SOUTHFIELD, Mich., Aug. 3, 2021 — (PRNewswire) —   SME, the professional association committed to advancing manufacturing and developing a skilled workforce, and global additive manufacturing leader Stratasys, announced the winners of their cosponsored 2021 Additive Manufacturing Competition, conducted as part of the 57th annual SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference, held virtually for the first time in the event's history.

Three high school and three college teams received top honors in the additive manufacturing competition, created in 2013 by SME and Stratasys. The contest is intended to both educate high school and postsecondary students about additive manufacturing technologies and its design and to provide them with real-world, hands-on experience that they can apply to a commercial product.

"The skill level and cognitive talents which our student participants bring to the SkillsUSA additive manufacturing competition continue to improve every year," said Robert Willig, executive director and CEO of SME. "Their abilities, coupled with the creative problem-solving nature of the contest, will better help prepare them with the knowledge and experience they'll need to successfully compete in the current and future manufacturing workforce."

In addition to the additive manufacturing competition, students took Tooling U-SME's Additive Manufacturing Fundamentals Certification exam to test their knowledge of additive manufacturing. This certification is ideal for high schools and colleges as a capstone or standalone achievement to increase workforce readiness in this market.

"Stratasys is honored to partner with SME on the Skills USA Additive Manufacturing contest as we feel it is our responsibility as industry leaders to guide and challenge the next generation of designers, engineers and manufacturing leaders," said Jesse Roitenberg, Americas education manager for Stratasys. "These leaders of tomorrow are experiencing learning in a manner that can't be transferred any other way."

For the additive manufacturing challenge, students were required to design a smart speaker, called a "pebble," using a set geometry that then was printed by Stratasys on one of its commercial Stratasys J55 Prime 3D polymeric printers. The teams were required to leverage color, material and finish in a meaningful way. Bonus points were added for a pebble that was not just beautiful but touched on functionality as well.

Both levels of the winning teams received gold, silver and bronze medals from SkillsUSA, as well as scholarships of $1,500, $1,000 and $500, respectively, from the SME Education Foundation. Both levels also received a one-year subscription for Tooling U-SME classes, RAPID + TCT conference passes, and a one-year SME student membership. Gold-medal winning teams won a professional-grade Mojo 3D printer as well.

In all, more than 6,500 career and technical education students – all SkillsUSA state contest winners – competed in 103 different hands-on trade, technical and leadership fields during the national conference.

View the video announcing winners of the 2021 AM contest (beginning at 2:07:35). To learn more about the SME/Stratasys SkillsUSA competition, click here.

About SME
SME connects manufacturing professionals, academia and communities, sharing knowledge and resources to build inspired, educated and prosperous manufacturers and enterprises. With nearly 90 years of experience and expertise in events, media, membership, training and development, and also through the SME Education Foundation, SME is committed to promoting manufacturing technology, developing a skilled workforce and attracting future generations to advance manufacturing. Learn more at  sme.org, follow  @SME_MFG on Twitter or  facebook.com/SMEmfg.

About Stratasys
Stratasys is leading the global shift to additive manufacturing with innovative 3D printing solutions for industries such as aerospace, automotive, consumer products and healthcare. Through smart and connected 3D printers, polymer materials, a software ecosystem, and parts on demand, Stratasys solutions deliver competitive advantages at every stage in the product value chain. The world's leading organizations turn to Stratasys to transform product design, bring agility to manufacturing and supply chains, and improve patient care. To learn more about Stratasys visit www.stratasys.com, the Stratasys blog, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook.

About SkillsUSA
SkillsUSA is a nonprofit partnership of education and industry to strengthen our nation's skilled workforce. Driven by employer demand, SkillsUSA helps students develop necessary personal and workplace skills along with technical skills grounded in academics. This SkillsUSA Framework empowers every student to succeed at work and in life, while helping to close the "skills gap" in which millions of positions go unfilled. Through SkillsUSA's championships program and curricula, employers have long ensured schools are teaching relevant technical skills, and with SkillsUSA's new credentialing process, they can now assess how ready potential employees are for the job. SkillsUSA has more than 360,000 annual members nationwide in high schools, colleges and middle schools, covering over 130 trade, technical and skilled service occupations, and is recognized by the U.S. departments of Education and Labor as integral to career and technical education. For more information: https://www.skillsusa.org/

View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/skillsusa-additive-manufacturing-competition-winners-announced-by-sme-stratasys-301347197.html

SOURCE SME