ASTRO America, FSU InSPIRE and ASTM International Announce Finalists for Inaugural 3D Printing Tech Challenge
The Applied Science & Technology Research Organization of America (ASTRO America), in collaboration with ASTM International’s Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence and Florida State University’s Institute for Strategic Partnerships, Innovation, Research, & Education (InSPIRE), is pleased to announce the five finalists chosen to participate in the Actionable In-Situ Awareness Challenge, an inaugural tech challenge and showcase that will identify promising sensors and monitoring capabilities. Such technology promises to provide unique quality-tracking in advanced aerospace and defense part-manufacturing.
Five companies – Jentek Sensors, Additive Assurance, Phase3D, Applied Optimization, and Addiguru – will participate in a three-month challenge to demonstrate commercially viable “in-situ monitoring and data analytics solutions” for metal additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing.
During the challenge, each company will install and test their monitoring systems on ASTRO America’s industrial-scale metal 3D printers at Maritech Machine in Panama City, Florida. Their task: to collect meaningful in-process data and demonstrate how their solution delivers quantifiable value to end users across defense and aerospace sectors.
“Despite a long-standing understanding of the importance of monitoring and data analytics in additive manufacturing, users still lack clarity on which solutions offer genuine value,” said Dr. Abdalla Nassar, Vice President, ASTRO America. “This challenge is designed to help separate effective solutions from less impactful ones.”
In metal additive manufacturing, quality control is still largely post-process – meaning defects are often discovered after a lengthy and expensive build is complete. Many companies have developed their own sensor packages and "autocorrect" systems for 3D printing but widespread adoption has been inhibited.
All five finalists will participate in a demonstration week this summer, during which they will capture data, including time-lapse imagery and performance logs, as part of their installation. A videography team will also document the process for promotional and judging materials.
Final results will be presented during a public showcase event taking place August 26-27, 2025, in Panama City. Attendees will include representatives from Challenge sponsors ASTRO, ASTM, FSU Inspire, as well as from guest evaluators from GE Aerospace, Northrop Grumman, and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), and FSU.
Finalist Acknowledgements:
Jentek Sensors: “JENTEK Sensors is excited to be a finalist in this Challenge. Our in-situ eddy current array solution provides relatively high-resolution imaging of defects, geometry, and material properties without slowing down the process. The opportunity to showcase our capability and integrate onto another commercial machine is timely and critical to our commercialization plans. As we ramp our product sales for additive manufacturing LPBF, DED, AFSD, and cold spray, we welcome the chance to connect with influential stakeholders. The ASTRO technical team has been an outstanding resource as we work towards our August demonstration for this Challenge.”
Additive Assurance: "Additive Assurance is proud to feature our AMiRIS platform in the In-situ Awareness Challenge. We are optimistic that this program is the ideal opportunity to showcase the best of in-situ monitoring available today. By bringing these leading commercial solutions together, the challenge gives the industry an excellent opportunity to observe the powerful tools now available to improve quality, which is essential for building confidence and driving progress."
Phase3D: "We're thrilled to participate in the ASTRO In-situ Awareness Challenge and demonstrate how Fringe Inspection addresses the critical need for repeatable, calibrated in-situ monitoring in additive manufacturing,” says Niall O’Dowd, Founder & CEO of Phase3D. “Our product is uniquely positioned to meet all challenge requirements, delivering unit-based measurements with ±10 µm accuracy that are traceable to NIST standards—something no other in-situ monitoring solution can provide. Having already validated Fringe Inspection at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and U.S. Air Force facilities, we're confident in our ability to bridge the gap between in-situ monitoring and aerospace qualification standards. This challenge represents an excellent opportunity to showcase how metrology-driven inspection can transform additive manufacturing quality assurance for flight-critical applications."
Applied Optimization: “Applied Optimization is excited to showcase the Open Sensor Interface (OSI) in this challenge. The OSI is our custom additive manufacturing optics solution which directs and manipulates light from the melt pool to MWIR and visible optics trains. The ability to adjust the camera field of view and focus enables us to collect high-resolution images across the build plate using a variety of commercial-off-the-shelf sensors and cameras. This enables track-by-track thermal monitoring, part qualification, validation of thermal and thermodynamic models, and advanced process control.
Participating in this challenge is a very beneficial opportunity for us to demonstrate the OSI's capabilities and benefits to key potential collaborators in the manufacturing and defense sectors. This challenge has also pushed us to refine parts of the OSI and has given us new problems to solve, such as tracking melt pools on multi-laser machines. Finally, we are excited to partner with Episensors to demonstrate their NS-4 cooled MWIR camera on the OSI. High-cost MWIR cameras impose a barrier of entry for high-resolution thermal process monitoring with the OSI, but Episensors' high-quality economical cameras increase the affordability of the OSI for end users."
Addiguru: "We are honored to be selected as a finalist for the In-Situ Awareness Challenge,” said Shuchi Khurana, CEO of Addiguru. “This opportunity allows us to showcase how Addiguru’s multi-sensor monitoring and analytics platform can provide real-time insights into the additive manufacturing process, enabling manufacturers to make informed decisions and reduce post-process inspection costs. We believe this challenge is a critical step toward accelerating the adoption of scalable, data-driven quality control in metal AM.”
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The Applied Science and Technology Research Organization of America (ASTRO America) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit, non-partisan Research Institute and Think Tank. It was established in 2018 to advance the public interest through manufacturing technology and policy. Led by manufacturing professionals with broad public and private sector experience, ASTRO America supports collaborations by government agencies and companies to address supply chain challenges in highly regulated industries, including aerospace and defense.
FSU InSPIRE: The Institute for Strategic Partnerships, Innovation, Research, and Education (InSPIRE) is accelerating breakthroughs in aerospace and advanced manufacturing. At the core of this effort are dedicated partners working together to establish Northwest Florida as a national center of innovation, driving regional economic growth. Demonstration facilities are in development for end-to-end production, aero-testing and immersive training in STEM. Local, regional, and national members of an industry alliance are embedding employees at InSPIRE, collaborating with researchers and faculty from FSU, its partners, and business and community leaders to develop and productionize aerospace, defense, and energy solutions, while offering hands-on learning to students and aspiring engineers in Northwest Florida. FSU InSPIRE launched with an initial grant from Triumph Gulf Coast, Inc.
The ASTM International Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence (AM CoE) is a collaborative partnership representing industry, government, and academia to conduct strategic R&D to advance AM standardization. The center also aims to accelerate development and adoption of AM by developing training and certification programs, and providing market intelligence, business strategy, and advisory services through Wohlers Associates, powered by ASTM International.