Design for Additive Manufacturing – Call for new SIG leaders and Co-leaders
The Special Interest Group (SIG) – Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) is looking for a new leadership team. The leaders will continue the SIG mission of exploring new design models, approaches, computational methods, and tools that integrate design and Additive Manufacturing (AM). Founded in 2015, the DfAM SIG is now approaching its second leadership change, aiming to appoint new, fresh minds to continue strengthening the Design Society’s role in AM.
The work of the leadership team will be supported by the DfAM SIG Steering Committee. All appointed leaders must accept and comply with the information and rules provided in Section 3 of the Design Society Handbook available at this link.
The DfAM SIG is therefore open to applicants for the positions of:
- SIG Leader x 2
- SIG Junior Chair
What is a SIG
SIGs are international groups within the Design Society and are intended to address new and ongoing interests flexibly. They are an essential part of the Society’s activities, working in special fields of design research, practice, education, or management, and creating publications for archival and a deepened understanding of the addressed area.
As remarked in the Design Society Handbook, the SIGs:
- comply with the goals of the Design Society and are committed to its objectives;
- deal with specific topics related to industrial, scientific and/or educational needs and efforts that fit into the Design Society’s policy and structure and should be regularly adjusted;
- bring together the world community of engineering designers, product developers, design scientists and educators to address topics of specific interest, and to develop Design Science;
- are visible within the Design Science community;
- are open to anyone with interest in the specified SIG activities; thus, SIG participants need not be members of the Design Society initially, but must join for continued involvement;
- observe the basic policy of non-discrimination: participation is without regard to race, religion, political philosophy, ethnic origin, citizenship, language or gender;
- represent a community perspective and not exclusively the opinions of single persons or small groups;
- ensure that meetings and other activities are announced to the membership;
- maintain the standard of work and contributions at the best international level;
- develop quality presentations and published papers in terms of content as well as visual layout.
What are the roles and responsibilities of SIG leadership
The newly appointed leadership team are expected to plan and implement a range of actions to strengthen the DS's role in AM. Examples of possible actions could include workshops, seminars, publications, and summer schools. An active participation in DS events and conferences, as well as in the annual RIGI meeting, is expected. The leadership will also manage the DfAM SIG website.
As a reminder from the DS Handbook, SIG leaders’ responsibilities include:
- reporting to the Board of Management on an annual basis;
- attending the annual RIGI SIG meeting;
- organising the SIG activities;
- administrating SIG-specific email lists and moderating SIG-specific discussion forum(s), or appointing somebody as an administrator/moderator;
- promoting and maintaining a professional standard.
What does the Design Society Offer
- Support in establishing contact between all members with an interest in any of the above areas;
- Information on relevant past activities and materials of the DS that might help define the scope of the new initiative and target communication;
- Visibility at the Design Conference 2028 (or in following DS events) for a presentation of the new initiative aims and objectives;
- A full range of supporting resources (e.g. landing page on the DS web website; administrative support; financial support according to the DS rules; opportunity to organise workshops at ICED and Design Conferences; opportunity of publication of proceedings and reports etc.).
Application Instructions
The Design Society welcomes and encourage nominations from individuals of all backgrounds, including those of diverse ethnicities, genders, and identities. Interested candidates should send the following to the DS administration team at admin@designsociety.org:
- A one-page supporting letter, outlining your motivation in joining the SIG leadership team. If the candidate is not already a member of the DS, it is suggested that the motivations for joining and actively participating in the society’s initiatives in-person be clearly highlighted.
- The CV of the candidate (three pages maximum, free format), clearly specifying whether the candidate is already or not a Design Society member.
- A proposal (three pages maximum, free format) describing the actions to be planned and the scientific topics that the candidate will consider as priorities for the growth of the DfAM SIG.
The application and selection process is confidential and in compliance with the privacy policy of the Design Society.
The selection will be based on the following criteria:
- Demonstrated expertise in the field of Additive Manufacturing and Design for Additive Manufacturing with respect to the professional path of the candidate.
- Quality of the plan proposed for the growth of the DfAM SIG
- Commitment of the candidate in contributing to the growth of the Design Society and of the DfAM SIG
- Geographical distribution of the candidates to guarantee the highest level of representativeness possible.
Timeline for Applications
By 30 November 2026: Deadline for applications. All candidates will be requested to integrate missing information, if necessary, to prepare the interaction between all those who manifested interest in the same area.
January 2027: Appointment of new leaders, possibly by merging plan of actions from the different proponents
March 2027: Attend RIGI 2027 and Plan for workshop at ICED27
August 2027: Workshop at ICED27
