The awards honor individuals, teams, and companies advancing AM commercialization.
SME announced the winners of the 2025 Additive Manufacturing (AM) Awards and the AM Pitchfest at RAPID + TCT throughout the week in Detroit. The awards recognize outstanding accomplishments of individuals, teams, and companies that have had a significant impact on commercializing AM.Â
Digital Manufacturing Challenge Awardees
The Digital Manufacturing Challenge recognizes the innovative work of high school, undergraduate, and graduate student teams who design, create, and utilize infrastructure-level systems that deploy manufacturing solutions in sustainability, renewable energy, and advanced manufacturing.
- High School Winner: DuPont Manual High School
Submission: Sustainable and Effective Composite Repairs Using Novel 3D Printed Patch Designs
Team Member: Vallabh Ramesh
Advisor: Dr. Kunal Kate - Undergraduate Winner: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute & Cornell University
Submission: Micro Solar-based Steam-Powered Desalination Plant
Team Members: Ammar Barbee, Grace Oyama, Julian Stoller, Grace Yu
Advisor: Dr. Sam Chiappone - Graduate Winner: University of Georgia
Submission: Fabrication of Wind Turbine Blade Solid Wastes for High-Performance Composite Fibers
Team Members: Varunkumar Thippanna, Martin Taylor Sobczak
Advisor: Dr. Kenan Song
Aubin AM Case Study Awardee
The Aubin AM Case Study Award recognizes innovative use cases of AM technologies.
- Winner: Dimensional Energy & Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Submission: Binder Jet Additive Manufacturing of Silicon Carbide Reactor Assemblies
Contributors: Dr. Bhargavi Mummareddy, Dr. Trevor Aguirre, and others - Runner-Up: Norsk Titanium & The Boeing Company
Submission: RPD® By The Numbers
Contributor: Karl Fossum
AM Startup Technology Awardees
The AM Startup Award recognizes young companies that have developed a new AM technology or application that solves an existing problem or utilizes a unique approach.
- Winner: 3D Architech
Submission: High-resolution Metal Manufacturing for Energy Efficiency
Team Members: Kai Narita, Akira Kudo, Keita Abe - Runner-Up: AMIS
Submission: AMIS Pro – Industrial Build Prep
Team Members: Kris Binon, Jonathan Wilson - Runner-Up: Snowbird Technologies
Submission: Snowbird Additive Mobile Manufacturing Technology
Team Members: Scott Morse, Caroline Brown, Jeremy Heerdlink
AM Pitchfest Winner
The AM Pitchfest showcases the latest in AM technology and innovation to a panel of industry leaders, media, and the AM community. The competition is open to entrepreneurs, startups, and academic spinoffs bringing emerging technology, products, and applications to the market. The winner will be given the opportunity to exhibit at RAPID + TCT 2026 in a fully equipped booth.
- Solideon: Build Hardware at the Speed of Software
AM Industry Achievement Awardee
The AM Industry Achievement Award recognizes an individual or team for outstanding accomplishments implemented or deployed in a commercial/industrial environment that significantly impact the application of AM in any industry.
- John E. Barnes, founder and president of The Barnes Global Advisors, and co-founder and CEO of Metal Powder Works
For more information, visit sme.org.
