The Barnes International Advisors (TBGA), the additive manufacturing (AM) consultancy primarily based in Pittsburgh, is a pillar of the AM trade. 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) isn’t any exception. Register right here, and you’ll see TBGA Director of Authorities Options Andy Davis average 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 Steel Powder Works, on February 25 at 9:30 AM, in a chat entitled, “20(/)30 Imaginative and prescient: Adoption.”
On condition 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 workforce.
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 folks 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 individual that you just suppose won’t ever be outdone by networking just about?
Cynthia Rogers: Networking in individual lets you have impromptu conversations you couldn’t have in a digital setting. 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 just lately fashioned an thrilling partnership with EWI. How do some 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 workforce acts as an extension of our companions, aligning technical advantage with market perception to speed up adoption and advance the trade.
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 larger than the sum of its elements. Neighborhood 91 is the world’s first additive manufacturing manufacturing campus. It’s made up of business corporations that are co-located on the Pittsburgh Worldwide Airport property to kind the complete AM worth chain. Every firm makes a speciality of one thing completely different (i.e., powder manufacturing, chilly spray, supplies characterization) which permits every to deal with being actually good at that factor versus having to be good at every thing. The excessive degree 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 employees throughout a number of companies. TBGA has introduced federal funding by means of the Division of Conflict’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 good 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, equivalent to 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 passion.
At TBGA, we assist training at each degree, from volunteering in excessive faculties to visitor lecturing at universities, to assist introduce additive as a viable profession path. One in all our workers just lately met somebody at a commerce present who mentioned they had been impressed by one among our Principal ADDvisors to pursue additive manufacturing as a graduate scholar, which exhibits the lasting influence of mentorship and visibility within the subject.
For adults trying to transition a passion right into a profession or tackle a brand new problem, TBGA presents coaching by means 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 totally completely different industries carry a useful perspective. They perceive course of move, high quality programs, and manufacturing realities that assist floor additive packages and make them extra scalable. These outdoors the trade usually carry creativity and problem-solving approaches that push the expertise in new instructions.
This focus is well timed, as workforce improvement constantly emerges because the important path for progress and manufacturing in our buyer enterprise case research. Supporting people who want to enter or advance in manufacturing is essential to establishing a strong and sustainable industrial basis.
MK: Apart from aerospace and protection, what are the verticals TBGA is most enthusiastic about?
Christina: Exterior aerospace and protection, TBGA is most enthusiastic about verticals in well being, oil and fuel, and client markets, with client innovation driving productiveness throughout the economic base. We’re additionally initiating and supporting trade consortia that join these sectors, advancing new additive approaches, and creating shared worth.
Don’t overlook to register for AMS so you may see Andy, John, Cynthia, Christina, and probably extra from TBGA’s consistently increasing cohort of ADDVisors!
This piece was initially seen in AMS: The Preprint.
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