We at VALIMET would like to thank America Makes for awarding the GOTHAAM Project team, which we have been part of since the very beginning.
Want to know how it started?
At a networking dinner we hosted during the Defense Manufacturing Conference (DMC), Steve Fournier, was introduced to Costa Kury and other industry professionals. Steve expressed his frustration with materials validation costs — a major barrier to the progress of Additive Manufacturing.
He said something like: “Maybe we should build a Coalition of the Willing and do the job together!”.
The following night, Steve brought up the same topic – larger table. Costa listened, organized a focused meeting two weeks later and here we are.
Bringing together a large number of stakeholders around shared final results is the right way to develop an Industry.
Looking at the team lineup, you will find several players at each node of the “Industry Network,” as they call it at the Defense Logistics Agency.
The work is about to begin, and we’ll do it together. But we would like to highlight the lesson behind it:
Steve challenged an unsatisfactory condition shared by many industry peers. He envisioned a way forward, made it compelling for key stakeholders, and then forces started joining.
Paraphrasing a British song: “Make sure you talk to strangers. Be a rebel”.
P.S.
Thanks Ashley Nichols for choosing the restaurant and, even more, for sparking the conversation.
Luigi Alzati
VP Sales and Marketing
Original Post by America Makes:
America Makes and the National Center for Defense Manufacturing & Machining (NCDMM) (NCDMM) are proud to announce the winner of a recent project call worth $5.5M in funding.
Generation Of Technical-data for High-strength Aluminum Alloy Material (GOTHAAM) is funded by the Department of War Manufacturing Technology Program (OSW ManTech). Its objective is to develop material allowables for a high-strength, 7075-T73-equivalent aluminum alloy across three classes of laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) additive manufacturing (AM) systems, enabling scalable production on small, medium, and large-format printers. By delivering a corrosion-resistant, aerospace-grade alloy with broad defense and commercial applications, GOTHAAM will develop ways to generate a strong return on investment for original equipment manufacturers and the organic industrial base as it transitions into qualified production.
Congratulations to General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, winner of the GOTHAAM project call.
Project team partners include: Lockheed Martin | Northrop Grumman | Airbus US Space & Defense, Inc. & Defense + АР Works | MIMO Technik | Quadrus Corporation | Hadrian Additive | Nikon AM Synergy | EOS America | VALIMET, Inc. | Toyal PP Group Official America | Equispheres Inc. | AMG Aluminum North America | Rio Tinto | Sunrise Energy Metals | Nio Corp. | Dyndrite | Scot Forge