2023: A Year of Growth, New Faces, and Exciting Milestones
As we close out 2023, we look back on an incredible year filled with growth, collaboration, and innovation. This year has marked several key moments in our team’s journey, and we’re excited to share some of the highlights.
Moving to Our New Facility
After many months of planning and preparation, we successfully relocated to our brand-new facility at Neighborhood 91 (N91). This move represents a major milestone for us, providing more space, upgraded technology, and a modern environment where we can better serve our clients and continue growth. With this move, the team also acquired a new WarpSPEE3D system - expanding our reach into the AM community. The facility marks a huge milestone for HAMR.
To celebrate the opening of our new facility, we hosted a grand opening event that was truly unforgettable. The day was filled with excitement as we welcomed friends, partners, and clients to join us in commemorating this achievement. The event showcased our new space, highlighted our future plans, and offered a chance to connect with our wider community.
Welcoming New Team Members
One of the most significant moments this year was expanding our team. In 2023, we welcomed two talented new personnel who have brought fresh energy, ideas, and expertise to our work. Their contributions have already made a meaningful impact, and we’re thrilled to have them as part of our growing team.
Dylan Treaster
Lee Brletich
Hosting Tours
We’ve had the pleasure of hosting several tours throughout the year. These tours have allowed us to showcase the capabilities of our new space, share our vision for the future, and strengthen relationships with key stakeholders. Seeing the enthusiasm and interest from those who visited has been incredibly rewarding. These visits have included Local Congressman Deluzio, DoD leaders, university students, and more.
Collaborations & Partnerships
Collaboration has been at the heart of everything we do this year. We’ve had the opportunity to work with amazing individuals and organizations who share our passion and drive. Whether it was developing new projects, exchanging ideas, or solving challenges together, these partnerships have been invaluable in pushing us forward. Some of these include our neighbor’s at N91, collaborators at PSU-ARL, SPEE3D, NASA, Sandia National Labs, Southwest Research Institute, Rice University, and many more.
XSPEE3D Has a Temporary Home at HAMR
Quarterly Highlights
Large scale A96061 component via Cold Spray AM being produced on the WarpSPEE3D system (FY2023)
During this year, the team had many successes of rapid turn arounds, novel material systems, and large part manufacturing with Cold Spray AM. The team also continued work in our other research areas, such as optical limiter. Here are just some of those from FY2023:
Q1: Since coming online, the team has printed five different materials, performed their first rapid turnaround of a submarine part, had a patent granted for their optical limiter technology, and is hiring their first new employee for N91.
Q2: Delivery of the first cold spray additively manufactured component for a hypersonic test vehicle. This work also demonstrated the value of the N91 campus concept by utilizing Cumberland Additive Inc.'s machining capabilities and expertise to achieve powder to a heat treated and machined part in 22 days. On the materials side, HAMR has added Al7075 and CP Ti to its catalogue, with work ongoing to mature Ti-6-4 and Inconel alloys. The team has also initiated a research collaboration with NASA Glenn Research Center to explore cold spray of GRX810.
Q3: HAMR produced the largest cold spray additively manufactured part ever when they fabricated a structural component for a Navy undersea vessel. This was enabled by a unique powder feeder expansion for the WarpSPEE3D system, which increased the build mass capacity by roughly 200%. This success will open doors for HAMR to manufacture larger parts for the DoD, federal agencies, and commercial customers.
HAMR also successfully tested and sprayed a Copper Nickel alloy, which provides considerable capabilities for corrosion resistance and heat transfer, particularly for naval applications. Additionally, HAMR outsourced testing and analysis on the properties of its cold sprayed materials, which determined that their Al 6061 and SS 316 L exhibited nearly wrought properties.
Q4: Completed our largest Al6061 print to date with the first full prototype for the Resilient Manufacturing Ecosystem (RME) program. New materials were explored, including MPW C14500 and NASA's GRX810. HAMR also received RME's Leco PX500 polisher and will begin metallography in Q1 2024.
Looking Ahead
2023 has been a transformative year for our team, and we couldn’t be more proud of what we’ve accomplished. During this first year, we were also invited to give talks at symposiums, presented findings at conferences, and produced many new parts with our new equipment. We also trialed many new materials and learned so much about our new equipment as we continued to push the limits for applications and processible materials.
With new faces, a new facility, and new opportunities, we’re excited to see what 2024 will bring. We’re ready to take on new challenges, continue growing, and achieve even greater things.
Thank you to everyone who has been part of this journey—we look forward to what’s next!