The Barnes World Advisors (TBGA), the additive manufacturing (AM) consultancy based mostly in Pittsburgh, is a pillar of the AM business. TBGA’s experience is sought by AM OEMs throughout the globe, main adopters of AM applied sciences, financial improvement teams, key private-public consortiums, and even the Pentagon.
TBGA has been an Additive Manufacturing Methods (AMS) sponsor for years now, and AMS 2026 (February 24-26) is not any exception. Register right here, and you may see TBGA Director of Authorities Options Andy Davis reasonable the panel “Advancing AM for Protection,” on February 24 at 9:50 AM. You may as well see John Barnes, TBGA founder, in addition to the CEO of Metallic Powder Works, on February 25 at 9:30 AM, in a chat entitled, “20(/)30 Imaginative and prescient: Adoption.”
Provided that TBGA is comprised of so many various minds, it was solely proper that we get some perception from an assortment of the consultancy’s ever-growing crew.
Matt Kremenetsky: TBGA goes to a LOT of commerce exhibits. What retains you coming again to AMS?
John Barnes: AMS is a connection occasion for me. I can have good conversations in a extra intimate setting and I really feel like individuals attending are there. They’re current. They’re engaged. The panel format encompasses extra views and extra opinions.
John Barnes at AMS 2025
MK: What are some benefits of networking in particular person that you just suppose won’t ever be outdone by networking just about?
Cynthia Rogers: Networking in particular person lets you have impromptu conversations you couldn’t have in a digital atmosphere. These random meet ups can begin casually after which result in connections and discoveries you wouldn’t discover inside a structured on-line setting. Many occasions we’ve seen informal conversations flip into alternatives and alliances that in the end assist to develop the AM ecosystem.
MK: TBGA lately shaped an thrilling partnership with EWI. How do a majority of these partnerships assist the AM world?
Christina Kurth: Strategic partnerships are on the core of how TBGA operates. Our collaboration with EWI displays how complementary strengths can advance the additive manufacturing group. EWI brings deep technical experience and infrastructure, whereas TBGA contributes enterprise technique, cross-sector expertise, and implementation assist to assist bridge innovation to real-world adoption. By way of partnerships like this, our ADDvisor crew acts as an extension of our companions, aligning technical benefit with market perception to speed up adoption and advance the business.
MK: What’s one lesson that the remainder of the US manufacturing base can study from what TBGA, Neighborhood 91, and the Resilient Manufacturing Ecosystem have finished in Pittsburgh?
Andy Davis: The entire is bigger than the sum of its components. Neighborhood 91 is the world’s first additive manufacturing manufacturing campus. It’s made up of business firms that are co-located on the Pittsburgh Worldwide Airport property to type the complete AM worth chain. Every firm makes a speciality of one thing totally different (i.e., powder manufacturing, chilly spray, supplies characterization) which permits every to give attention to being actually good at that factor versus having to be good at every part. The excessive stage of reliance and coopetition among the many residents have pushed innovation the place in any other case there could be competitors or no relationship in any respect. This consists of gear utilization, material-process mixture improvement efforts, and sharing of workers throughout a number of companies. TBGA has introduced federal funding by way of the Division of Battle’s Resilient Manufacturing Ecosystem (RME) program, which has additional utilized the campus to unravel Military, Air Pressure, and Navy issues. The RME program is a superb instance of leveraging a business manufacturing functionality for protection functions – the very definition of a twin use superior manufacturing hub.
MK: We’re beginning to see much more curiosity in expert trades, together with manufacturing, from youthful demographics, in addition to from people who find themselves merely switching careers. Does AM have a particular function to play in that context?
Christina: Sure, additive manufacturing has a particular function to play for each youthful generations and people transitioning into expert trades, resembling manufacturing. It bridges the digital and bodily sides of creating, resonating with college students who grew up round video video games, CAD, and coding, in addition to with adults who’ve found 3D printing as a interest.
At TBGA, we assist schooling at each stage, from volunteering in excessive faculties to visitor lecturing at universities, to assist introduce additive as a viable profession path. One in every of our workers lately met somebody at a commerce present who stated they had been impressed by one in all our Principal ADDvisors to pursue additive manufacturing as a graduate scholar, which exhibits the lasting affect of mentorship and visibility within the subject.
For adults trying to transition a interest right into a profession or tackle a brand new problem, TBGA presents coaching by way of Purdue and TEES to assist construct foundational expertise and strengthen their resumes earlier than getting into the workforce. Adults with expertise in conventional manufacturing and even from fully totally different industries deliver a invaluable perspective. They perceive course of circulation, high quality techniques, and manufacturing realities that assist floor additive applications and make them extra scalable. These outdoors the business typically deliver creativity and problem-solving approaches that push the know-how in new instructions.
This focus is well timed, as workforce improvement persistently emerges because the vital path for development and manufacturing in our buyer enterprise case research. Supporting people who want to enter or advance in manufacturing is essential to establishing a sturdy and sustainable industrial basis.
MK: Apart from aerospace and protection, what are the verticals TBGA is most enthusiastic about?
Christina: Outdoors aerospace and protection, TBGA is most enthusiastic about verticals in well being, oil and gasoline, and client markets, with client innovation driving productiveness throughout the economic base. We’re additionally initiating and supporting business consortia that join these sectors, advancing new additive approaches, and creating shared worth.
Don’t overlook to register for AMS so you’ll be able to see Andy, John, Cynthia, Christina, and presumably extra from TBGA’s continuously increasing cohort of ADDVisors!
This piece was initially seen in AMS: The Preprint.
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