SME, the nonprofit association committed to widespread adoption of manufacturing technologies, and America Makes, a public-private partnership for additive manufacturing (AM) technology and education, are strengthening their longtime partnership to provide additional value to AM stakeholders. By colocating America Makes’ Spring Technical Review and Exchange (TRX) with RAPID + TCT 2025 — the largest AM and industrial 3D-printing event in North America, produced in partnership with Rapid News Group — key leaders will gather in one central location to drive the exploration and advancement of next-generation AM. The events will be held April 8-10 in Detroit.
Founded in 2012 as the Department of Defense’s (DoD) national manufacturing innovation institute for AM, and the first of Manufacturing USA’s national network of institutes, America Makes has been an active participant of RAPID + TCT since 2013.
America Makes’ continued presence and support at RAPID + TCT, along with the colocation of SAE International’s World Congress Experience (WCX) and SME’s AeroDef Manufacturing event, ensures all participants are well-informed and educated on AM’s successful use cases in aerospace, defense ground and sea systems, mobility and consumer goods.
As the DoD continues to prioritize AM technologies across the defense industry, these colocated events will capitalize on different audience sectors. This includes Michigan’s expansive defense industry responsible for $30B in economic activity for the state, with more than 166,000 jobs and nearly 4,000 Michigan businesses serving the defense, aerospace and homeland security industries.