Come for the blues, stay for the Additive Manufacturing Users Group (AMUG) Conference. This year, AMUG 2018 heads to St. Louis, Mo., April 8 – 12, where the show’s organizers are promising “the biggest and best AMUG Conference ever.” Such statements may be difficult to validate, but, in this case, it would be hard to argue otherwise, given the state of the additive manufacturing (AM) industry.
AM is seeing tremendous growth in the industrial space, demonstrated by the lineup at AMUG 2018. Sponsoring the event this year are newer names to the legacy event like Desktop Metal, GE Additive, Autodesk, DuPont, HP, as well many of the stalwarts, such as Stratasys and 3D Systems.
As extensive as the list of sponsors is, AMUG is “for users, by users,” perhaps making the keynotes, workshops and technical sessions the most essential aspects of the event. AM users can learn from one another and some of the brightest minds in the field about a host of AM-related technology, helping them leverage and adapt to changes in the industry. Sessions range from topics such as “Improved Sustainability for Nylon 11 Laser Sintering Materials,” presented by GS-PRO GmbH, and “How Digitalization Will Change the AM World,” by Volkswagen AG, to a Materialise Magics Workshop and keynote from Dr.-Ing. Dominik Rietzel, Head of Non-Metal AM for BMW Group.
AMUG also is unique in that its love of its members is showcased throughout the various extras peppered throughout the series. This year, for instance, attendees are invited to play golf and participate in skeet shooting ahead of the conference on Saturday, April 9 and Sunday, April 8, respectively. Of course, every year, the AMUG Conference features the Awards Banquet, “always grand but never disclosed in advance,” in which attendees are whisked away to a surprise location to be wined and dined until the night’s end.
Attendees are granted entrance to five days of presentations, workshops and hands-on training, as well as the two-night AMUGexpo, with a single conference registration. Visit the AMUG website to see the conference agenda or to register.