The Additive Manufacturing Users Group (AMUG) has awarded its 2026 Guy E. Bourdeau and Randy Stevens Scholarships to Abby Stamper, a bachelor’s degree student in mechanical engineering at Boise State University and Dr. Li Yang, an associate professor in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University of Louisville.
One scholarship recognized a student bringing additive manufacturing closer to the human body; the other honored an educator advancing how lightweight structures are designed and built through additive manufacturing. Both will take the main stage at the AMUG Conference in Reno, Nevada, running March 15–19, where they will present their work to the broader additive manufacturing community.
Awarded annually, the Guy E. Bourdeau Scholarship, founded by Renee Bourdeau and backed by Formnext, goes to a college student, while the Randy Stevens Scholarship, founded by In’Tech Industries and supported by GreatAmerica, honors an educator. Both recognize individuals driving additive manufacturing forward in education and industry.
Scholarship Committee co-chairs Dr. Olga Ivanova and Brent Griffith said, “We were thrilled with the quality and diversity of this year’s applicants. The submissions demonstrated outstanding talent, creativity, and potential in the next generation of additive manufacturing leaders.”
The Guy E. Bourdeau Scholarship: When 3D Printing Meets Human Movement
Abby Stamper receives the Guy E. Bourdeau Scholarship. Her path into additive manufacturing began in the fourth grade and eventually led her to found Brown Box Cookie Cutters, producing original 3D printed designs.
Drawn to the intersection of digital fabrication and human mobility, she shifted her focus to orthotics and prosthetics, completing two internships at Western Prosthetics & Orthotics to build hands-on expertise in the field.
“I want to solve problems related to biomechanical efficiency, durability, and accessibility in prosthetic and orthotic systems, particularly where device performance, cost, and coverage limit real-world use,” Stamper said.
Griffith noted that Stamper is already contributing to patient-specific prosthetics work as an undergraduate, adding that her trajectory “exemplifies the spirit of AMUG and the transformative potential of additive manufacturing.”
The Randy Stevens Scholarship: Bridging the Gap Between Design and Reality
Dr. Li Yang receives the Randy Stevens Scholarship. Nearly two decades into a career spanning doctoral research at North Carolina State University through his current faculty role, Yang has narrowed his focus to the design and production of lightweight structures through additive manufacturing, closing the gap between theoretical design and real-world realization.
“I am working towards an integrated design framework that employs an analytical approach for the multi-scale design relationship of lightweight structures, while utilizing both process physics and experimentation to capture the compound geometry-process-property relationships of lightweight features,” Yang said.
Colleagues describe his influence as extending well beyond research. Ed Herderick, EWD director at America Makes, who has collaborated with Yang since his NC State days, called him “a passionate educator who has inspired and taught hundreds of students over many years.”
AMUG 2026 Maps the State of Additive Manufacturing
The 2026 AMUG Conference arrives at a moment when additive manufacturing is moving decisively from controlled experimentation into industrial-scale deployment. The five-day event brings together engineers, production specialists, and researchers for sessions spanning aerospace qualification, defense applications, healthcare, energy, automotive, and workforce development.
In addition to the presentation of AMUG’s 2026 Scholarship Recipients, this year’s AMUG keynote lineup includes speakers whose work spans the full arc of additive manufacturing adoption. On March 17, Steve Fournier of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems and Scott Sawyer of Divergent will describe how a connection made at a previous AMUG conference grew into a cross-industry collaboration bridging aerospace and automotive manufacturing.
On March 19, Ronen Hadar of The LEGO Group will detail how one of the world’s highest-volume consumer manufacturers brought 3D printing into a retail product after a multi-year development program.
That practitioner-driven dynamic, where technical exchanges shape how organizations validate processes and pressure-test claims, is what distinguishes AMUG Conference from conventional trade exhibitions. Less a stage for announcements, and more a forum where accumulated experience surfaces the gaps that matter, such as qualification workflows, supply chain fragility, and the disciplined execution that industrial adoption actually demands.
3D Printing Industry is inviting speakers for its 2026 Additive Manufacturing Applications (AMA) series, covering Energy, Healthcare, Automotive and Mobility, Aerospace, Space and Defense, and Software. Each online event focuses on real production deployments, qualification, and supply chain integration. Practitioners interested in contributing can complete the call for speakers form here.
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Featured image shows AMUG Scholarship Winners. Image via AMUG.
