AMS 2026 could have been altered by flight delays and snow-covered streets, however when you made it, the power felt something however frozen. This 12 months’s Additive Manufacturing Methods, which wrapped up final week in New York Metropolis, combined huge concepts, monetary updates, and loads of conversations about the place additive manufacturing is headed. Between panels, shows, and networking chats, it felt just like the business is at a turning level, even when nobody is kind of positive what comes subsequent.
The view from the venue
A large blizzard hit the town within the days main as much as the convention, which clearly modified journey plans for lots of attendees. I personally had 5 separate flights canceled earlier than lastly managing to fly to Washington, D.C. to hop an Amtrak prepare to NYC. We heard from many others who additionally rode trains into the town; this in all probability made Stefanie Brickwede, head of AM at Deutsche Bahn, very completely happy certainly.
Stefanie Brickwede, Mobility goes Additive
Sadly, many individuals had been unable to make it to the occasion, so we’re sharing a number of the highlights with you!
A Story of Two Keynotes
Because of the blizzard, the phrase of the week was flexibility, and the schedule was pretty fluid. Yoav Zeif, the CEO of AMS Diamond Sponsor Stratasys, had lengthy been scheduled to open the convention, simply as he has the previous few AMS occasions. Sadly, his arrival was delayed, so our personal Govt Editor Joris Peels, Chairperson for AMS 2026, took the stage that first morning and delivered his personal opening presentation, “3D Printing in a Fractious World.”
AMS Chairperson Joris Peels, 3DPrint.com
Peels described firms performing “like a canine with 5 – 6 tennis balls,” bouncing from one initiative to a different with out follow-through, and stated that within the unsure geopolitical local weather, what issues most is incomes belief, realizing your clients, and constructing actual relationships. He referred to as this “very old skool” focus extra important than ever.
He additionally stated the largest disruption in our business could also be happening in plain sight: the very actual risk of a desktop 3D printing revolution.
Stratasys CEO Yoav Zeif
Fortunately, Zeif was nonetheless in a position to ship his official opening keynote on the “State of the AM Business.” He simply did so within the afternoon on the second day of AMS. Zeif stated he aspires for the AM business to be mainstream, like CNC.
“It’s a journey. Whenever you take a look at CNC, it took them 40 years to turn out to be the mainstream of manufacturing elements…What occurred in these 40 years? They eliminated these boundaries, one after the other,” he advised the viewers.
“We have to take away the boundaries…There isn’t a purpose on this planet, none, that we’ll not take away the boundaries as nicely. We simply have to do it with our clients.”
Zeif additionally echoed what Peels stated, noting that desktop is taking up the additive sector, and that it is a good factor, as a result of it helps increase the business.
Snowy Music Lyrics
A memorable second got here when John Barnes, Founding father of The Barnes International Advisors (TBGA) and CEO of Metallic Powder Works, started his presentation. True to current custom, he opened with pun-filled tune lyrics he’d written himself.
John Barnes, TBGA and Metallic Powder Works
This 12 months, they had been all in regards to the snowy climate that made journey tough for many attendees.
“I considered maybe ‘Do You Wanna Construct a Snowman,’ however that could be in dangerous style, so possibly I ought to simply ‘Let It Go,’” Barnes quipped amidst raucous laughter, dropping the names of two standard songs from the film “Frozen.”
He talked about the “flurry of concepts” he had whereas planning and serious about his “20(/)30 Imaginative and prescient: Adoption” presentation, noting that his head was “a blizzard of ideas that I needed to claw my manner via.” It was a good way to make everybody smile, even in a 12 months crammed with uncertainty.
3D Printing for Helmets
On the ultimate day of AMS, the dialog turned to a really particular AM utility. With soccer helmet in hand, Carbon CEO Phil DeSimone took the stage with Riddell representatives Thad Ide, Chief Product Officer, and Erin Griffin, Senior Vice President of Advertising and Communications. The 2 firms launched a 3D printed helmet liner in 2019, and have been collaborating to innovate sports activities gear ever since.
L-R: Erin Griffin and Thad Ide, Riddell; Phil DeSimone, Carbon
Ide referred to as Carbon’s DLS know-how “the right match” for Riddell’s helmets. Moreover, Ide and Griffin let the viewers in on some breaking information: Riddell is actively working to incorporate extra additive throughout all ranges, together with its varsity line.
Formlabs Financials
Talking of breaking information, Formlabs CEO Max Lobovsky’s featured discuss included numbers that many attendees described as a “enormous deal,” and bought individuals speaking afterward about how firms can develop in immediately’s AM market.
Max Lobovsky, Formlabs
The privately owned firm has achieved a $2 billion greenback valuation, which makes it a unicorn. However as a result of it’s not public, the financials should not sometimes shared…till Lobovsky put them up on the massive display at AMS.
“Yeah, I see everybody getting out their telephones to take footage,” he stated wryly, as I and practically everybody round me did simply that.
CEO Roundtable
The favored CEO roundtable at all times feels to me much less like polished keynotes and extra like trustworthy conversations about the place firms actually stand immediately. The CEOs on the panel talked brazenly about challenges, alternatives, and the truth of working in a market that’s nonetheless evolving. They centered on actual points as a substitute of huge guarantees.
L-R: Stephen Butkow, Cantor Fitzgerald; Max Lobovsky, Formlabs; Yoav Zeif, Stratasys; Phil DeSimone, Carbon; Brigitte de Vet-Veithen, Materialise; Glynn Fletcher, EOS
One of many final questions Cantor Fitzgerald‘s Managing Director Stephen Butkow requested the CEOs was what they’re most excited for in 2026. DeSimone is most enthusiastic about “the sheer amount of resin that we’ll be transport for particular person purposes.” Brigitte de Vet-Veithen, Materialise CEO, stated she’s excited for the corporate’s software program a part of the enterprise this 12 months, whereas Lobovsky was enthusiastic about all of the merchandise Formlabs is presently creating.
Yoav famous that the world is “sadly not likely steady,” which equates to main demand in aerospace and protection purposes, in order that’s what he’s most enthusiastic about. Lastly, Glynn Fletcher, the CEO of EOS, stated what he’s enthusiastic about is “beneath a strict NDA,” so he can’t talk about it brazenly. However, he additionally stated the corporate is embedded in lots of applications the place AM is the default, not the exception, which he additionally finds thrilling.
Networking Alternatives
Then there have been the networking moments, and there have been loads of these. As at all times, a number of the most vital conversations occurred there, in small teams, over drinks, between individuals who have identified one another for years or had been simply assembly for the primary time.
The shows begin the dialog, however the true work typically occurs afterward. As soon as once more, AMS confirmed that what occurs between classes can matter simply as a lot as what occurs throughout them.
Regardless of the snow and journey delays, AMS did what it at all times does: introduced individuals collectively, made positive it was the middle of actual conversations, and reminded everybody why this 3D printing neighborhood issues.
Photos courtesy of Sarah Saunders for 3DPrint.com
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