Dr. Mark Avnet and Dr. Alaa Elwany, assistant professors in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Texas A&M University, jointly won Best Engineering Management Track Paper at the annual Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE) conference in Nashville, Tennessee.
Their paper entitled, “Additive Manufacturing of Complex Products by DSM-based Analysis of Architecture,” discussed a novel approach for overcoming some limitations of current additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, technologies.
Currently, additive manufacturing is a relatively slow process limited to manufacturing small parts. Avnet’s and Elwany’s paper introduced a proof-of-concept method that optimizes and enhances the printability of larger, more complex objects.
“This paper was about articulating an idea that we think is important and innovative,” Avnet said. “And, I am really excited about applying a systems approach to new additive manufacturing technologies.”
“Winning this award was instrumental for mine and Dr. Avnet’s continued collaboration,” Elwany said. “Now we are taking it to the experimental level because of that paper.”