DEARBORN, Mich., November 01, 2012 — Winners of

The Society of Manufacturing Engineers Awards College and High School Students  

DEARBORN, Mich., November 01,   2012 Winners of the 2012 Design for Direct Digital Manufacturing (DDM) Competition were announced at the annual Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) RAPID 2012 Conference & Exposition earlier this year in Atlanta.

Students from around the country were tasked with using their imagination to design a product that was made utilizing unique DDM techniques and materials. This years contestants had to design a product that represented a fully working prototype and could be used in another assembly. The geometry of the design was to be defined within a three-dimensional (3-D), computer-aided design (CAD) system capable of producing robust StereoLithography files.

The three university winners are students of the University of Louisville, Ky. Matthew Mueller was the first place winner for his Camera Cup and SD Card Holder, which provided a place to securely store a camera lens and extra SD card when using a camera.

In second place came Evan Adams and Tori Dewees for their Multi-Feature Cell Phone Case. Their product integrated a storage compartment and kickstand into a protective cell phone case made using direct 3-D printing.

Third place went to Sumter Pittenger and Stephen Byrd for creating firearm suppressors that reduced the threat of firearm noise on the health of enthusiasts, recreational shooters and the military.

In the high school category, first and second place went to students from Cedar Falls High School in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

This years first place winners were Ian Veenstra and Austin Stiers for their Next Generation Tail Light. Their product addressed communication problems found in the modern tail light by combining a Progression System, which takes the amount of pressure being applied to the brake pedal and translates that information to a series of bars on the tail light, with intuitive light signals designed to clearly show when the driver slams on the brakes.

Second place went to Jacob Gubbrud for his Safe Shovel design similar to a clickable pen in that when the shovel hits something, the bars would lock in place and prevent the product from hitting the user.

The competition was sponsored by the Direct Digital Manufacturing Tech Group of Rapid Technologies and Additive Manufacturing Community and SME. The Design for Direct Digital Manufacturing Competition is held annually and is open to university and high school students.

About SME:

The Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) is the premier source for manufacturing knowledge, education and networking. Through its many programs, events, magazines, publications and online training division, Tooling U, SME connects manufacturing practitioners to each other, to the latest technologies and to the most up-to-date manufacturing processes. SME has members around the world and is supported by a network of chapters and technical communities. A 501(c)3 organization, SME is a leader in manufacturing workforce development issues, working with industry, academic and government partners to support the current and future skilled workforce.