3rd Legislative Fly-in, Washington DC, by Additive Manufacturing Coalition.
VALIMET, Inc. is proud to have contributed to this initiative that supports our Industry.
2 full days, 50 participants distributed in 7 teams, running 102 meetings, 30min each a few miles waling.
Our VP of Sales and Marketing, Luigi Alzati, was with Team 7 – especially focused on the Defense fellows. Team leader, the magnificent seventh: Mara Hitner.
What does this industry need, in this moment in time?
R&D tax credit, targeted Tariffs, Defense procurement reform, Certification and Qualification costs etc. These were the ‘wants’ prepared by Mark Burnham, L. David Cherington, Lisa Arafune and team.
Obvious and less obvious take aways:
- AM & 3D printing enjoy bi-partisan interest and support;
- the Big Picture is about Defense concerns, not just commercial competition, or as we put it, “Consider the downstream implications first and then retrofit the policy”.
- STEM and AM: it’s a match.
- 3D Printing is the Advanced Manufacturing for all – it serves multi purpose agendas too, when it comes to jobs creation, wide talent pool, decentralized manufacturing etc.
- The expertise of the Defense Logistics Agency is an undisputed topic.
A special mention to Defense fellows Justin Smith, from Rep. John Garamendi‘s office and Amanda Gray, from Congresswoman Jen Kiggans‘ office. Team 7 was impressed by their awareness of our Industry’s criticalities and their will to move in specific directions.
Why did we do it, you ask?
As Mark Burnham said: “If you need to move the nail, you must be there to do it”. That sums it up for us.
Thanks to our Group 7 members: Rick Lucas, Donald Magnuson, Bradley Heil, Sherri Monroe, Eric Wooldridge, PE, Josh Thomas.
#3DPrinting #AdditiveManufacturing #Defense #AerospaceIndustry #AluminumAlloys