ECI Conference Series
January 11-16, 2026
Thompson Hotel
Savannah, Georgia
About This Conference
Additive Manufacturing (AM) has attracted substantial interest in recent times, promising a broad range of benefits. Of all aspects of AM, the development of new materials and the methods to make the best use of them are major priorities in this field. This is critically important because the products we rely on every day are manufactured using a huge variety of specialty material compositions. For example, a typical polymer part may contain pigments, plasticizers, toughening agents and reinforcement. Similarly, a metallic material may contain alloying elements for improved high temperature strength, corrosion and creep resistance, and a ceramic may contain dopants providing specific optical or dielectric properties. Currently, each new composition used in AM requires a significant development effort, and additive manufacturing processes are not always able to cope with the desired range of compositions. Likewise, while we have substantial freedom to alter the size and shape of parts, we lack robust design tools and process controls to design and define material properties and (multi)functionality within those parts with the same level of freedom, and to process such parts in a reliable and consistent fashion.
This conference will serve as a platform to bring together researchers and industrial practitioners with an interest in seeing these needs addressed in the context of AM through:
- New materials and materials development methodologies
- New ways of combining existing materials or incorporating local variations in properties
- New additive manufacturing methods that enable the translation of materials innovations into actual parts
- New developments related to design tools, process control, and metrology
The scope of the conference includes:
- Development of new polymers, metals, ceramics, composites, or bio-materials for AM
- Additive manufacturing methods enabling or taking advantage of materials innovations
- Characterization and validation of new materials for AM
- Generation, handling, and sharing of data to support development and characterization efforts
- Processing characteristics of new materials under AM-relevant conditions
- Optimization of AM parameters, post-processing and / or quality control
- Relations between properties of new AM-specific materials and parts prepared from them
- Approaches to the creation and characterization of hybrid / functionally graded parts
- Materials and process issues with strong relevance to hybrid / functionally graded parts (compatibility and interfacial bonding, fracture and fatigue, thermal expansion, etc.)
- Modeling, prediction and design of part properties based on materials characteristics
- Sustainable AM considering development of green materials for AM, end-of-life issues, resource recovery, and materials reuse
Conference Organization
Chair
Brett Compton, University of Tennessee at Knoxville
Co-Chairs
Eric Eastwood, KCNSC
Nikhil Gupta, New York University
Daniel Schmidt, Luxembourg Institute of Technology
Joamin Gonzalez-Gutierrez, Luxembourg Institute of Technology
Pedro Cortes, University of Texas at El Paso
ECI Technical Liaison
Gary Gladysz, LANL
Previous Conferences in this Series
Innovative Materials for Additive Manufacturing (IM2AM)
March 8 – 12, 2020
Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico
Daniel Schmidt, Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology
Nikhil Gupta, New York University
Chua Chee Kai, NTU, Singapore
Brett G. Compton, University of Tennessee
Innovative Materials & Methods for Additive Manufacturing II (IM2AM)
January 8 – 13, 2024
Tomar, Portugal
Daniel Schmidt, Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST)
Nikhil Gupta, New York University
Eric Eastwood, KCNSC/Honeywell FM&T
Brett Compton, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Gary Gladysz, Los Alamos National Laboratory
Abstract Information
Venue Information
General Information about ECI
Engineering Conferences International (ECI) is a not-for-profit, global engineering conferences program, originally established in 1962 that provides opportunities for the exploration of problems and issues of concern to engineers and scientists from many disciplines.
The format of the conference provides morning and late afternoon or evening sessions in which major presentations are made. Poster sessions will be scheduled for evening discussion as well. Available time is included during the afternoons for ad hoc meetings, informal discussions, and/or recreation. This format is designed to enhance rapport among participants and promote dialogue on the development of the meeting. We believe the conferences have been instrumental in generating ideas and disseminating information to a greater extent than is possible through more conventional forums.
All participants are expected both to attend the entire conference and to contribute actively to the discussions. The recording/photographing of lectures and presentations is forbidden. As ECI conferences take place in an informal atmosphere, casual clothing is the usual attire.
Smoking is prohibited at ECI conferences and conference functions.