Oqton has been named the winner of a technical challenge at this year's ASTRO-InSPIRE Tech Showcase.
The Shark Tank-style competition focused on distortion prediction and compensation in laser powder bed fusion (LPBF).
The Applied Science and Technology Research Organization of America (ASTRO America) and Florida State University’s (FSU) Institute for Strategic Partnerships, Innovation, Research, and Education (InSPIRE) partner to host the ASTRO-InSPIRE Tech Showcase, which also featured keynote remarks from Rep. Jimmy Patronis (R-FL).
This year, distortion prediction and compensation in LPBF was selected as the focus, as it is considered to be one of the most persistent barriers to scaling additive manufacturing. The organisers believe that though tools exist to help address distortion, the field still needs clear benchmarking to evaluate how those solutions perform across real-world applications.
Ansys, Siemens, Dassault, Autodesk, and Cadence all joined Oqton in participating.
“Congratulations to Oqton for leading the way in this year’s Tech Showcase,” said Dr. Abdalla R. Nassar, Vice President and General Manager of ASTRO South. “This competition is about more than selecting a winner. It is about identifying the tools, data, and technical confidence needed to scale additive manufacturing for critical, domestic production. We were honored to have Rep. Patronis join us to recognize each competitor’s contribution and to celebrate Northwest Florida’s emergence as a serious aerospace and defense manufacturing hub, with important support from FSU InSPIRE and Triumph Gulf Coast as well as Florida’s Great Northwest.”
“ASTRO America designed this challenge to separate research-stage tools from production-ready ones, using real parts of interest rather than simple test articles,” said Sridharan Hariharan, Global VP of Sales and Customer Success at Oqton. “That’s exactly the bar our customers hold us to every day. We’re proud that Oqton’s approach to distortion prediction and compensation in LPBF Inconel 718 came out on top. We’re grateful to ASTRO America and FSU InSPIRE for building the kind of rigorous, independent benchmark this industry needs, and for the opportunity to be part of it.”
The showcase, the organisers say, builds on ASTRO and FSU InSPIRE’s broader effort to 'accelerate the transition of advanced manufacturing technologies from research and demonstration into practical, production-ready applications.'
“Northwest Florida has always played an outsized role in defending our nation, and now we have an opportunity to lead the next generation of American manufacturing as well,” said U.S. Rep. Jimmy Patronis (R-FL). “The work ASTRO America, FSU InSPIRE, Triumph Gulf Coast, and our industry partners are doing is bringing cutting-edge technology out of the lab and into production right here in Northwest Florida. That means a stronger defence industrial base, more American-made technology, and new opportunities for our workforce and local economy. I’m proud to support the partnerships and investments that are making Northwest Florida a national hub for aerospace, defence, and advanced manufacturing.”
