Fraunhofer DDMC 2025 showcases global innovations in Additive Manufacturing, AI integration and sustainable AM
April 14, 2025
The Fraunhofer Competence Field Additive Manufacturing presented the seventh edition of the Fraunhofer Direct Digital Manufacturing Conference (DDMC) in Berlin, Germany, March 12 – 13, 2025. The event attracted over 100 participants from thirteen countries, and the conference programme included over twenty sessions with a total of sixty-seven lectures and more than a dozen posters.
The DDMC included presentations on current research, technology developments and the latest industrial applications from the world of Additive Manufacturing. The focus was on topics such as process and material developments for metals, polymers and ceramics, post-processing, and the integration of artificial intelligence in Additive Manufacturing processes. Participants were also offered innovations on quality assurance, sustainability, and the digital process chain in AM.
This year’s DDMC also offered a platform to network with leading German and international experts from research and industry and to discuss the latest trends in AM.
Six keynote speakers from research and industry presented their personal perspectives on the future of Additive Manufacturing:
- Prof Enrico Stoll, a space technology expert from TU Berlin
- Prof Wojciech Matusik, a computer-aided design and manufacturing specialist and Director of the CS & AI Lab at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
- Digital manufacturing pioneer and entrepreneur Ben Hartkopp from Quantica
- Prof Bianca Colosimo, co-director of the AddMe Lab at Politecnico di Milano
- Dr Sebastian Piegert and Dr Cynthia Wirth from Siemens Energy
Another highlight was the traditional evening event, which took place in the Wartehalle and provided a relaxed space for personal exchange and networking.
At the end of DDMC 2025, the awards for Best Paper, Best Poster, and Best Presentation were presented to honour the most exceptional contributions to the conference. These awards highlight the innovative and impactful research showcased during the conference.
The Best Presentation Award was won by Ligeia Paletti from German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Hamburg, Germany, for her talk “Design for Additive Manufacturing and Design for Sustainability: Synergies and Conflicts”.
The DDMC Best Poster Award was awarded to Aron Pfaff, Konstantin Kappe, and Markus Linnenberg from Fraunhofer EMI in Freiburg, Germany, for their poster titled “Optimizing Kinetic Energy Absorbers by Additive Manufacturing”.
The Best Paper Award was presented to Eike Tim Koopmann, Tim Jäger, Christoph Kaminsky, and Henning Zeidler for their contributions to “Development of Heating Strategies to Reduce Crack Formation in the Manufacturing Process of Tool Components Using Directed Energy Deposition”. This work was a collaborative effort between Mercedes-Benz AG in Stuttgart, Germany and the Institute for Machine Elements, Design and Manufacturing of TU Bergakademie Friedberg, Germany.
The next DDMC is scheduled for 2027 and will showcase the latest trends in Additive Manufacturing from research and industry worldwide.
