One hundred students showed their passion for additive manufacturing while competing for prizes at the 2025 Additive Manufacturing Competition, held in Atlanta during the 61st annual SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference in June.
Students, educators and attendees at RAPID + TCT, AeroDef Manufacturing and SME FUSION — held simultaneously in Detroit in April — got a glimpse into the future of advanced manufacturing technologies and industry-education collaboration.
Kai Collins, an 18-year-old student in the Pavlis Honors College at Michigan Technological University, joined the SME Bright Minds Student Mentorship Program — part of the SME Education Foundation’s Community of Scholars initiative — because he wanted to develop his networking skills.
Vanessa Ng and Mohammad Mohammad — students at Westmount Secondary School in Hamilton, Ontario — saw manufacturing technology in action and learned from leading manufacturers at the Bright Minds Student Summit, held in late September at SME’s CMTS event in Toronto.
Jacob Belser, a 17-year-old senior at Jacobs High School in Algonquin, Illinois, eagerly anticipated his involvement in the Bright Minds Student Summit that took place in early May at RAPID + TCT at Chicago’s McCormick Place.