Student Support for International Solid Freeform Fabrication (SFF 2024) Symposium; Austin, Texas; 10-13 August 2025

This award supports student participation at the Thirty-Sixth Annual International Solid Freeform Fabrication (SFF) Symposium, scheduled for 10-13 August 2025, in Austin, Texas. The SFF Symposium is the longest-running academic conference dedicated to additive manufacturing (AM), hybrid manufacturing, and freeform fabrication technologies. The 2024 event hosted 517 attendees, including 243 students, demonstrating strong engagement across both US and international institutions. Student-focused programming is a defining strength of the symposium, with technical sessions, poster presentations, and career development activities tailored to support emerging researchers. The 2025 symposium will expand on successful initiatives introduced in recent years. A structured mentoring program will return, matching 2–3 students with mentors from academia, national laboratories, or industry to support personalized guidance and career exploration. The interdisciplinary session on Additive Manufacturing in Regenerative Medicine, first introduced in 2024, will continue to spotlight innovations in bioprinting and translational biotechnology. These components enhance the educational value of the symposium while facilitating broader engagement across fields and institutions. This award provides funding to provide full registration fee support for up to 60 domestic students from US-based institutions. Selected students must present their research in either oral or poster formats and participate fully in the conference. The selection process, overseen by the conference committee, will emphasize technical merit, institutional representation, and inclusion of first-time attendees to broaden access and professional development opportunities. Outreach efforts will include announcements on the official SFF website, direct emails to authors of accepted abstracts, targeted communication to past attendees, and promotion via professional networks. Supported students will also be invited to dedicated networking events and a career-focused luncheon panel exploring current research trends and future directions in additive manufacturing. By facilitating access, mentoring, and interdisciplinary collaboration, this initiative aims to prepare emerging leaders with the skills, perspectives, and connections needed to advance innovation in manufacturing. 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.