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from page 15.
Tere are frms that continue to increase brick-andmortar resources, technical capability and know-how
in order to better meet dynamic customer requirements. It will be interesting to see how the startups
in this industry defne their diferentiation. An area of
increasing interest seems to be in catering to localities and afnity groups—exploiting the low-volume,
customization enablers of additive manufacturing.
Ideaspace. Common attributes for success include
agility and latitude in creativity, and, quite frankly,
those who realize ideas seem more adept than most.
To that end, the maker movement is a compliment,
if not a necessary element, in advancing the state of
additive manufacturing, not only in the United States
but in the global market as well. When this is coupled
with mentorship resources found in competitive
programs like the FIRST Robotics Competition, a new
innovation landscape begins to emerge.
Te additive manufacturing perspective looks continuously challenging and promising for 2014, where the
world may be literally what you make of it!
ResouRces:
While many government programs, and the private
sector for that matter, have historically performed
in silos, there seems to be an interesting phenomenon lately to share data publically. Whether it is a
private-public partnership, such as America Makes, or
an efort funded by the Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency (DARPA), like the Open Manufacturing program, there are more public forums to
present and share outcomes than ever before.
Tis better enables the diligent to connect strategic
dots, create value to advance the state of the art and
not reinvent the wheel, as well as brings more diversifed backgrounds to the productivity table. Advancements will continue in additive manufacturing in
the arena of optimization for material selection for
product requirements, process parameter mapping
to as-designed properties, and improved equipment
calibration and reliability.
Should the "maker" community—Maker Faire, DIY
and educational outlets—continue their entrepreneurial march forward, look to fnd more local
manufacturing and creativity incubators manifesting
organically, as they have at MIT's Fab Lab network and
16 — AM Supplement
America Makes, americamakes.us
General Electric, ge.com/stories/
additive-manufacturing
DARPA, darpa.mil
Maker Faire, makerfaire.com
MIT Fab Lab, fab.cba.mit.edu
Ideaspace, ideaspacedc.com
FIRST Robotics Competition, usfrst.org/
roboticsprograms/frc