive Manufacturing Excellence (NCAME) at Auburn University, Alabama, USA.
The standards organisation is said to have conducted an extensive landscape analysis to understand the existing gaps in AM education and workforce development and to develop a comprehensive course that will fill the current gaps according to Dr Mohsen Seifi, ASTM International’s Director of global Additive Manufacturing programs. As a result, he explains that the course covers all basic concepts of the AM process chain while also equipping attendees with core technical knowledge related to best practices, including standardised methodologies.
ASTM International states that the programme is open to anyone with an interest in Additive Manufacturing and welcomes participants from government, industry, academia, as well as those with prior experience in AM. The standards organisation and TÜV SÜD, a testing and certification organisation headquartered in Munich, Germany, recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding to jointly develop other types of advanced educational certificate offerings in AM tailored to specific roles for various industry sectors.
Course modules will be taught by globally-recognised experts from industry, regulatory agencies, and academia. Specific modules will include:
- Terminology
- AM process overview
- Design and simulation
- Feedstock
- Post-processing
- Mechanical Testing
- Non-destructive inspection
- Safety issues, and
- Qualification and certification.
“With more and more industry sectors adopting Additive Manufacturing technologies, there is a growing demand for an educated workforce to support the expanding field,” stated Dr Nima Shamsaei, Director of the National Center for Additive Manufacturing Excellence (NCAME) at Auburn University. “This is a groundbreaking first step in meeting that need. To fill the AM knowledge gap, we need world-class training from industry leaders who can equip the future workforce with highly valued technical knowledge.”
Seifi commented, “The AM CoE has made education and workforce development a major priority for creating a culture that accelerates AM adoption.” He added that the programme requires attendees to pass an exam to earn the ‘Basic AM Certificate’ that serves as a foundation and prerequisite for future specialised role-based AM certificates through the AM CoE. The certificate programme is developed in compliance with the ASTM International standard practice for certificate programmes (E2659) adopted by ANSI in the Certificate Accreditation Program (ANSI-CAP).
