For a young Jonné Messer growing up in Fairfield, Ohio, spending summers curiously poring over blueprints on construction jobs with her father and grandpa, “giving up was not in your vocabulary”. It’s a mantra that stayed with Messer long after joining Ford Motor Company in 1997, where she now leads its global additive manufacturing (AM) initiative.
It’s here where, over the last eight years, Messer’s 3D printing projects have saved the automotive company upwards of $11 million. Though Messer, who was honoured with the 2025 TCT Women in 3D Printing Innovator Award this summer, credits her team of six at Ford’s Sharonville Transmission Plant, close to her adopted hometown of Aurora, Indiana, for “making the magic happen”, her work, and lab, have been described by peers as the benchmark for Ford’s AM activity.
The facility is responsible for building transmissions for numerous vehicles including the Ford Transit and Ford F-Series. AM plays a supporting role in creating industrial materials and parts that fix and improve the quality of its machine fleet. And while those applications might not have the pizzazz of a say, a generatively designed brake pedal or custom supercar interior, their impact is undeniable.
