Inside IALR Podcast: Collaborative Forces in Maritime and Additive Manufacturing

Supply chain gaps and delays mean that a critical part failure can cause long delays and reduce the operational readiness of our nation’s critical warfighting weapon system.

For example, a mission-critical part breaks on an aircraft carrier full of personnel after it leaves the pier and is on deployment. If that part is not spared aboard the aircraft carrier, it could take months to get that replacement part delivered to the ship.

Additive manufacturing—or industrial 3D printing—is a growing solution to expensive and potentially compromising distribution bottlenecks. It allows the military to address supply chain issues and, in many cases, allows maintenance personnel to print critically needed parts on-demand, on-site.

“Even in peacetime, there are a lot of situations where supplies and parts just aren’t available. There’s a genuine need to be able to reverse engineer or redesign parts to be able to return that aircraft and/or weapon system to an operational status.” – CAPT Alexander Peabody, senior fleet liaison officer, Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) Additive Manufacturing Team

The Naval Aviation School for Additive Manufacturing (NASAM)—a six-week program that provides active-duty Navy and Marine Corps maintenance personnel with foundational skills in additive manufacturing—launched with a pilot cohort of 12 students in February 2024. This program provides instruction for the deployed additive manufacturing technologies and prepares the users to utilize and maximize those capabilities. The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR) hosts and instructs the NASAM program. 

“IALR is proud to continue to provide technology-driven workforce development programs by partnering with NAVAIR to deliver a high-quality curriculum in support of their additive manufacturing capabilities. Being able to train the end users in our fast-paced technology development environment and quickly adjust the curriculum to capitalize on industry feedback is the unique value of what is happening at IALR.” – Telly Tucker, president, IALR

A “Center of Gravity” for the Growth of Additive Manufacturing

Additive manufacturing, also called industrial 3D printing, is a subset of manufacturing where an object is built “from the ground up” based on a 3D model. The more traditional approach, subtractive manufacturing is the inverse, where a block is whittled down into whatever shape or design is needed. This allows for the unmatched design and manufacturing versatility needed to produce functional components at the pace and intricacy needed to remain globally competitive.

After starting as a niche technology primarily used for prototyping, additive manufacturing has emerged as a cost-effective, efficient option across industries. Advancements in materials science, software development and hardware engineering have allowed for expanding material options beyond plastics to include metals, ceramics and even biomaterials, propelling additive manufacturing into the mainstream.

“Additive manufacturing is ‘NOW,’ and it’s where we need to be.” – James Hubbard, director of training and technology, IALR Manufacturing Advancement

This growth is happening across sectors ranging from aerospace and healthcare to automotive. The Department of Defense is also investing in additive manufacturing technologies to better protect our country.

For the U.S. Navy, much of that activity is centered at the IALR campus. These initiatives align with IALR’s goals to serve as a center of excellence for workforce development, to serve as a hub for high-tech companies and to support employers so they can be globally competitive.

Through several distinct but connected initiatives in collaboration with the U.S. Navy, IALR’s Manufacturing Advancement division is helping mature additive manufacturing technology and preparing the end users to utilize those capabilities. NASAM is the newest component of that multi-pronged approach.

“We are becoming an additive manufacturing center of gravity.” 

IALR Additive Manufacturing Programs in Partnership with the U.S. Navy

• Training Active-Duty Military: NAVAIR’s Naval Aviation School for Additive Manufacturing (NASAM) trains active-duty military on additive manufacturing using two tiers of AM technologies (tier 1 being desktop polymers and tier 2 being industrial polymers) deployed in support of Naval Aviation at its Fleet Readiness Centers and Marine Corps Aviation Logistics Squadrons. 
• Training Skilled Industrial Workers: Accelerated Training in Defense Manufacturing (ATDM) provides adult learners foundational additive manufacturing skills in just four months to immediately support the skills gaps in the submarine industrial base. The program has four other tracks: CNC machining, welding, quality control inspection (metrology) and non-destructive testing. 
• Developing Additive Manufacturing Technologies and Processes: The NAVSEA’s Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence (AM CoE), which is housed inside the Center for Manufacturing Advancement, develops world-leading additive manufacturing technical data packages, or “manufacturing recipes,” for the development of parts needed by the United States military. 

