AMS 2025

This Year’s Kent State University MVP Will Be Presented with a Bronze Trophy 3D Printed with Filamet

AM Research Military

Share this Article

Rittichier

Jack Rittichier (L) before his deployment to Vietnam. [Image: US Coast Guard]

I know many graduates of Kent State University, as several of my friends and family members have attended over the years, but one of the school’s most famous graduates is Coast Guard hero Jack Rittichier, who was a star football player and team captain during his days at Kent. After he graduated in 1956, he went on to a long career in the Air Force and Coast Guard, where he won several medals including the Purple Heart, Silver Star and Vietnam Service Medal, among many others. He was killed in action in 1968, and his name lives on at KSU in the form of the Lt. Jack Rittichier Trophy, which has been presented to the KSU football team’s MVP every year since 2009.

As a football player, Rittichier is best known for an incredible 90-yard touchdown run in the final minutes of KSU’s homecoming game against Bowling Green State University on October 30, 1954. The touchdown won the game and sent the KSU football team to their first bowl game, the 1954 Refrigerator Bowl. Decades later, a photograph of Rittichier’s touchdown run was given to Rhode Island-based artist Ann Rozhon, who used it to create a bronze sculpture entitled “Jack’s Run.”

In 2014, the sculpture was 3D scanned at the Coast Guard Academy and the file was transmitted to the Paul King Foundry, where it was 3D printed and used to cast a miniature bronze version, which became the new trophy to be given to the KSU football team’s MVP. This year, though, the MVP will be given a different kind of trophy – one that has been fully 3D printed.

2323227

2014 KSU MVP Casey Pierce is presented with the Rittichier Award by Coast Guard Commander Marshall Branch. [Image: Petty Officer 3rd Class Christopher M. Yaw, US Coast Guard]

It won’t be the first 3D printed trophy to be awarded to an athlete; the first ones were introduced in 2010 by Motorsport. Earlier this year, high school students designed a 3D printed trophy for the world champion Kansas City Royals, and 3D printed trophies were awarded to last year’s Hockey World League Champions. Unlike those trophies, however, the newest Lt. Jack Rittichier Trophy will be directly printed in bronze using the Virtual Foundry’s recently introduced metal filament, Filamet.

12141808_572296396250684_3432310197889494243_n

This bronze owl was printed in Filamet on a Printrbot Simple.

Filamet’s release caused quite a stir as it’s the closest we’ve gotten so far to an entirely metal filament for desktop 3D printing. Made from 88% metal powder and 12% plastic, the metal content of printed objects can be upped to nearly 100% by baking them in a kiln and allowing the plastic to burn away. Unlike the original Motorsport trophies, which were printed with expensive SLS technology and later painted or lacquered in gold, silver or bronze, the Rittichier Trophy will be printed with a standard FDM desktop 3D printer and polished to allow the natural bronze to shine.

Since Filamet’s release, it has been snapped up by high-profile consumers from Calvin Klein to the US Department of Energy. Now the Virtual Foundry is looking to focus on introducing the material to home users and makers, reflecting the young company’s maker origins. According to founder Bradley Woods, even the company’s production equipment was maker-built.

“It’s all controlled by a variety of Arduino’s and PICs,” said Woods. “By now we’ve replaced some of our equipment with industrial grade gear, but at one point all of our process equipment was home-built.”

In my opinion, a college football trophy is a pretty good way to showcase a material to the general public – particularly a trophy that honors a hero of both sports and war. Discuss further in the 3D Printed Trophy forum over at 3DPB.com.

Share this Article


Recent News

AMS 2025: Registration Rates Increase on December 6

Printing Money Episode 24: Q3 2024 Earnings Review with Troy Jensen, Cantor Fitzgerald



Categories

3D Design

3D Printed Art

3D Printed Food

3D Printed Guns


You May Also Like

3D Printing Financials: 3D Systems Faces Challenges, Bets on Innovation

3D Systems (NYSE: DDD) closed its third quarter of 2024 with mixed results, navigating macroeconomic pressures while leaning on innovation to shape its future. The company reported a challenging sales...

Metal 3D Printing Supplier Continuum Powders Opens North America’s “Largest” Site for Sustainable Metal Powder Production

Continuum Powders, a supplier of metal powders made from recycled materials and used for additive manufacturing (AM), has announced the opening of its new global headquarters, in Houston, Texas. The...

John Kawola on BMF’s Formnext Highlights and What’s Next

Boston Micro Fabrication (BMF) has continued to grow steadily since my last visit to its Boston headquarters. The company, known for its ultra-precise 3D printing technology, showcased new product launches,...

Formnext 2024: Sustainability, Large-Format 3D Printers, & More

The doors have closed on Formnext 2024, but we still have more news to bring you about what was introduced on the show floor this year. WASP had several product...