Pole Position

To help foster the next generation of innovators, the SME Education Foundation’s Bright Minds Program welcomed nearly 1,000 middle and high school students to RAPID + TCT. There also was a special networking lunch for young professionals and a Career Forum Panel. The initiative is led by Ellen Lee and Jennifer Coyne, who are both advisors on the Additive Manufacturing Technical Community Leadership Committee.

To help foster the next generation of innovators, the SME Education Foundation’s Bright Minds Program welcomed nearly 1,000 middle and high school students to RAPID + TCT. There also was a special networking lunch for young professionals and a Career Forum Panel. The initiative is led by Ellen Lee and Jennifer Coyne, who are both advisors on the Additive Manufacturing Technical Community Leadership Committee.

IJohn, who heads The Barnes Global Advisors and Metal Powder Works, has been involved in metal additive manufacturing throughout a distinguished career. He’s led teams that qualified the aerospace industry’s first series production metal AM parts, and developed a pilot metal production facility.

John, who heads The Barnes Global Advisors and Metal Powder Works, has been involved in metal additive manufacturing throughout a distinguished career. He’s led teams that qualified the aerospace industry’s first series production metal AM parts, and developed a pilot metal production facility.

As senior manager of Ricoh’s Healthcare Center of Excellence, Sarah is developing a curriculum for the company’s Learning Institute that focuses on medical managed

As senior manager of Ricoh’s Healthcare Center of Excellence, Sarah is developing a curriculum for the company’s Learning Institute that focuses on medical managed t’s an impressive list of resources. Three Matsuura MX-330 PC10 five-axis machining centers with pallet pools. A pair of Mazak INTEGREX I300S seven-axis multitasking lathes. An HCN-5000 horizontal machining center, also from Mazak. These are just a few of the advanced CNC machine tools sitting on the production floor at Keselowski Advanced Manufacturing (KAM) that would make most job shops envious. Ask the owner, NASCAR champion Brad Keselowski, about it and you’ll receive a terse answer. “We’re not a machine shop.”

KAM’s assortment of nearly two dozen laser-powder-bed-fusion (LPBF) 3D printers from providers such as EOS, SLM Systems, and GE Additive, many with multiple lasers and generous build volumes, yields a similar response. “I wouldn’t stick us in the additive box either.”

SME Media also interviewed dozens of AM leaders during RAPID + TCT as part of its Voices AMplified initiative that showcases the people behind the technology. This month’s Voices AMplified report profiles two such visionaries: Olga Ivanova and Carl Dekker. Known as “Dr. O,” Olga has worked on innovative projects for the medical and defense industries, and is a tireless crusader for advancing AM.

SME Media also interviewed dozens of AM leaders during RAPID + TCT as part of its Voices AMplified initiative that showcases the people behind the technology. This month’s Voices AMplified report profiles two such visionaries: Olga Ivanova and Carl Dekker. Known as “Dr. O,” Olga has worked on innovative projects for the medical and defense industries, and is a tireless crusader for advancing AM.

A metallurgical and mechanical testing lab with extensive metrology capabilities? Nope. An engineering firm? Not that either. What this 75-time NASCAR winner (and counting) does concede to is being part of a vertically integrated, digital manufacturing team that builds game-changing parts using 3D printing technology.

Carl puts the emphasis on people. He leads a talented team at Met-L-Flo, which produces a wide range of 3D-printed products. He also chairs the Direct Digital Manufacturing Advisory Team and moderated a panel at RAPID + TCT.

Carl puts the emphasis on people. He leads a talented team at Met-L-Flo, which produces a wide range of 3D-printed products. He also chairs the Direct Digital Manufacturing Advisory Team and moderated a panel at RAPID + TCT.

Carl and Olga represent the spirit behind Voices AMplified. I hope you enjoy their stories.

Carl and Olga represent the spirit behind Voices AMplified. I hope you enjoy their stories.

Four in One

“Obviously, we print parts here,” said Keselowski, owner and founder of the Statesville, N.C.-based manufacturing firm. “We also machine them, and because most of what we produce here is mission-critical, we’ve invested in CT-scanning and other types of testing and inspection equipment to ensure that parts meet our customer requirements.

No Second Chances

Although their movie counterparts possess awesome superpowers, the 3D-printed Baby Yodas (at left) and Groots (right) that Olga Ivanova gave to visiting high school students are unable to do so much as dissipate electrical charge--but they’re still very

He continued, “(Because) the machining of 3D-printed metal parts is much different than traditional machining, we employ a team of experienced engineers who prepare print jobs, develop our CNC programs and fixturing, and basically drive the entire production process from concept to finished component. Simply put, we’re vertically integrated, and operate as four companies in one.”

Why would someone accustomed to speeding around a racetrack at 200 mph—and doing so quite successfully for nearly two decades—want to open a high-end manufacturing company? It might have something to do with the fact that race teams share in KAM’s drive for vertical integration, able to machine, weld, form, assemble, and test what’s needed to produce a winning product.

Furthermore, Keselowski has observed and participated in these processes since his youth, so it’s only natural that he would wish to continue a family tradition, one that now includes a non-traditional form of manufacturing: 3D printing.

Impact Beyond the Track

It’s no secret that modern racecars rely on additively manufactured parts. Team Penske (with whom Keselowski once raced), well-known for its use of Stratasys FDM printers, was where Keselowski first learned of the technology. So do McLaren, Stewart-Haas, Spire Motorsports, and other top contenders. And while Keselowski admits to having “several 3D-printed parts” in the No. 6 Ford Mustang he now drives for RFK Racing—a team he coowns—he’s unwilling to share details on their construction.