The 13th Annual Members Meeting and Exchange (MMX), hosted by America Makes, the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute, held on August 5-6 in Canfield, OH, convened hundreds of leaders across the Department of Defense (DoD), industry, and academia to share knowledge and innovations to accelerate additive manufacturing (AM).
During Part 1 of this three-part series, we reviewed the state of the Institute, highlighting existing and emerging DoD-focused initiatives from our leadership. In Part 2, we shift the lens to industry, spotlighting how organizations like ExxonMobil, Siemens Energy, and Eaton are pushing the boundaries of AM and shaping its role in national security, energy, and beyond.
The State of AM Across Energy
As the DoD works to bolster the Defense Industrial Base (DIB), its ability to leverage dual-use capabilities across commercial sectors has become a priority. Presentations from Chris Beeson, Additive Manufacturing Lead at ExxonMobil (Baton Rouge area), and Tad Steinberg, Business Development Engineer at Siemens Energy, were especially timely. Both shared their organization’s strategic approaches, foreshadowing how AM could drive a new era of energy innovation and full-scale integration across defense and industry.
Beeson kick-started the conversation by highlighting AM’s significant impact in enhancing ExxonMobil’s production capacity. Harnessing its digital nature, he acknowledged AM as a key enabler of localized production of complex parts, extending the life of legacy systems, reducing lead times and inventory risk, as well as improving part performance through design freedom.