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2025 is the year that the AM ramp-up by the U.S. Maritime Industrial Base Program (MIB) became common knowledge throughout the industry. But everyone who attended AMS 2024 was already made aware of that trajectory and had the opportunity to hear from some of the key figures moving the AM needle for U.S. shipbuilding efforts, like the U.S. Navy’s Program Manager for the MIB, Matthew Sermon.
The MIB will be more of a centerpiece than ever at AMS 2026, which is one of the best reasons to register now for our event in New York City next month, February 24-26.
Matt Sermon, Program Manager for the MIB, gives his keynote at AMS 2025. Image courtesy of 3DPrint.com
As everyone working to scale AM knows, the right partnerships are the foundation for success, and this may be truest of all when it comes to military applications. Along those lines, for anyone looking to enter the defense market — including the MIB — the experiences of the companies working with the military are every bit as relevant as the demand signals broadcast directly by military officials themselves.
It is an honor for AMS to have a company like General Dynamics Electric Boat (GDEB) participating in the conference. Along with Newport News Shipbuilding, A Division of HII, GDEB is one of just two companies in the U.S. that design and build nuclear-powered submarines. The term “game-changer” is thrown around so much in the AM industry that the phrase has become virtually meaningless. But when GDEB and Newport News Shipbuilding announced a 2023 partnership to accelerate the use of AM applications for U.S. submarines, the game really did change.
GDEB’s Courtney Murphy, the company’s Director of Talent Acquisition, Workforce Development and Compensation, will speak on the ‘Workforce Development’ panel on Day 1 (February 24), currently scheduled for 10:30 am EST, during the Reshoring Session. The panel is packed with know-how on working with the U.S. military: first off, it will be moderated by Adele Ratcliff, a bonafide legend in the space at the intersection between manufacturing and the United States Department of War.
The panel will also include A. John Hart, co-founder of VulcanForms Inc. and part of the leadership at the new MIT Initiative for New Manufacturing (INM), is one of the most exciting announcements of 2025 in an especially busy year for advanced manufacturing at U.S. universities. Miranda Shurer, with the Workforce Development Program at the MIB, will be a part of the panel as well, providing an invaluable perspective on one of the most critical issues that the U.S. economy will face for the foreseeable future. In that same spirit, the panel will be rounded out by Fabian Alefeld, Director of Business Development and Academy, Global for Additive Minds, the consultancy division of EOS. Alefeld has been leading the way for some indispensable collaborations between the MIB and the AM industry when it comes to training the next generation of U.S. manufacturing workers.
That panel would be reason enough, on its own, to attend AMS. But on Day 2 (February 25), during the afternoon’s Aerospace & Defense Session, you can also hear from GDEB’s Kirk Scheel, Director for Submarine Materials Engineering and Laboratory Services. His presentation, “Defining Demand Signals for Naval Shipbuilding Applications,” is currently scheduled for 3:15 pm EST.
GDEB also recently announced that it is working with Lincoln Electric, a returning AMS sponsor, on MIB applications. In the morning’s AM at Scale Session on February 25, you can hear from returning AMS speaker D. Mark Douglass, PhD, CFA, Business Development Manager – Additive Solutions, in a presentation at 9:40 am EST. This is a topic that Lincoln Electric is perfectly suited to discuss. It is not widely appreciated that Lincoln Electric has North America’s largest metal AM capacity.
The company leveraged its large-format expertise in early 2022 to help Chevron avoid a refinery shutdown. In 2024, the US Army Corps of Engineers announced that it had partnered with Lincoln Electric to produce the largest 3D printed civil works component in the U.S. to maintain the strategically critical Soo Locks.
That pedigree makes Lincoln Electric the perfect choice to work on a project as vital as rejuvenating U.S. shipbuilding. Getting to learn from voices like Douglass is what makes AMS a can’t-miss date on the AM industry event calendar.
All of the above only describes three slots on the AMS schedule. There’s plenty more insight to gain across the rest of the program, which is why you should register by midnight on January 15th. This is the deadline for standard registration: your last chance to attend all three days (February 24-26, 2026) for $1,799.
Everyone at 3DPrint.com and Additive Manufacturing Research can’t wait to see you there!
This piece was originally seen in AMS: The Preprint.
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