Joshua Martelle and Denver Wiederin, Center for Technology, Essex test their prototype in front of the Additive Manufacturing Competition judges
2017 Additive Manufacturing Competition participants
SME, a nonprofit organization that supports the manufacturing industry, and Stratasys Ltd., a 3-D printing and additive manufacturing solutions company, have announced the winners of a co-sponsored student additive manufacturing competition held during the 53rd annual SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference.
Now in its third year, the 2017 Additive Manufacturing Competition consisted of 34 high school and post-secondary student teams competing for a chance to take home gold, silver or bronze medals - as well as scholarships from the SME Education Foundation and a MakerBot Mini printer. The Additive Manufacturing Competition was created to stimulate student learning of additive manufacturing and 3-D printing techniques.
"Each year, we attract more students to participate in the SkillsUSA Additive Manufacturing Competition and we could not be more thrilled with the growth," said Jeff Krause, Executive Director and CEO of SME. "This is an exciting time for additive manufacturing and 3-D printing and we are proud to be at the forefront of its evolution and making sure our future manufacturing leaders will be prepared for what lies ahead as the industry progresses."
The 2017 Additive Manufacturing Competition involved designing and printing a track piece (fixture) capable of moving a marble to a designated location after the ball rolls down a ramp. The fixture was required to connect with the ramp at specific points and remain stable for the test's duration. Each team was provided time to design the fixture, build the 3-D printed prototype on a Stratasys 3-D printer and make any necessary design modifications the next day.
"Many student competitors impress us and surprise themselves at what they can achieve during the competition," said Jesse Roitenberg, head of North America Education for Stratasys. "They are preparing all year and coming more equipped than the year before to take on the challenges we plan for them."
Contestants also participated in a mini-challenge, which required them to fix broken issues within an STL file. After completing the design process, participants later presented findings to a panel of professionals in the additive manufacturing field. Presentations included full analysis of how the design and re-design process was managed.
Participants were also offered the opportunity to participate in Tooling U-SME's new Additive Manufacturing Fundamentals Certification, the first and only nationally normalized, stackable or sequential, credential process in additive manufacturing.
More than 16,000 people - including students, teachers and business partners - participated in events at the SkillsUSA national conference, highlighting the capabilities of career and technical education students in their respective fields.
2017 winners of the SME/Stratasys SkillsUSA Additive Manufacturing Competition included:
High School Teams
- Gold Medal: Cameron McLaughlin and Mathew Marinelli, Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School, Marlborough, MA
- Silver Medal: Andrew Schalk and Braden Clayberg, Stafford Senior High School,
Falmouth, VA
- Bronze Medal: Andrew Daddone and Trevor Wheelock
Frederick County Career & Technology Center, Frederick, MD
College Teams
- Gold Medal: Collin Goddes and Thomas Houston, Calhoun Community College, Decatur, AL
- Silver Medal: James Bruce and Mattias Anderson, Butte College, Oroville, CA
- Bronze Medal: Amadeo Verstegen and Timothy Myers, Madison Area Technical College, Madison, WI
For more information contact:
Stratasys Ltd.
7665 Commerce Way
Eden Prairie, MN 55344
877-489-9449
info@stratasys.com
www.stratasys.com
SME Headquarters
One SME Drive
Dearborn, MI 48128
800-733-4763
www.sme.org