SME Honors Rapid Prototyping Practitioners and Researchers at RAPID 2009

2009 Recipients Recognized for Life-Saving Technology and Advancements in Hybrid Metal Manufacturing

DEARBORN, Mich — The Society of Manufacturing Engineers’ (SME) Rapid Technologies and Additive Manufacturing Community presented its Industry Achievement and Dick Aubin Distinguished Paper Awards at the RAPID 2009 Conference and Exposition. The winners were honored during the Plenary Session this morning in Schaumburg, Ill.

Andrew M. Christensen, president and chief technical officer at Medical Modeling Inc., was awarded the RTAM Industry Achievement Award. Christensen was recognized for introducing EBM technology into the building of customized orthopedic implants in Ti-based alloys as well as custom cranial implants. These custom implants are used in reconstructive surgery for motor vehicle accidents, tumors and combat injuries. Christensen’s work with the Walter Reed Army Medical Center has enabled it to build and successfully implant more than 30 custom porous titanium implants into wounded soldiers.

Frank Liou, director, interdisciplinary manufacturing engineering program professor at the Missouri University of Science and Technology, and Mary Kinsella, PhD, chief, metals processing section at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, received the Dick Aubin Distinguished Paper Award for their technical paper on applications of a hybrid metal manufacturing system which combines the best traits of additive manufacturing processes and conventional machining operations. Hybrid manufacturing of fully dense metal parts is a critical rapid manufacturing technology since it can directly produce finished products or parts for high-performance applications such as high stress or high temperature. In their paper, the authors state that hybrid-metal manufacturing is potentially a very competitive process for fabrication and repair of fully dense metallic parts with precision requirements, which will have a definite impact on the rapid and additive manufacturing industry.

About the Awards
The RTAM Industry Achievement Award was developed to recognize an individual, team or company for outstanding accomplishments that have had significant impact within the additive manufacturing industry or any industry through the application of additive manufacturing technologies. As the name suggests, the award recognizes achievements that have been implemented or deployed in a commercial/industrial environment rather than research investigative work.

The Dick Aubin Distinguished Paper Award recognizes innovative applications of rapid prototyping processes and techniques and honors the author for his/her contribution of ideas and information to the rapid technology and additive manufacturing industry. It is named in memory of Richard F. Aubin, a founding member of the Rapid Prototyping Association of SME Advisory Board and member of the editorial review board for the Rapid Prototyping Journal. Aubin was a pioneer in the international intelligent manufacturing systems (IMS) effort with his work in the rapid product development feasibility study.