The AIAA SciTech Discussion board 2026 introduced a lot of the aerospace group collectively in a single place.
With roughly 6,000 attendees, 115 exhibitors, 21 sponsors, and practically 3,000 technical paper displays, the Orlando occasion introduced collectively the total aerospace ecosystem, from authorities labs and primes to startups and universities. Additive manufacturing (AM) appeared all through the occasion in extremely sensible methods, already a part of the workflow.
What stood out was how 3D printing confirmed up all over the place, connecting analysis, manufacturing, testing, and future workforce growth, making AM a typical aspect throughout the occasion.
From Authorities Labs to the Present Ground
On the authorities stage, the Air Drive Analysis Laboratory (AFRL) provided a transparent instance of how 3D printing is being positioned immediately: not as a novelty, however as infrastructure.
3DPrint.com spoke to Senior Analysis Organic Scientist Nathan Lord on the AFRL sales space, who emphasised that AM is now central to how the lab thinks about supplies and methods growth.
“The AFRL has a significant level of emphasis on leveraging additive manufacturing for the manufacturing of varied supplies for numerous makes use of. We see that as a wise method to attaining inexpensive mass, whereas additionally enabling continued technological innovation in supplies,” he stated.
That concept of inexpensive mass got here up typically in the course of the occasion. Whether or not the dialog was about satellites, UAVs, robotics, or autonomous platforms, the identical constraints saved surfacing: value, measurement, weight, and energy.
“It actually relies on the intent of the use case, however usually we’re at all times seeking to cut back value, measurement, weight, and energy. As expertise continues to evolve quickly, we need to keep on the forefront of all doable choices for attaining inexpensive mass with the fitting trade-offs for mission success,” Lord continued.
Lord additionally pointed to AFRL’s broader digital transformation efforts, together with a “robust push towards agentic AI,” as a part of how the lab is accelerating expertise growth and shaping future functionality ideas. In that context, AM is one piece of a bigger toolkit, working alongside superior digital workflows and autonomous decision-making methods to maneuver concepts extra rapidly from idea to software.
The robotic “RoboDog” platform on the AFRL sales space particularly provided a concrete instance of that method. Somewhat than hype, the main focus was on practicality, utilizing expertise, together with additively manufactured parts, to fill workforce gaps responsibly, defined the professional.
“That is one instance the place, if a manpower requirement can’t be met, it is smart to leverage obtainable expertise. So long as methods are correctly vetted and thoroughly evaluated, robotics can considerably enhance each effectivity and effectiveness, they usually can play a significant function in supporting Air Drive missions.”
RoboDog strolling by means of the halls on the AIAA SciTech Discussion board 2026. Picture courtesy of 3DPrint.com.
Primes, Recruiting, and a Linked Ecosystem
Spending time on the exhibition flooring, it was laborious to not really feel the total weight of the aerospace ecosystem coming collectively in a single place.
Main primes like Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, RTX, and Siemens have been recruiting, assembly with companions, and actively participating with engineers, college students, and startups all through the week.
RTX’s sales space on the AIAA SciTech Discussion board 2026. Picture courtesy of 3DPrint.com.
What made AIAA SciTech really feel totally different from a typical commerce present was the best way these worlds overlapped. Authorities labs have been speaking with early-stage corporations. Universities have been arrange subsequent to giant contractors. AM companies shared the aisle with groups centered on simulation, testing, supplies, and inspection.
Nothing on the ground and on show felt remoted. The present mirrored how aerospace works immediately, with 3D printing sitting alongside different applied sciences as a part of the identical workflow.
Siemens’ sales space on the AIAA SciTech Discussion board 2026. Picture courtesy of 3DPrint.com.
3D Printing as A part of the Workflow
At AIAA SciTech 2026, 3D printing proved to be a giant a part of how aerospace work is already being finished.
Some cubicles have been clearly centered on AM, together with VulcanForms, Lithoz, Fathom, Lab AM 24, and Zeiss. However simply as typically although, 3D printing would present up not directly, by means of conversations about inspection and metrology, supplies efficiency, robotics, autonomy, simulation-to-flight workflows, and workforce coaching.
Maybe that’s why 3D printing didn’t really feel fairly like a novelty: it wasn’t launched or defined; it was already assumed. And that made SciTech particularly fascinating, as a result of it was clear that 3D printing is changing into a part of how aerospace operates, one piece of a broader aerospace workflow.
VulcanForms sales space on the AIAA SciTech Discussion board 2026. Picture courtesy of 3DPrint.com.
That very same shift, from experimentation to manufacturing, was simple to see on the present flooring.
On the Fathom sales space, Chris Brown and Andrew Sonier instructed me how the corporate has transitioned a significant facility in Wisconsin right into a devoted aerospace and protection operation, full with ITAR registration, AS9100 certification, and a rising steel AM footprint.
Fathom is utilizing steel 3D printing paired with in-house CNC ending to provide components for satellites, high-altitude plane, UAVs, and different aerospace methods, typically transferring straight from design to DMLS manufacturing, adopted by machining, warmth remedy, and coating beneath one roof.
Fathom was on the AIAA SciTech Discussion board 2026. Picture courtesy of 3DPrint.com.
One theme stood out: designing for additive from the beginning. Because the expertise matures, AM is more and more used from design by means of manufacturing, significantly for low- to mid-volume aerospace and protection components.
That change is very clear in drones and one-time-use methods, the place AM helps light-weight designs, fast iteration, and prices that injection molding or casting can’t match.
Lithoz’s sales space on the AIAA SciTech Discussion board 2026. Picture courtesy of 3DPrint.com.
Past essentially the most well-known corporations on the occasion, AIAA SciTech additionally centered on how startups are pushing AM in new instructions.
One instance was Lab AM 24, a South Korea–based mostly firm centered on wire-based directed vitality deposition. At their sales space, designer Christy Zo defined the corporate’s core {hardware}: “We make the 3D printing head. This head additionally consists of the laser system, the feeding system, and the fuel system as nicely.”
Christy Zo from Lab AM 24 at AIAA SciTech Discussion board 2026. Picture courtesy of 3DPrint.com.
Lab AM 24’s method tackles a well-recognized problem in steel AM: the dimensions, value, and limitations of enormous enclosed chambers. As an alternative, the corporate makes use of a conveyable shielding system that creates an inert surroundings proper on the print head. By dynamically controlling argon stream across the deposition zone, lowering oxygen to under 20 ppm, the system matches the protecting situations of a chamber with out the time, house, and price penalties of constructing one. This type of setup can usually be prepared in beneath a minute, opening up alternatives to 3D print giant steel components in areas the place chamber methods merely wouldn’t match, defined Zo.
The expertise has already drawn curiosity from aerospace and protection clients, and AFRL has supported its analysis.
The transportable system on show at Lab AM 24’s sales space at AIAA SciTech Discussion board 2026. Picture courtesy of 3DPrint.com.
Examples like this confirmed up throughout the occasion — in centered conferences and technical periods — the place AM was centered extra on sensible progress than on any single breakthrough.
At AIAA SciTech 2026, 3D printing confirmed up throughout the occasion as a part of how aerospace work is already finished. That quiet presence might say greater than any headline.
That is the primary article in a two-part sequence from the occasion.
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