Key Presentations Announced for 1st Digital Manufacturing – Opportunities for Manufacturing Rebirth Conference

Key Presentations Announced for 1st Digital Manufacturing – Opportunities for Manufacturing Rebirth Conference, June 22-24, 2011

Carrabassett Valley, Maine – The opportunities for digital manufacturing are huge and could transform the way manufacturing industries operate. In the U.S. over 95% of the nation’s 300,000 manufacturers are classified as small and medium sized – and they are lagging well behind the large manufacturers in implementation of the digital manufacturing infrastructure required to provide simulation based R&D, Design and Manufacturing. But this can be changed so that they have the potential to transform the manufacturing industries.

On June 22-24, 2011 in Hollywood, Florida, IMI’s 1st Digital Manufacturing – Opportunities for Manufacturing Rebirth Conference will explore Digital Manufacturing’s potential as it enters a new era – transitioning from prototyping to full scale production applications. This transition and continued expansion of digital manufacturing can provide needed stimulation in manufacturing industries and may provide unparalleled business opportunities for manufacturing in an increasingly digital world. Articles in Design News, Industry Week, Information Week and The Economist among others indicate the interest and potential for Digital Manufacturing to assist in creating new profitable business opportunities and jobs.

Key presentations listed below will provide insights into how digital manufacturing can assist in profitable manufacturing growth:

Additive Manufacturing 101: How the Future of Product Development & Manufacturing is Changing
Jonathan L. Cobb, Vice President Marketing, Stratasys, Eden Prairie, Minnesota

Building Manufacturing Processes & Products Drop by Drop
Dr. Alan L. Hudd, President & Chief Technical Officer, Xennia Technology, Letchworth, Hertfordshire, UK

Ink Jet: Will it be Successful Digital Manufacturing Technology?
Mark Hanley, President, I.T. Strategies, Hanover, Massachusetts

Technologies & Applications for Digital Fabrication Technologies
Vince Cahill, VCE Solutions, Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

Digital Fabrication from Prototyping to Production with Ink Jet
Yuan (Charlie) Chang, Vice President of R&D, Amica Systems, Irvine, California

Direct Digital Manufacturing of Airfoils through Large Area Maskless Photopolymerization
Dr. Suman Das, Professor and Director, Direct Digital Manufacturing Lab, Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia

Utilization of Ink Jet in Manufacturing Applications
Jali Heilmann, Senior Research Scientist, VTT Information Technology, Espoo, Finland

Membrane Keypad Manufacturing Using Only Ink Jet Technology
Darrell Etter, Customer Support Engineer, FUJIFILM Dimatix, California

Transforming the Way America Builds: Implementation Roadmap for a National Innovation Network
Jon Riley, Executive Director for Design & Engineering Programs, National Center of Manufacturing Sciences, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Panel Discussion & Open Forum :Advancing Digital Manufacturing: What is Next?

Digital manufacturing is a potential valuable contributor to the rebirth of manufacturing by utilizing available technologies to efficiently (in terms of cost, time & materials) manufacture products. We need to work not only hard, but smart, to realize the potential benefits offered by digital manufacturing technologies.

Technologies currently being utilized for digital manufacturing include stereolithography, ink jet printing or deposition, selective laser sintering, fused deposition modeling, aerosol jet deposition, solid ground curing, laser engineered net shaping and ultrasonic consolidation among numerous others.

Digital Manufacturing is currently being utilized in a wide range of industries including aerospace, automotive, biomedical (dentistry, prosthetics, tissue, etc.), composites, construction, consumer goods, energy, jewelry, machine tool, military/defense and many others. Manufacturers cite advantages and benefits such as the following for their implementation of Digital Manufacturing technologies:

• Precision Individualized Products
• Minimal Inventory Costs (Space, Overhead & Product Costs)
• Materials Conservation (No or Minimal Machining/Finishing Waste)
• Increased Design Flexibility
• On-Demand Production
• Time Savings (Design, Prototyping & Production)
• Production of Products Not Conventionally Manufacturable (Complex Shapes, Internal Voids, Layered Structures, etc.)
• Centralized Design & Remote or Distributed Manufacturing
• & More!

IMI’s 1st Digital Manufacturing – Opportunities for Manufacturing Rebirth Conference will explore the current digital manufacturing technologies, application opportunities, challenges, needed improvements to enhance implementation, economics and other factors essential to the growth and expansion of Digital Manufacturing.”

IMI conference programs bring together delegates from diverse cross sections of the topic industry and are designed to enable attendees to obtain the latest technical, market and application information while allowing time to network with other attendees in a time and cost efficient manner. Conference participation will enable attendees to meet with the digital manufacturing industry’s leading experts in a single location over a short period of time thus maximizing information transfer efficiency and minimizing travel and time expenses. IMI conferences also feature the opportunity for complimentary display space and five minute Suppliers’ Forum presentations.

For conference details, downloadable brochure and registration information, visit www.imiconf.com