Two years ago, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), part of the US Department of Commerce, released a report on metal powder additive manufacturing, which included a set of guidelines for powder bed metal 3D printing fusion processes. The report was compiled in an effort to improve manufacturing and promote advances in reliability and process control. NIST is still exploring metal additive manufacturing, and has built a testbed 3D printer in order to determine how to give users more control over the process. Researchers will use the custom testbed printer, known as the Additive Manufacturing Metrology Testbed (AMMT), to study and explore the metal additive manufacturing process, so that manufacturers and engineers can maintain more predictability over metal 3D printed parts. Read more at 3DPrint.com: http://3dprint.com/185306/nist-testbed-metal-printer/