AMUG awards scholarships

AMUG’s 2021 scholarship recipients are John Sorvillo (left) and Sean Dobson. AMUG

The Additive Manufacturing Users Group has awarded scholarships to two recipients: John Sorvillo, director of Westwood Prep Academy at New Beginnings, Youngstown, Ohio, and Sean Dobson, who is pursuing a PhD in materials science at the University of Cincinnati.

The scholarships recognize students and teachers who demonstrate a passion for AM. The 2021 recipients demonstrate the passion two ways: a dedication to advancing AM technology and a commitment to advancing individuals through the technology.

Students at Westwood Prep are in residential care, with most of them under court custody. Among Sorvillo’s duties are developing programs, teaching, and counseling students, with the goal of inspiring hope through education.

He said, “We try to leverage that education into their therapy, bringing us back to inspiring hope in them. We set them up to succeed in our classrooms. The more they achieve, the more they believe in themselves.”

Initially, the academy had one 3D printer but struggled to incorporate it into instructional lessons. Thanks to Sorvillo’s efforts, the academy now has four printers that function as a means for acquiring technology skills and learning the soft skills needed to function in society.

Dobson’s introduction to AM occurred as an undergraduate in mechanical engineering at the University of Louisville. While there, he served an internship at Gulfstream Aerospace’s 3D printing laboratory.

“I left the internship with a newfound desire for AM,” he said. He also discovered an affinity for sharing that passion with others through training, tours, and collaborations. “There is an ingrained feeling of pride working in a field that can bring so many people together and engage the young and old in a STEM field.”

The interest in AM that he discovered during the internship led him to become an undergraduate research assistant at the University of Louisville’s Rapid Prototyping Center (RPC). There he found that metal AM was the area that most interested him. That led to RPC projects for organizations such as NASA and the U.S. Navy.

Besides pursuing his doctorate, Dobson also works at Vertex Manufacturing as an AM and materials engineer.

Sorvillo and Dobson are scheduled to attend the upcoming AMUG Conference in Orlando, Fla., May 2-6.