Exactly two weeks remain before The Additive Manufacturing Users Group (AMUG) opens its 2026 edition. This year, the user conference will be held in Reno, Nevada, from March 15–19, 2026, and through its program, aims to attract users from a wide range of vertical industries adopting AM technologies.
If you have never attended the event, you can get a sense of what it looks like here and here.
For us at 3D ADEPT Media, amid fireside chats, expert panels, and hands-on workshops, the keynote speeches at AMUG often leave a lasting impression. This year should be no exception, as AMUG will welcome three companies from different industries to deliver keynote addresses.
Insights into The LEGO Group’s additive manufacturing journey
Ronen Hadar, Senior Director and Head of Additive Design & Manufacturing for The LEGO Group, will take the stage on Thursday, March 19.
When I see the business opportunity AM brought to the consumer market last year, I feel like this presentation from Hadar is very timely.
Through a multi-year effort focused on quality and consumer value, The LEGO Group has co-developed additive manufacturing technologies tailored to its needs and piloted products to gather valuable feedback. The outcomes of this work include the release of its first mass-produced retail set that contains a 3D-printed piece. This follows 3D-printed items in earlier limited-edition sets.
Hadar’s keynote, “Additive Manufacturing at Scale in Consumer Goods: The Case of The LEGO Group,” will enlighten the audience on the pioneering integration of additive manufacturing into the toy industry, which is known for high-volume, low-cost production.
Through strategic investments in equipment, digital solutions, and workforce development, The LEGO Group aims to deliver affordable, high-fidelity products at scale. In his keynote presentation, Hadar will touch on these points as he discusses the journey and challenges the company faced as it pursued the benefits of advanced manufacturing while maintaining the brand’s standards of excellence.
General Atomics and Divergent to discuss cross-industry collaboration.
On Tuesday, March 17, Steve Fournier, leader of the Additive Designs & Manufacturing Center of Excellence at General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, and Scott Sawyer, Director of Programs at Divergent, will share their cross-industry collaboration story and successes.
Titled “From Hypercars to Defense Drones: How Two Major Industry Innovators Started Their Partnership Journey at AMUG,” their keynote address will discuss how an automotive and a defense company found transferable additive manufacturing value through their partnership.
This keynote is particularly relevant because it highlights one of AMUG’s core strengths: “a forum where AM users from multiple disciplines and industries come together to share achievements and lessons learned.” As Fournier and Sawyer further note, “The question, however, is how effective knowledge transfer at such an industry event can be and what it ultimately means for industrial growth, differentiated capabilities, and new business opportunities.”
To answer those questions, Fournier and Sawyer will discuss how their respective companies have used the AMUG platform to uncover insights and innovations that apply across industries. Specifically, this keynote will tell the story of how the leading U.S. Defense drone manufacturer, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, connected with Divergent Technologies following a 2022 AMUG Conference keynote speech by Kevin Czinger, founder of Divergent.
To make the most of AMUG 2026 in Reno, review the program in advance, prioritize the sessions most relevant to your applications, and plan time for conversations beyond the stage. The strongest return from events like AMUG often comes from the connections and actionable lessons that continue long after the conference ends.
Conference details and registration are available at www.amug.com.
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