Technological Advancement


AFS is an active member of four of the National Manufacturing and Innovation Institutes that are part of the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation. The programs aim to propel American manufacturing forward by bringing together product developers, researchers, manufacturers, universities and training institutions into regional hubs.


• America Makes is the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute. AFS Is partnering with Youngstown Business Incubator to promote additive manufacturing in the metalcasting sector.


• Lightweight Innovations for Tomorrow (LIFT) runs the Lightweight and Modern Metals Manufacturing Innovation Institute. AFS will champion the role of the metalcasting industry as a key metals manufacturing sector, with two initial projects being started in the casting area: thin-walled ferrous and thin- walled nonferrous castings.


• Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute has the opportunity to aid in the successful transition of digital manufacturing and innovative design technologies for manufacturing. Seven of the thirteen initial projects contain a metalcasting component, including one by ISU directed at online design tools and another looking at adaptive machining of large castings.


• Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute has just been awarded funding as the ninth innovation institute and will be led by Smart Manufacturing Leadership Coalition, of which AFS is a member. The institute is focused on accelerating the development and adoption of advanced sensors, data analytics and controls in manufacturing, while reducing the cost of these technologies by half and radically improving the efficiency of U.S. advanced manufacturing. Some of the coalition partners are interested in accelerating these sensors development and adoption and data analytics in foundry operations.


AFS was the lead organization in an industry roadmapping project that was completed in 2016. Pathway to Improved Metalcasting Manufacturing Technology & Processes—Taking Metalcasting Beyond 2020, was funded through a grant awarded by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).


AFS is a full member of the Advanced Casting Research Center (ACRC) at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and serves on a joint American Society for Metals (ASM)/The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society (TMS) committee on Integrated Computational Materials Engineering.


Active AFS-sponsored research projects include four new starts and one Phase 2 project.


As part of the American Metalcasting Consortium, AFS is engaged in two projects for the Casting Solutions Readiness


CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE è 9 A MER I C A N F O U N D R Y S O C I E T Y


CLICK HERE TO VISIT CASTINGCONNECTION


USER UPGRADES TO AFS ONLINE STORE The webstore that powers all e-commerce on the AFS website, has seen dramatic improvements due to migrating to a new association management system. Events, product pages and the entire checkout process are mobile ready and incorporates responsive design dependingon the user’s device.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18