America Makes announces latest Project Call.
America Makes has announced its next Project Call to support the continued technological advantage of the U.S. Air Force (USAF) through additive manufacturing.
Funded by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Manufacturing and Industrial Base Technology Division, the ‘Additive for eXtreme Improvement in Optical Mounts’ (AXIOM) Project Call seeks solutions to enhance readiness of high-precision optical components used in sensors, space systems, and other applications.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for America Makes to support key initiatives and critical capabilities as outlined in the USAF’s Science and Technology Strategy, a 10-year blueprint to maintaining its strategic and operational advantages,” said America Makes Executive Director John Wilczynski. “The AXIOM Project Call will enable the USAF to continue to leverage disruptive innovations, remain ahead of rapidly developing state and military competitors, and contribute to our nation’s defense security.”
Currently, optical components require a challenging combination of weight, stiffness, coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), thermal management, and dimensional tolerances. The project call seeks to mitigate high costs, lead times and supply chain vulnerabilities through innovative approaches, by leveraging AM in conjunction with novel designs or materials to demonstrate equivalence and reliability when compared to a commercial off-the-shelf product.
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“The AXIOM Project Call represents an incredible opportunity to advance both AM design and materials technologies given the geometric complexity and performance requirements of high-precision optical components,” said America Makes Technology Director Brandon Ribic, Ph.D. “The America Makes membership community is well positioned to deliver an innovative additively manufactured alternative. As a result, the USAF stands to attain significant gains in technological advancement, readiness, performance, reliability, lifespan, and production lead times.”
AFRL and the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM), which manages America Makes, are targeting to make available approximately 560K USD to fund one award with at least 280K USD in matching cost-share funds from the awarded project team for total funding worth 840K USD.
The technical requirements of the AXIOM Project Call directly relate to the America Makes Technology Roadmap, which identifies measurable and meaningful challenges that promote inquiry, knowledge-sharing, and technical advancements across the AM industry. All the technical requirements of the AXIOM Project Call are detailed fully in the Request for Proposal (RFP) document available here. The deadline for proposals is 5pm EDT on Monday, June 8, 2020. Submissions received after the deadline will not be considered.
