SME has just announced the schedule for the upcoming 2018 RAPID + TCT conference, which will be held April 23-26 in Fort Worth, Texas.
As the conference will bring together over 150 industry experts to talk and present about the latest AM applications, materials, processes, and research, it’s not hard to imagine that setting up the event itself took a massive amount of work.
“You’ll hear from the most influential leaders in the industry about how 3D technologies can cut costs, reduce time to market, produce stronger and lighter parts, improve efficiency, create complex geometries, and solve many other industry challenges,” said Maria Conrado, RAPID + TCT event manager, SME.
One of the other fastest-growing areas of application for 3D printing technology is biomedical and medical. Once again, RAPID + TCT’s Medical Manufacturing Innovations Program (MMI) will, as Conrado told 3DPrint.com, “expand the medical focus at RAPID + TCT 2018.”
The MMI page writes, “From manufacturing of end-use surgical devices and personalized implants, to bone scaffolds and functioning organ replacements, additive manufacturing/3D printing is truly changing lives. At the conference, you will find in-depth sessions covering design and manufacture of implants, dental devices, tissues, and more using a variety of additive manufacturing technologies.”
Jonathan M. Morris, MD and Amy Alexander, BME, both from the Mayo Clinic, will be presenting this year’s MMI keynote, titled “Rise of Point-of-Care Manufacturing: Impacting More Patients with 3D Printing,” on Wednesday, April 25, from 8:30 – 9:45 am.
Presentations at this year’s RAPID + TCT conference have been labeled as Novice, Intermediate, and Expert, so attendees can easily maximize the time they spend at the conference by customizing a schedule that perfectly fits their needs. The conference website lets you filter presentations by day, level, and session, so you can figure out which sessions you’re going to attend before you even enter the conference.
By attending this year’s RAPID + TCT conference, you’ll have the chance to hear about some of the exciting research that places like Carnegie Mellon University, the University of North Texas, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and NASA Langley Research Center are working on. You’ll also get to learn how organizations like Oerlikon and the US Army Research Laboratory are producing production-ready parts using new and novel materials, like metals and flexible materials.
There’s even a New Products Gallery, featuring some of the latest innovations from companies like EOS and Wacker Chemie AG – ACEO. The Independent Technical Evaluation of Additive Manufacturing Consortium (ITEAM) that was announced at last year’s conference will have its official debut in April.
The 2018 RAPID + TCT conference, hosted by SME, will be held at the Fort Worth Convention Center this year. It starts in just 75 days, so make sure to register now so you won’t miss out.
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[Images provided by SME]