All the Winners of the AMUG 2023 Awards Have Been Announced

AMUG 2023 took place a few weeks ago, concluding another successful edition of the additive manufacturing conference “For Users – By Users.” For those who are not familiar, AMUG is a unique event among a litany of different 3D printing trade shows and research conferences. The event is dedicated to discussion and learning, putting a premium especially on networking between players on the market. It is known as well for its many different activities including conferences, training sessions, technical sessions, workshops, awards and more. Now, the winners of the awards for AMUG 2023 have officially been named.

Every year, AMUG announces winners in the Technical Competition, which recognizes excellence in additive manufacturing applications and finishing techniques. These are chosen by a panel of industry veterans. Additionally, there is a Members’ Choice Award. There are also the DINO, or Distinguished INnovator Operator, Awards. Gary Rabinovitz, DINO Selection Committee Chair and Director at Large described the honor of receiving this award as such, “This award recognizes not only experience but also character and passion. Following a lengthy nomination and review process, the committee selected ten deserving individuals from over 1,800 attendees of the AMUG Conference.” To date, there have been 187 DINOs awarded, with this year marking the awards’ 25th anniversary. The last award is the President’s Award, which recognizes “the exemplary vision, leadership, and tireless years of service for the advancement of AMUG.” We took a closer look at all the winners.

Mark Wynn (left) receiving the President’s Award at AMUG 2023

The New DINOS Selected at AMUG 2023

According to a press release from AMUG, the DINOs are awarded to individuals each year for in recognition of tenure in the additive manufacturing industry, years of service, contributions to the industry and active support of the users group. As can be expected, it’s prestigious, with only a few candidates selected out of the attendees of the AMUG Conference at large. This year Tim Bell, from MELD Manufacturing Corporation, Bogdan Filipkowski from Custom Prototypes Inc., Rob Hassold from Cimquest, Inc., Danny Levy from Influit Energy, Matthew Mitchell from Yazaki North America, Heather Natal from GoEngineer, Roger Nielsen from In’Tech Industries, Dave Rittmeyer from Mathews International, Colton Rooney from EMI Corp. and Alex Roschli from Oak Ridge National Laboratory were the recipients.

This year was also exceptional as it was not just the 35th annual AMUG Conference, but also the 25th anniversary of the DINO Award itself. As such, at the event, all the DINOs from 1998 to 2023 were assembled, with about 40% of all DINOs attending. This was important especially because it shows not just the fact that the award itself is a momentous milestone after year-long support of the AM community, but that many DINOs have continued to be active in the AMUG community at large.

The recipients of the DINO Award at AMUG 2023 (from left to right): Bogdan Filipkowski, Matthew Mitchell, Dave Rittmeyer, Rob Hassold, Colton Rooney, Danny Levy, Heather Natal, Tim Bell, Alex Roschli and Roger Nielsen

The Technical Competition Winners

In terms of the the technical competition, Custom Prototypes and the University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI) were the Advanced Concepts and Advanced Finishing Winners. Meanwhile, UDRI was also selected for the Members’ Choice Award. Custom Prototypes held the winning entry in the Advanced Finishing category for their project “Tomlinsonus Dimitrii – The oldest fossil of marine animal ever found.” As the name suggests, Daniel Goncalves and Jung Kyu Im spearheaded work to bring this ancient fossil back to life in collaboration with the University of Toronto using a digital model of the fossil and stereolithography. The finish was especially impressing, Goncalves and Im themselves noted, “By carefully selecting the materials and post-processing systems, we managed to create various soft, hard, transparent, and opaque tissues of the animal.” This realism as well as the ability to alter the properties of the materials in terms of transparency and hardness were impressive feats, showing a unique mastery of the craft and leading to the win for the team.

At the same time, UDRI was selected as the winner for Advanced Concepts thanks to its 3D printed micro-turbine engine which was submitted by Ben Loerke on behalf of the organization’s engineering team. The novel design of the engine was noteworthy as it only has four main components: rotor, housing, nozzle and starter-motor mount. Meaning that the part count was reduced by an astonishing nearly 90% compared to traditional designs. Not only that, but it was able to push the boundaries of additive manufacturing while challenging the belief that AM could not produce complex features while hoping dimension tolerances and delivering on surface finish specifications according to a press release from AMUG. Ultimately, the team hopes that the project can be used to help serve a growing DoD need for power plants that are sourced in a cost-effective and environmentally friendly manner. The judges were particularly taken by the innovation, effort and achievements present in the part. This also played a role in its win from AMUG members with the Members’ Choice Award in 2023.

Tomlinsonus Dimitrii from Custom Prototypes (left), the winner of of the award for Advanced Finishing and the micro-turbine from UDRI, the winner for Advanced Concepts (right)

Mark Wynn Wins the President’s Award

Last, but certainly not least, Mark Wynn, Senior Technical Specialist for Yazaki North America, Inc., was awarded the President’s Award at AMUG 2023. To receive a President’s Award is even rarer than a DINO, in fact only eleven have been awarded including this one. Mark was given the honor thanks to his AMUG volunteerism that reaches back to 2000 as well as his service of the group, serving a number of roles in cluding AMUGexpo team lead, Deputy Vice President, AMUG Mboard of Directors member and Expo Committee Chair.  Mark Abshire, AMUG President, expanded, “Mark Wynn’s perseverance, dedication, passion, professionalism, and selflessness were apparent in each of the AMUG roles he filled. And the result of those qualities was excellence in his work.” You can learn more about AMUG 2023 HERE.

What do you think about all the winners of the awards at AMUG 2023? Did you attend the event? Let us know in a comment below or on our LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter pages! Don’t forget to sign up for our free weekly Newsletter here, the latest 3D printing news straight to your inbox! You can also find all our videos on our YouTube channel.

*All Photo Credits: AMUG