MCLEAN, VA, Sep 14, 2015 – AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology and VDW – Verein Deutscher Werkzeugmaschinenfabriken (German Machine Tool Builders’ Association) announced that the competition period for the 2016 International Additive Manufacturing Award (IAMA) is now open. Those interested in applying for the award should visit www.additive-award.com for information. Entries will be accepted through December 7, 2015.
The IAMA recognizes innovations in additive manufacturing for industrial applications. This includes developments in the design of systems or major components, advances in processes or materials, new applications, data generation or measurement.
Those in the industry, such as system producers, users, component suppliers, data modelers, and international academia, are invited to apply. The 2016 award will be presented at METAV 2016 – 19th International Exhibition for Metalworking Technologies – held in Düsseldorf, Germany, from February 23-27, 2016.
The applications will be evaluated by a high-ranking international jury comprised of representatives from industry, academia, trade organizations and the media.
This is the second edition of the IAMA. The inaugural award was presented last March at The MFG Meeting to Hybrid Manufacturing Technologies for its self-contained laser cladding head, which mounts to a machining center’s spindle and augments a traditional “subtractive” CNC machine’s operations with additive capabilities.
AMT and VDW partnered on the International Additive Manufacturing Award program in response to the rapidly changing landscape in manufacturing created by advances in additive technology. Not only do these advances present myriad opportunities, but also challenges to entry and scalability. This award was created to encourage innovators to accelerate the technology’s current availabilities while also creating new solutions to its challenges.
“Additive technology continues to have a significant impact on manufacturing operations and product design,” said Douglas K. Woods, president of AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology. “With the IAMA, we are aiming to shine a spotlight on innovations and creative solutions in this bourgeoning field. Following a successful inaugural competition, we are looking forward to numerous project entries for the 2016 award.”
VDW – German Machine Tool Builders’ Association – executive director Dr. Wilfried Schäfer added, “Additive manufacturing will be one of the technology trends radically transforming the production processes of the future. It has meanwhile evolved into an autonomous technology that opens up new options to the industrial sector for manufacturing complex parts.”
The 2016 IAMA winner will receive a $20,000 cash prize and a media package valued at $80,000 to promote the winning development.
About AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology
AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology represents and promotes U.S.-based manufacturing technology and its members – those who design, build, sell, and service the continuously evolving technology that lies at the heart of manufacturing. Founded in 1902 and based in Virginia, the association specializes in providing targeted business assistance, extensive global support, and business intelligence systems and analysis. AMT is the voice that communicates the importance of policies and programs that encourage research and innovation, and the development of educational initiatives to create tomorrow’s Smartforce. AMT owns and manages IMTS – The International Manufacturing Technology Show, which is the premier manufacturing technology event in North America.
About VDW
The VDW – the German Machine Tool Builders’ Association – headquartered in Frankfurt am Main, has for more than 120 years now been representing the interests of the German machine tool industry. Together with the German Engineering Federation’s Machine Tools and Production Systems Association, it numbers about 300 companies, which represent approximately 90 per cent of the sector’s entire turnover. The VDW represents the interests of its members in Germany and abroad to the public, the politicians, business associates and the academic community. Above all, however, it functions as a service provider for its members. On the basis of its in-depth knowledge of the sector, the VDW provides its members with information based on maximised expertise, offering consultancy and support services for individual questions and problems. For more than 90 years now, too, it has been organising trade fairs for the international machine tool industry. On behalf of the European Association of the Machine Tool Industries CECIMO, it organises the EMO Hannover with the quality seal of “A VDW trade fair”. The VDW also hosts its own international trade fair for production technology and automation, the METAV in Düsseldorf.
About METAV 2016
The METAV 2016 – the 19th International Exhibition for Metalworking Technologies – will be held in Düsseldorf from February 23 to 27. It showcases the entire spectrum of production technology. The principal focuses are machine tools, production systems, high-precision tools, automated material flows, computer technology, industrial electronics, and accessories, complemented by the new themes of Moulding, Medical, Additive Manufacturing and Quality, which are now permanently anchored in what are called “areas” with their own nomenclature in the METAV’s exhibition programme. The METAV’s target group for visitors includes all branches of industry that work metal, particularly machinery and plant manufacturers, the automotive industry and its component suppliers, aerospace, the electrical engineering industry, energy and medical technologies, tool and mould-making, plus metalworking and the craft sector.
For more information, please visit www.metav.de.
