The objective of this grant is to enhance student participation in the 2014 Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium by providing student support. The conference is a forum bringing together top researchers from around the world and numerous graduate students to discuss their research, to exchange ideas, to network, and to develop collaborative relationships centered on additive manufacturing research. The 2014 Symposium will be held at the Thompson Conference Center on the campus of The University of Texas at Austin on August 4-6, 2014. All registering students will receive support based on a reduction in the meeting registration fee. It is estimated that about 90 of the anticipated 240 attendees will be students. Two plenary sessions at the 2014 meeting will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the meeting by dealing broadly with "looking back 25 years" and "looking forward 25 years".
The 2014 Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium will be a mechanism for transfer and dissemination of knowledge and understanding in the field of additive manufacturing. Presentations represent state of the art in additive manufacturing research. The networking of world-class researchers with students is strong since the meeting encourages through its pricing structure the involvement of students. Through the heavily cited proceedings, information is widely disseminated to an extensive network of researchers and students around the world. The proceedings of previous Symposia are freely available on line at the conference website, and the 2014 proceedings volume will be similarly available. The societal impact is identification of pre-commercial technologies and sharing of information pertaining to additive manufacturing that will eventually be developed and implemented into machines and processes that will enhance domestic productivity.
This project supported student participation in the Twenty-Fifth International Solid Freeform Fabrication (SFF) Symposium. The symposium took place on August 4-6, 2014 in Austin, Texas at The University of Texas at Austin. Funds offset student registrations which enabled students to come and participate. There were 92 students at the meeting which represented approximately 30% of the entire meeting participation. The meeting had 174 oral presentations and 25 poster presentations. Of these, 114 papers were included in the proceedings. Authors had an option to have their papers peer reviewed prior to publication. Intellectual Merit The Twenty-Fifth International Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium, held at The University of Texas at Austin on August 4-6, 2014, was attended by 334 national and international researchers. The Symposium was organized in a manner to allow the multidisciplinary nature of the SFF research to be presented coherently, with various sessions emphasizing computer interfacing and modeling, machine and process development and materials and materials processing for SFF. The three-day event was completely composed of individual oral presentations to accommodate the demand for this dissemination format. The parallel sessions were split into 4-5 sessions to meet demand, and a poster session allowed researchers to present in this format. We believe that documenting the changing state of SFF art as represented by the meeting proceedings serves both the people presently involved in this fruitful technical area as well as the flux of new researchers and users entering the field. In 2014, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the meeting, several special events took place. An inventor’s forum was held, at which 5 of the 7 leading process inventors were present. Another session had presentations that contrasted the way additive manufacturing research was done 25 years ago and how it is done today. There was a digital art show and a special presentation on the next 25 years of additive manufacturing. Information on the SFF Symposium was made available through the worldwide web at http://sffsymposium.engr.utexas.edu/. On-line registration forms, hotel information, general information brochure, proceedings order form, maps and the previous year’s talk titles were all available. Broader Impacts In addition to the benefits of direct meeting participation, students were able to network with the international additive manufacturing research community. Wider dissemination was accomplished through the proceedings. A total of 114 papers were included in the proceedings volume. Authors contributed manuscripts both unreviewed and reviewed to allow authors the option of presenting their work in a refereed format. The SFF Symposium serves as a primary forum for networking and dissemination of information dealing with research issues in freeform fabrication. In a recent tally by AM experts on the most significant milestones in the history of AM, excepting the invention of specific AM processes, the inauguration of the SFF Symposium ranks highest [1]. When asked which publications had greatest influence on the AM field, the Proceedings of the SFF Symposium tied with the only refereed archival journal dedicated solely to the AM field, the British-based Rapid Prototyping Journal [1]. This same group ranked the SFF Symposium highest by over 50% to the next conference when asked what meeting contributed most to the development of the AM field [1]. The SFF Symposium Conference Proceedings are heavily cited in the archival literature, and it is anticipated that the 2014 Proceedings will be as well. [1] Christopher L. Weber, et al., "The Role of the National Science Foundation in the Origin and Evolution of Additive Manufacturing in the United States", IDA Paper P-5091, IDA Science & Technology Policy Institute, Washington, DC, 2013. Additive Manufacturing is an extremely broad and interdisciplinary field, encompassing mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, aerospace engineering, biomedical engineering, computer science and engineering, biology, design, materials science and engineering, manufacturing science. The topics covered at the SFF symposium impact the automotive, aerospace, orthopedics, dentistry, gaming, surgical planning, implants, marine, architecture, furniture, art, etc. The 2014 conference served as a forum for this diverse interdisciplinary group of researchers to gather for the purpose of synergistic interaction and sharing of ideas and progress. The Proceedings of the Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium is a significant contribution to the research literature in the field. The proceedings represent a concise annual corpus of 600-1500 pages detailing research in freeform fabrication back to 1990. The Proceedings volume for the 2014 meeting is 1488 pages. The proceedings are heavily cited in archival literature including the Rapid Prototyping Journal. A special issue of best papers from the 2014 SFF Symposium will be published as a special issue of the Rapid Prototyping Journal in the first half of 2015. This conference serves as a meeting opportunity for researchers, a number of which are involved in entrepreneurial activities. The networking aspect of the conference is strong and includes students who are able to meet and discuss research with world-class leading experts in the field.
