America Makes has confirmed that its third Satellite Centre will be located in Kansas — in the facilities of the National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) on the campus of Wichita State University (WSU).

The Memorandum of Understanding between America Makes — managed by the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM) — and WSU-NIAR was announced at the America Makes TRX+ event (held at the National Centre for Aviation Training).

America Makes executive director John Wilczynski said (www.americamakes.us): “For more than 30 years, NIAR has made a name for itself as the most capable university-based aviation research centre in the United States, providing research, design, testing, certification and training to the aviation manufacturing industries.

“As our next America Makes Satellite Center, NIAR will have the distinction of being our first industry-specific Satellite Centre solely focused on advancing the use of additive manufacturing (AM) in the aerospace industry.”

Managed by NCDMM, America Makes is the ‘national accelerator’ for AM and the first Institute in the Manufacturing USA network.

As a public-private partnership, America Makes comprises about 220 member organisations — from all corners of government, industry and academia — that have created a hub of advanced-manufacturing innovation in AM.

Erin O’Donnell, America Makes director of partnerships and community relations, said: “America Makes is committed to growing the Satellite Centre infrastructure in a way that brings the most overall benefits to our membership community and the additive industry at large.

“Our goal for the Satellite Centres is to leverage the existing collaborative partnerships and further grow them into a larger ecosystem of additive specialisation.

"With NIAR joining the America Makes Satellite Centre infrastructure, we are very excited to focus on certifying and qualifying additive technologies in the aerospace sector.

“The outcomes of such an effort are poised to have a tremendous impact on our membership community, the aerospace sector, and the additive-manufacturing industry.”