The Industry Achievement Award, established in 2008 by SME's Additive Manufacturing Community, was developed to recognize an individual or team for outstanding accomplishments that have had significant impact within the additive manufacturing industry or in any industry through the application of additive manufacturing technologies. As the name suggests, the award recognizes achievements that have been implemented or deployed in a commercial/industrial environment rather than research investigative work. Winners are selected with consideration for the scope and scale of benefits realized and the potential future impact their work will have on the industry.
On November 19, the 2020 award winners were honored in a virtual ceremony hosted by SME’s Additive Manufacturing community. Although only one winner is typically selected, this year three innovators were recognized. The three honorees are pioneers in medical additive manufacturing and have done remarkably innovative work, advancing knowledge and driving breakthroughs in regenerative medicine as well 3D printing in the hospital setting for point-of-care manufacturing. The 2020 award winners include Dr. Anthony Atala, Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine; Dr. Peter Liacouras, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center; and Dr. Jonathan M. Morris, Mayo Clinic.
Dr. Jonathan Morris is the Director of the 3D Printing Anatomic Modeling Lab at the Mayo Clinic. At the Mayo Clinic, he and his team use 3D printing for preoperative planning and custom surgical guides. Dr. Morris is a noted champion of the use of 3D printing in medical, education, simulation, imaging research, forensic pathology, and development of quality metrics. He has worked tirelessly alongside the FDA, national physician’s groups for 3D printing, and the AM industry, to build the regulatory infrastructure necessary to make point of care manufacturing the standard of healthcare.
Dr. Peter Liacouras is the Director of Services for the 3D Medical Applications Center at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. In his role at Walter Reed Medical Center, he designs custom implants, guides, and prosthetic attachments for wounded veterans. Dr. Liacouras streamlined the process for designing cranial implants, and thanks to his work, we now have a standard operating procedure for designing and titanium printing these implants. He has brought awareness of the use of additive manufacturing for prosthetic attachments to the medical field.
Dr. Anthony Atala is the G. Link Professor and Director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, and the W. Boyce Professor and Chair of Urology at Wake Forest School of Medicine. Dr. Atala is being recognized for development of a biological 3D printer, the integrated tissue–organ printer (ITOP), which can fabricate stable, human-scale tissue constructs of any shape. His goal is to implant 3D printed replacement tissues and organs where it fits the right need in practice; this would revolutionize care for millions of patients worldwide.
Learn more about the 2020 winners and view past winners here.