March 2, 2016, by: Sanjeev Kulkarni, PhD–One realizes that they are in Nashville when the largest convention complex is called Music City Center, is humongous (12 million square feet) and has the shape of a guitar. And you know are at the TMS when all everyone is talking about is Metals and Materials – and how to make them, analyze / study them and use them for amazing applications. Last month, (February 14 – 18) both these came together at TMS 2016 – the annual gathering that brings together over 4000 globally located individuals (academicians, leaders, engineers, professionals and students) in the minerals, metals and materials fields. VEXTEC Corporation, based in the Metro Nashville area, participated at multiple levels – as an Exhibitor (with a booth), gave 3 presentations on a broad range of topics and hosted a reception on the 16th floor of the nearby spectacular Pinnacle building (a Nashville downtown landmark!)
Ashley Clark (Director of Operations) and Robert McDaniels (Senior Materials

VEXTEC's software VPS-MICRO®

VEXTEC’s software VPS-MICRO®

Engineer) did a phenomenal job of organizing and setting up the booth as an all hands task. Everyone at VEXTEC contributed in putting together the VEXTEC stall with the displays, projector, brochures and the give away items – and with the VEXTEC software VPS-MICRO® to demonstrate. It was fun to interact with the attendees who stopped by the booth with the curiosity to look for a product and /or service that just might help them with their next project or product or help with their research.
Some of the booth visitors came directly from the three separate presentations – one each given by VEXTEC co-founders, Dr. Bob Tryon and Dr. Animesh Dey, and one by me. Here are the presentation titles with links to the slides:

• “Reliability-Based Methods for Rapid Certification of Metal Additive Manufactured Parts”, Dr. Sanjeev Kulkarni, VP for Sales & Business Development

• “Uncertainty Propagation in a Computational Fatigue Model of an Air frame Structure”, Dr. Animesh Dey, Chief Product Development Officer

• “Microstructural Small Flaw Fracture Mechanics for Improved Design Analysis” – Dr. Robert Tryon, Chief Technical Officer

The talks were well attended and each was followed by a series of insightful questions and comments with a couple of direct leads and possibilities. Overall, the conference had a very high quality of talks / presentations, though the size of the venue made the coverage of all talks in your specific area of interest logistically impossible. I would like to highlight three TMS Featured subject areas that align with VEXTEC technology and offering – Integrated Computational and Materials Engineering (ICME), Certification of 3-D Printed / Additive Manufactured components, and Use of Bioabsorbable Materials / Metals for Medical Devices.

The VEXTEC participation concluded with a reception for invitees, employees and well-wishers! A great event as we move into the amazing Nashville spring.