New Program Shows Staff Members “What’s Happening at ASME”

ASME staff members introduce themselves during an ice breaker exercise at the beginning of the “Manufacturing Market Update” luncheon on Jan. 24.

ASME recently introduced a new series of presentations that aims to acquaint staff members with the products and services ASME departments are developing to support the Society’s new strategic plan. The new program — titled What’s Happening at ASME? — debuted in January with a session concentrating on ASME’s efforts in the manufacturing market and was followed a month later with a presentation spotlighting the robotics market.

The program, which was organized by members of the ASME Public Information, Technology Advancement & Business Development (TABD), Finance and Human Resources departments, kicked off on Jan. 24 when more than 100 staff members packed the ASME Headquarters boardroom in New York for the inaugural presentation, “Manufacturing Market Update.”

During the session, Israr Kabir, business development manager for TABD, provided an overview of the manufacturing market and pinpointed additive manufacturing (AM) as a market segment where ASME could have significant impact. Elements that make AM an ideal entry point for ASME include the Society’s extensive history with product design and safety, the segment’s strong projected growth forecast, and its expected impact on the global supply chain, he said. “To put it simply, the train hasn’t left the station,” Kabir added.

John Grimes, business development manager, Technology Advancement & Business Development, gave ASME staff members an overview of the robotics market during his presentation at the What’s Happening at ASME session in February.

Joining Kabir during the panel session were Arin Ceglia, director of ASME Learning & Development, who discussed the additive manufacturing courses her department was developing including an intermediate-level design for additive manufacturing (DfAM) with metals course, and Mary Grace Stefanchik, manager of Publications Development, who highlighted a few of the publications now in the pipeline including two manufacturing journals and an upcoming DfAM textbook. Donnie Alonzo, Standards & Certification project engineering advisor, who also took part in the session, discussed new Standards & Certification activities related to manufacturing, such as the development of several new standards including the Y14.46 Product Definition for AM draft standard that was recently released, the formation of nine new committees related to manufacturing, and ASME’s participation in the ANSI/America Makes Additive Manufacturing Standards Collaborative.

On Feb. 27, nearly 100 ASME staff members participated in the second What’s Happening session, “Robotics Market Update,” which featured presentations by John Grimes, business development manager, TABD; Stefani Jones, manager, learning experience, Learning & Development (L&D); and Luis Pulgarin, project engineering advisor, Standards & Certification.

During his presentation, Grimes identified the leading robotics markets — including manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, security, and inspection and maintenance — and the trends the market was experiencing. Those trends include an average growth in unit sales of 72 percent per year in the robotics for logistics segment, average growth of 70 percent in the robotics for healthcare sector, and average growth of 73 percent per year in the robotics for inspection and maintenance area.

Arin Ceglia, director of ASME Learning & Development, fields a question during the “Robotics Market Update” luncheon.

Grimes and the other panelists also provided staff members in attendance with an update on the Robotics Technology Advisory Panel — one of six panels ASME has established to seek input from subject matter experts to be used in developing new products and services related to ASME’s core strategic technologies — and a look at robotics products currently being developed by ASME, including standards for mobile unmanned systems (MUS) and unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), an introductory robotics course from Learning & Development, and a Robotics Inspection Forum to be held in Houston this June.

Spurred by the success of the first two sessions, which were both greeted enthusiastically by staff members, the What’s Happening at ASME team is busily planning upcoming presentations for the series, according to Raj Manchanda, business development director, TABD, a member of the Planning Team who moderated the manufacturing and robotics luncheons. “The idea of bringing staff together towards our common goal of developing new knowledge products in key strategic technology areas is very exciting and I’m glad to be a part of it,” he said.

Future presentations being organized by the Planning Team — whose other members are Michael Cowan of ASME Public Information, Robin Savage from Finance & Accounting, and Andrea Mess from Human Resources — may focus on topics other than the strategic technology areas and be presented in other formats, such as breakfasts or coffee breaks, Manchanda added.

ASME members, particularly experienced industry experts, interested in collaborating with ASME in Additive Manufacturing and Robotics for Manufacturing Environments, please contact Raj Manchanda at ManchandaR@asme.org.