Student Support: Thirty-First Annual International Solid Freeform Fabrication (SFF) Symposium - An Additive Manufacturing Conference; Austin, Texas; 17-19 August 2020

This NSF award will support student participation at the Thirty-First Solid Freeform Fabrication (SFF) Symposium, Austin, Texas, 17-19 August 2020. The SFF Symposium is a forum for transfer and dissemination of knowledge and understanding in the field of additive, freeform and hybrid manufacturing. The 2019 meeting drew 702 researchers from 25 different countries representing universities, companies and national laboratories. Similar attendance is expected in 2020 and students will have opportunities to interact and share ideas with top researchers from academia, research laboratories, industry, and students from both domestic and international universities.

In an effort to make the conference affordable, and therefore accessible to students, the travel award will contribute towards the conference registration fees of qualified awardees. The call for student support applications will be disseminated through: (1) emails to corresponding authors of submitted abstracts (due in April 2020), (2) emails to participants of recent SFF meetings (2017-2019), (3) SFF website and (4) social media (newsletter and LinkedIn posts). Submitted applications will go through a selection process by the conference committee using selection criteria that include (1) students must be from US institutions and (2) students must be actively participating in the conference through presenting a paper or poster, or participating in a competition, with preference given to students from underrepresented minorities. Student awardees will be invited to a luncheon panel discussing research and future career opportunities in additive manufacturing. This award will afford the next generation of leaders a global perspective, exposure to the latest cutting-edge ideas, and insights on future manufacturing challenges.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.