Class of 2019 America Makes Ambassadors Announced
Youngstown, Ohio — October 28, 2019. America Makes proudly announces that last week it honored both Ralph Resnick, FSME, retired NCDMM President and CEO and America Makes Founding Director, and Rob Gorham, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) Executive Director of Manufacturing Initiatives – Office of Business Development and former America Makes Executive Director, with the America Makes Distinguished Collaborator Award, its highest honor, for their contributions to America Makes and its mission. This announcement came during the annual America Makes Members Meeting and Exchange (MMX), convening last week at the historic Henry H. Stambaugh Auditorium ballroom in Youngstown.
Driven by the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM), America Makes is the nation’s leading and collaborative partner in AM technology research, discovery, creation, and innovation. It is the first of eight Manufacturing Innovation Institutes established and managed by the U.S. Department of Defense as public-private partnerships. America Makes is also a member of the Manufacturing USA® network, which seeks to secure U.S. global leadership in advanced manufacturing (AM).
Established in 2014, the America Makes Distinguished Collaborator Award recognizes an individual or a group of individuals with exceptional commitment and dedication to the advancement of AM technology, practices, and innovation in the manufacturing industry. NCDMM President and CEO Dean Bartles, Ph.D., and America Makes Executive Director John Wilczynski presented the awards to Mr. Resnick and Mr. Gorham, respectively.
“It is my great honor to present this award to my friend, colleague, and collaborator, Ralph Resnick,” said Dr. Bartles. “Without Ralph’s leadership of NCDMM, there would not be an America Makes today, as we know it. Under his guidance and oversight throughout these transformative last seven years, the model of public-private partnerships was established and proven through an extraordinary level of member collaboration. Today, America Makes has attained its goal becoming a recognized national center of excellence for additive manufacturing. While Ralph has embarked on a new chapter of his life, retirement, his legacy will forever be directly tied to America Makes”
“During his tenure at America Makes, primarily as Executive Director, Rob worked tirelessly and enthusiastically to lay the strategic groundwork for the Institute’s continued success,” said John Wilczynski, America Makes Executive Director. “He was the architect for the convener, coordinator, and catalyzer of people, knowledge, and projects brand messaging for defining the Institute’s role within the AM industry. He strongly believes in and supports the mission of America Makes—a fact he continues to demonstrate in his current role at TEES and our second America Makes Satellite Center. We congratulate Rob for this well-deserved honor and his many contributions to America Makes.”
The Institute honors the recognized individuals for cultivating effective collaborative relationships with academia, government, and industry, and contributing to the mission of America Makes. America Makes Distinguished Collaborator Award recipients are presented with an award of an artistic rendering of an American Badger and a Coyote, a symbolic representation of the collaborative association these two animal foes and competitors have forged.
Mr. Resnick joined NCDMM in September 2008 as Vice President, Chief Technology Officer with more than 35 years of manufacturing experience. He assumed President and Chief Executive Officer in May 2011 and led the NCDMM to winning the competitive National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute contract. Upon award, he also assumed the role of Acting Director of the Institute, now known as America Makes, until February 2013 upon appointing a new director. In May 2019, Mr. Resnick stepped down as President & CEO and assumed a new role as NCDMM Fellow until October 2019 when he retired from the NCDMM.
Prior to joining NCDMM, Mr. Resnick served as Chief Technology Officer for both The ExOne Company and Extrude Hone Corporation where he was a major contributor in establishing both organizations as leaders in such advanced manufacturing areas as AM, process research, and technology transition to the world’s factory floors. He holds several patents in manufacturing processes and metrology.
Mr. Resnick serves on the Board of Directors of SME and is a former member (Chairman) of SME’s International Awards and Recognition Committee and the former President of the North American Manufacturing Research Institute (NAMRI/SME). He also serves on the MTConnect Institute Board of Trustees; Advisory Board for CANRIMT and HI-AM Network of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, DoD’s JDMTP Metals Subpanel; and is a member of the prestigious International Institution for Production Engineering Research (CIRP). He is a former Board member of the Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT); the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS); the Louisiana Center for Manufacturing Sciences (LCMS); former Chairman of the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) Manufacturing Division; NIST Smart Machining Consortium; and the Navy Metalworking Center’s (NMC) Industry Advisory Board. He is a former Chairman of the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) and was a longtime member of the Board of Directors until January 2013. He also is a former Board member of the Navy’s Electro Optic Center (EOC) and a past Chairman of the AMT’s Technology Issues Committee.
Locally, Mr. Resnick is active in the Board of Directors for the Central Allegheny Challenger Learning Center (CACLC) in Indiana County; the Westmoreland-Fayette Workforce Investment Board; and the Westmoreland Heritage Trail.