“We are becoming an additive manufacturing center of gravity. We are partnering with the U.S. Navy’s NAVSEA and NAVAIR Commands to implement and train these technologies in many ways. Through different initiatives, we are preparing sailors and Marines to use additive technologies, training the additive workforce for Navy suppliers, and helping the Navy to develop additive technologies and processes that supplier companies can utilize.” – James Hubbard, director of training and technology, IALR Manufacturing Advancement 

The NASAM Experience and Takeaways

“We are giving the fleet maintainers the proficiency to match the equipment we provide them with.” 

That’s how CAPT Alexander Peabody explains the NASAM program. This fast-paced pilot program is a six-week course that provides 240 hours of hands-on instruction using different polymer 3D printing technologies.

In those six weeks, NASAM prepares learners to work with the designated equipment. Students learn about equipment operation, reverse engineering and measurement fundamentals, computer-aided design (CAD), material evaluation, Naval additive manufacturing policies, procedures and more.

“This course will give them a limited ability to maintain their own production capabilities for their units. We are creating the advanced military workforce of tomorrow.” – CAPT Alexander Peabody, senior fleet liaison, NAVAIR Additive Manufacturing Team

Students in the first cohort included:

• Aviation Marines and sailors
• An instructor from the U.S. Naval Academy
• A member of the U.S. Coast Guard
• Members of Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA)
• Ground-side Marines

One of the participants in this first cohort was a fabrication platoon commander with the U.S. Marine Corps based in Camp Pendleton in California. With 16 years of experience and current duties that involve overseeing welding, machining and additive work from his team, Gunnery Sgt. Mark Cureo participated to learn more about how the Navy is approaching additive technologies and processes.

“This collaborative effort aims to showcase the activities of various forces and align strategies. Courses of this nature contribute to establishing a standardized approach for additive manufacturing within the Department of Defense.” – Gunnery Sgt. Mark Cureo, U.S. Marine Corps

On the other end of the spectrum, AM3 Skyler Berry is an aviation structural mechanic working aboard a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier. The carrier he supports was recently outfitted with a Tier 1 system, but Berry was the first to receive training on that specific machine.

“The instruction is great, and I’m feeling more confident than I thought I would,” Berry said.

The third cohort of this NAVAIR program is set to begin in late May. 

A Successful Model for Additive Manufacturing Training

NAVAIR’s NASAM program is the newest manufacturing training program housed at IALR. It’s a direct offshoot of the ATDM model: short, accelerated, fast-paced and personalized instruction. With five different tracks, ATDM prepares adult learners for needed positions across the defense and submarine industrial bases—the system of supplier companies for the military.

“All of this is falling on the success and unique training model of ATDM. One-on-one time with the equipment and one-on-one time with the instructors make training in Danville successful and unique. Those are two of the things that put us on the map.” – James Hubbard, director of technology and training, IALR Manufacturing Advancement

The idea to utilize this model for a Naval additive manufacturing school came during the 2022 ATDM Summit when CAPT Alexander Peabody and other Naval leaders heard a presentation about the ATDM curriculum and model.

“We identified early on that we need sufficient operators in the field to maximize what these machines can do. We need skilled, proficient technicians. So, we imagined a more formal school for our sailors and marines to go to get a more intense, hands-on training experience, and the accelerated model from ATDM was a perfect fit,” CAPT Peabody said.

They immediately began conversations with IALR staff on how that model could be tweaked to create a standalone course for additive manufacturing. Several active-duty personnel from NAVAIR went through the traditional additive manufacturing track of ATDM while this spinoff program was designed.

Another connection point: the program’s instructor, Daniel Hyler, is a successful completer of two separate tracks of the ATDM program. Fresh out of high school, Hyler secured one of the last spots in the first cohort for Computer Numerical Control (CNC) Machining. FasTech, an additive manufacturing company on the IALR campus, hired him out of the program and later sent him back as part of the first additive manufacturing cohort. After another eight months with FasTech, Hyler joined ATDM as a technician for the additive manufacturing class – a position he held for about a year before becoming the instructor for NASAM.

“Daniel brought an ideal skillset to the table based on his experiences as an ATDM graduate in both CNC Machining and Additive Manufacturing, time working at FasTech and his success serving as an ATDM Additive Manufacturing Technician training adult learners.” – James Hubbard, director of training and technology, IALR Manufacturing Advancement

“My education and career are so intertwined with IALR, ATDM and ultimately the Navy. It is humbling and inspiring to know that I am now contributing to our nation’s defense by helping active-duty Navy personnel become proficient and efficient with these 3D industrial printing machines.” – Daniel Hyler, NASAM instructor, IALR