SME and Stratasys Announce Winners of the 2017 SkillsUSA Additive Manufacturing Competition

The Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), a nonprofit organization that supports the manufacturing industry, and Stratasys Ltd. announced the winners of a student additive manufacturing competition held during the 53^rd annual SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference.

The SkillsUSA Additive Manufacturing Competition is a student contest co-sponsored by the organizations to attract the future workforce to this growing field and allow contestants to get hands-on experience using the latest 3D printing software and technology, such as the new Stratasys F123 Series. The competition was held at the 53rd annual SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference, and six teams took home gold, silver and bronze medals for fulfilling all of the contest requirements.

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 3D printing techniques.

“Each year, we attract more students to participate in the SkillsUSA Additive Manufacturing Competition and we couldn’t be more thrilled with the growth,” said Jeff Krause, executive director and CEO of SME. “This is an exciting time for additive manufacturing and 3D 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 3D printed prototype on a Stratasys 3D 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 that required them to repair 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

Our congratulations go out to all participants in the SkillsUSA Additive Manufacturing Competition, as well as SME and Stratasys for co-sponsoring this important event for the future of manufacturing.

Tags: SkillsUSA Additive Manufacturing Competition, SME, Stratasys

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