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SME Announces Winners of the 2017 SkillsUSA Additive Manufacturing CompetitionDEARBORN, Mich., July 18, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- SME – in collaboration with Stratasys Ltd., the 3D printing and additive manufacturing solutions company – has announced the winners of a co-sponsored student additive manufacturing competition held during the 53rd annual SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference. Now in its third year, the 2017 Additive Manufacturing Competition consisted of 34 high school and post-secondary student teams competing for a chance to take home gold, silver, or bronze medals - as well as scholarships from the SME Education Foundation, and a MakerBot Mini printer. The Additive Manufacturing Competition was created to stimulate student learning of additive manufacturing and 3D printing techniques. "Each year, we attract more students to participate in the SkillsUSA Additive Manufacturing Competition and we couldn't be more thrilled with the growth," said Jeff Krause, executive director and CEO of SME. "This is an exciting time for additive manufacturing and 3D printing and we are proud to be at the forefront of its evolution and making sure our future manufacturing leaders will be prepared for what lies ahead as the industry progresses." The 2017 Additive Manufacturing Competition involved designing and printing a track piece (fixture) capable of moving a marble to a designated location after the ball rolls down a ramp. The fixture was required to connect with the ramp at specific points and remain stable for the test's duration. Each team was provided time to design the fixture, build the 3D printed prototype on a Stratsys 3D printer, and make any necessary design modifications the next day. Contestants also participated in a mini-challenge, which required them to fix broken issues within an STL file. After completing the design process, participants later presented findings to a panel of professionals in the additive manufacturing field. Presentations included full analysis of how the design and re-design process was managed. Participants were also offered the opportunity to participate in Tooling U-SME's new Additive Manufacturing Fundamentals Certification, the first and only nationally normalized, stackable or sequential, credential process in additive manufacturing. More than 16,000 people — including students, teachers and business partners — participated in events at the SkillsUSA national conference, highlighting the capabilities of career and technical education students in their respective fields. 2017 winners of the SME/Stratasys SkillsUSA Additive Manufacturing Competition included: High School Teams Gold Medal: Cameron McLaughlin, Mathew Marinelli Silver Medal: Andrew Schalk, Braden Clayberg Bronze Medal: Andrew Daddone, Trevor Wheelock College Teams Gold Medal: Collin Goddes, Thomas Houston Silver Medal: James Bruce, Mattias Anderson Bronze Medal: Amadeo Verstegen, Timothy Myers Click here to see the track pieces this year's winners designed. View our Flickr photos from the competition. To learn more about SME and SkillsUSA click here. See the full press release here. About SME
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