This presentation will provide a brief overview of the Polymer and Responsive Materials & Process Research Team in addition to the functional additive manufacturing technologies for soft materials that being developed across the Air Force Research Laboratory. Specific examples include photo-curable hydrogels for soft-robotics, materials for flexible and stretchable electronics, printing on conformal surfaces, and autonomous direct ink-write technologies will be addressed in detail. Finally, a forecast of materials challenges for the AM community with respect to defense applications will be presented. 

5 THINGS YOU WILL LEARN DURING THIS SESSION:

1. Functional AM
2. Photo-curable materials
3. Flexible/stretchable electronics
4. Novel AM techniques
5. Materials Challenges

Dr. Christopher Crouse, Research Team Lead, Polymer and Responsive Materials & Processing, Air Force Research Laboratory, Materials and Manufacturing Directorate

Christopher Tabor, Research Scientist, Air Force Research Laboratory