Airtech and Ascent Aerospace Join Forces to Advance Additive Manufacturing Tooling in Aerospace and Defense!

Airtech Advanced Materials Group and Ascent Aerospace have announced an exclusive supply agreement aimed at enhancing the use of polymer composite additive manufacturing (AM) tooling in the aerospace and defense sectors. By leveraging Airtech’s high-performance materials alongside Ascent’s robust production capabilities, the partnership seeks to facilitate the adoption of advanced additive tooling solutions for some of the industry’s most demanding applications.

Under this collaboration, Airtech will provide comprehensive technical and business development support for Ascent’s AM tooling operations in both commercial and defense aerospace markets. In return, Ascent commits to using Airtech’s resin products exclusively for large-format additive manufacturing (LFAM). Gregory Haye, Airtech’s director of additive manufacturing, expressed enthusiasm about the partnership, stating, “We are excited to collaborate with the team at Ascent Aerospace to support the initiative to supply high-performance, large-format printed tooling in some of the most challenging applications in the industry. Ascent has been a long-time customer of Airtech, and we look forward to growing this relationship while helping the market adopt this game-changing technology.”

Ascent Aerospace specializes in producing a comprehensive range of mold and assembly tooling necessary for the aerospace manufacturing market. Dan Friz, vice president of business development and sales at Ascent Aerospace, noted the importance of having a material science expert alongside them as they implement additive manufacturing capabilities. He stated, “With the vast number of ongoing and forecasted development programs moving at an accelerated pace, Ascent implemented additive manufacturing capabilities to provide a cost-effective, rapid tooling solution. This agreement with Airtech ensures Ascent’s customers’ technical requirements are achieved with their material expertise, allowing Ascent to focus on delivering a tooling solution that meets the program’s cost and schedule expectations.”

The collaboration between Airtech and Ascent Aerospace aims to push the boundaries of polymer composite additive tooling, making it more accessible for some of the world’s most demanding customers and applications.