Paging Dr. O

Kip Hanson Contributing Editor

But the real purpose and benefit of RAPID + TCT—and all SME events—is much more important and aspirational: We’re focused on building communities. As the manufacturing industry’s leading voice for advancement and opportunity, SME’s mission is to provide its members and manufacturers with valuable tools to foster growth, introduce and share ideas, create enriching experiences, and connect all of us in a collaborative ecosystem. This means that events must go well beyond calendar dates and physical gatherings. In addition to providing new information, these events bring audiences together and create lasting community experiences that participants can share.

Olga Ivanova has 3D-printed plenty of interesting parts during her time in manufacturing. Rocket nozzles. Turbine blades and impellers. Neonatal tracheostomy tubes. There are more, which we’ll get to in a moment, but to Star Wars fans, it’s the Static Dissipative Yoda that’s most intriguing.

“We printed a bunch of Yoda and Groot (Guardians of the Galaxy) figurines for high school students who visited our facility recently,” said Ivanova, director of technology at Mechnano, an additive manufacturing materials

SME’s Voices AMplified initiative, which was launched in early 2022, is also designed to be a shared experience, supporting and highlighting the AM community. In this issue, we profile Melanie Lang and Brad Keselowski. Melanie caught the AM bug in 2010, experimenting at first with her own printer just for fun, and now champions the technology (including innovative DED systems) as CEO of FormAlloy, as well as industry-leading organizations such as America Makes and Women in 3D Printing.

Olga Ivanova Master networker RAPID + TCT Director of Technology Mechnano

While Brad needs no introduction—his NASCAR racing success speaks for itself—Brad’s manufacturing business also is creating a buzz in the AM community. Keselowski Advanced Manufacturing is speeding ahead with innovative applications in aerospace and defense, marine, and telecommunications, as well as on the racetrack.

I hope you enjoy this issue, and I look forward to meeting you at an upcoming event.

developer near Phoenix. “It’s our way of getting young people interested in additive manufacturing.”

She’s quick to point out that those educational giveaways were made of a gray-colored base resin, not the more expensive static dissipative material (which is black) that she spends much of each day working with—and yes, which she occasionally uses to print Yodas that are just as resistant to electrical charge as they are to the Dark Side of the Force.

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