Mr. Resnick is a Fellow of SME and in 2010, he received the NAMRI/SME “Outstanding Lifetime Service Award.”
Mr. Gorham joined the NCDMM in 2013 as the America Makes Deputy Director of Technology Development and in May 2014, he was promoted to Director of Operations. In May 2017, Mr. Gorham was promoted to Executive Director of America Makes until his departure in May 2019.
He has more than a decade of solid defense research and advanced manufacturing experience. Prior to joining America Makes, he was the Senior Manager of the Manufacturing Exploration and Development (MXD) group within the Advanced Manufacturing Systems and Prototyping (AMS&P) directorate of Lockheed Martin (LM) Aeronautics – Advanced Development Programs (ADP). In this position, he was responsible for leading the transition-focused development and the application of affordable manufacturing technologies for LM Aeronautics and other LM Business Areas across the corporation.
Previously, Mr. Gorham also served as LM Aeronautics Program Manager for the LM Corporate Engineering and Technology (CE&T) Relevancy Initiative. In this role, he was responsible for working across LM Business Areas to extend the relevancy of LM Aeronautics products and services. His primary objectives were to mature and advance technology to aid in future LM sales and new market capture opportunities that focused on existing platforms operating in Combined Warfare scenarios. Mr. Gorham also held the position of LM Aeronautics Program Manager for the LM Corporate Nanotechnology Strategic Technology Thread (STT). In this role, he was responsible for defining early and continuous requirements, spanning initial concepts to technology transition of nanotechnology solutions across multiple LM Business Area programs.
Mr. Gorham joined Lockheed Martin in 2003 as a systems engineer supporting the F-35 Autonomic Logistics Design Integration team. In 2005, he was nominated and selected to join the Engineering Leadership Development Program and during the three-year program, he progressed through a variety of positions of increasing responsibility, gaining valuable experience with the F-35 Wingbox Design Team, F-22 Modernization Program Office, and ADP Advanced Manufacturing Systems and Prototyping Team.
He holds a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Texas A&M University and a M.S. in Engineering Management from Southern Methodist University.
America Makes Ambassador Program
In addition to recognizing the Distinguished Collaborator Award recipients, America Makes also announced the Class of 2019 America Makes Ambassadors. Launched in 2017, the Ambassador Program recognizes and appreciates individuals who continually demonstrate outstanding dedication to America Makes and its mission. The 2019 Class of inductees to the Ambassador Program include:
John E. Barnes, Founder and Managing Director, The Barnes Group Advisors LLC
Stephanie Gaffney, Director of Advanced Manufacturing Programs, Youngstown Business Incubator (YBI)
Chris Holshouser, Technical Director, Advanced Manufacturing Development, Wichita State University — the National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR)
Debbie Holton, Managing Director of Industry Events, American Society for Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
Richard J. Lonardo, Principle Consultant, Defense and Energy Systems LLC
Petra Mitchell, President and CEO, Catalyst Connection
Diana Natalicio, Ph.D., retired President of the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP)
Col. Jeffrey Shaffer, Ops Group CC, 910th Airlift Wing, U.S. Air Force Reserve Command, Youngstown Air Reserve Station (YARS), Ohio
Ryan Wicker, Ph.D., P.E., Director of the Keck Center, UTEP
Visit americamakes.us for more information about America Makes, the MMX event, or on becoming a member. Follow us on Twitter @AmericaMakes.
About America Makes
Driven by the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM), America Makes is the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute. As the national accelerator for additive manufacturing (AM) based in Youngstown, Ohio, America Makes is the nation’s leading and collaborative partner in AM and 3DP technology research, discovery, creation, and innovation. Comprised of member organizations from industry, academia, government, non-government agencies, and workforce and economic development resources, the America Makes membership community is working together to innovate and accelerate AM to increase our nation’s global manufacturing competitiveness. America Makes is the first of eight Manufacturing Innovation Institutes established and managed by the U.S. Department of Defense as public-private partnerships. America Makes is also a member of the Manufacturing USA® network, which seeks to secure U.S. global leadership in advanced manufacturing. For more information about America Makes, visit americamakes.us and follow @AmericaMakes on Twitter.
About NCDMM
NCDMM delivers innovative and collaborative manufacturing solutions that enhance our nation’s workforce and economic competitiveness. NCDMM has extensive knowledge and depth in manufacturing areas—both commercial and defense—to continually innovate, improve, and advance manufacturing technologies and methodologies. Our experienced team specializes in identifying the needs, the players, the technologies, and processes to attain optimal solutions for our customers. We connect the dots. That’s the NCDMM methodology. NCDMM also manages the national accelerator for additive manufacturing (AM) and 3D printing (3DP), America Makes—the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute. For additional information, visit the NCDMM at ncdmm.org and follow @NCDMMnews on Twitter.
Source: America Makes
