A Smithsonian curator and the CEOs of four companies who have pioneered the development of additive manufacturing will be featured speakers at RAPID 2011 Conference & Exposition in conjunction with the 3D Imaging event, at the Hyatt Regency in Minneapolis, May 23–26, 2011.

Douglas Owsley, Ph.D. and curator division head, Physical Anthropology, at the Smithsonian Institution for the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., will talk about how 3D imaging, digital reconstruction and additive manufacturing are becoming essential technologies aiding the production of museum exhibits, forensic case work and bio-archaeological research on the human skeleton.

Owsley will show how the application of scanning and additive technologies is aiding skeletal research on 17th century colonists and ancient Americans.

RAPID 2011 will also feature CEOs of four companies that pioneered additive manufacturing. They will talk about the evolution of the technology and provide their vision for the future at a keynote session, May 25, 2011. Participating will be:

Craig Crump, CEO and president, CGI

C. Martin Shuster, president, CEO and founder, Laser Design

Brad Cleveland, president and CEO, Proto Labs

Scott Crump, chief executive officer, president and chairman of the board, Stratasys

Other conference tracks will address the use of additive manufacturing and 3D printing for aerospace and defense, medical, motor vehicles, architecture, consumer products, jewelry, sculpture and other art works as well as offering information on equipment, engineering, casting and materials to use in manufacturing.

For more information and to register, visit www.sme.org/RAPID.